The 2024 Paris Olympics are Simone Biles’ third Olympic Games and she seems poised to add to her already-impressive medal count.
In the days leading up to her first competition in Paris, the 27-year-old superstar has shown why she is the most decorated gymnast of all time. Biles has already submitted a new skill on uneven bars (if she completes it in competition, it will become her sixth eponymous skill) and nailed aYurchenko double pike vault (the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics that has been named the Biles II) during podium training.
Biles has competed in two Olympic Games: the 2016 Rio Olympics and the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, she withdrew from many of her events at the Tokyo Games after suffering from a case of the “twisties,” a term gymnasts use to describe a loss of ability to track where they are in the air.
Biles still won a silver and bronze medal in Tokyo though, adding to her four gold medals and bronze medal from Rio.
Simone Biles at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Biles put the world on notice at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning one bronze and four gold medals. Biles won the team final alongside teammates Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez before going on to dominate the all-around final, vault final and floor exercise final. Biles also earned a bronze medal in the beam final despite receiving an automatic 0.5-point deduction for grabbing the beam with her hand after losing her balance.
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Biles’ gold medal haul set the American record for the most gold medals won in women’s gymnastics at a single Games. To mark her achievements, Biles was selected as the flag bearer for Team USA at the Rio closing ceremony, becoming the first American female gymnast to do so.
Simone Biles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Although Biles was the only athlete to qualify for every individual final at the Tokyo Games, which were held in 2021 because of the pandemic, she suffered from a case of the twisties, a term gymnasts use to describe losing their spatial awareness and orientation in mid-air. During the team final, Biles visibly lost her position in the air on vault, completing just 1.5 rotations of a planned 2.5 twists. Biles subsequently withdrew from the rest of the team final, although she did take home a silver medal after teammates Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum and Suni Lee continued in her absence. Biles later withdrew from the uneven bars, vault and floor finals before performing a reduced-difficulty balance beam routine that won her another bronze medal in that event.
