Who can forget when Simone Biles was hounded as a quitter when she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021? She resigned for mental health issues, you ask? Okay, never mind, she’s clearly not ready for the backlash. But here’s the thing—Simone Biles didn’t need anyone’s approval to make the world know she is the GOAT. That’s exactly what she did. Happily for her, in the Paris Olympics scheduled in 2024, there was a great come back with 34 million tuning in on NBC platforms to watch her claim 3 golds . And let’s not forget Biles hasn’t lost an all-around competition since 2013 and barely even that, because she withdrew due to injury. They said she should have walked away, but no matters she walked away or not, her legacy is set. You can put as many tags and identifiers as you like, but her greatness? It speaks for itself.
What is the latest from Simone Biles? Ah, the/Button it deserves is another standing ovation. Looking at three large spreadsheets from those three years, Gymternet has put Simone Biles at the top of the table for the best WAG scores in the quad. The data used in the work includes 38,414 entries that are derived from 709 gymnastics competitions. Talk about dominance! And even after Tokyo where the critics were at their peak in making foul mouth comments, Biles was still producing strange all-around scores in the 60s 59s, 58s etc. Think about that: And through it all, she existed at a standard that can hardly be believed today; properly extraordinary.
Let’s be real: Simone Biles is undoubtedly the GOAT. Greatest of All Time, no question about it. Why? For starters, no one has more world championship medals than her, and no American gymnast has more Olympic medals either. She’s racked up 23 world championship golds, including six individual all-around titles, plus eight Olympic medals, five of them gold. Oh, and she’s got five gymnastics skills officially named after her because no one else had the guts to land them. And remember when she wore that leotard with the rhinestone goat on it? She’s not just owning the title, she’s redefining it.
Her 2024 Paris comeback was everything. She led Team USA to gold in the team all-around, added another Olympic gold to her collection, and reminded the world why she’s untouchable. Without the mental health struggles she faced in Tokyo, there’s no doubt she could have added more hardware to her collection.
What really happened to Simone Biles?
What’s your perspective on:
Did Simone Biles’ Tokyo decision redefine what it means to be a true champion?
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles shocked the world with a decision no one saw coming. After dazzling in Rio in 2016 with four gold medals, the pressure was sky-high for Tokyo. Everyone expected her to sweep the podium again. But things took a dramatic turn during the team final. On her first vault, an Amanar, Biles seemed to lose herself mid-air, completing just 1.5 twists instead of 2.5. The landing was shaky, but what stood out was her expression. She was rattled. Moments later, she withdrew, leaving everyone to wonder what had just happened.
What was going on? Turns out, Biles was battling something gymnasts fear most: “the twisties.” Picture riding a bike and the next moment realising that you have no idea which is the top or how you will get off. It’s not only scary but also dangerous. Biles said she could not reliably stick the landing and opted not to due to the high possibility of paralysis. Some people referred to her as quitter though gymnasts and other athletes came out to defend her, because they understood that it is extremely dangerous to perform when that is ailing. Biles then posted the videos revealing that she was struggling during the practice as she wanted people worldwide to understand that twisties are incredibly severe.
However much Biles was struggling through her challenges, she did not go to Tokyo Olympics empty handed. She missed most of her events, though came back for the balance beam final, where she changed her routine and dropped her traditional high-risk back flip. And guess what? Wow, she hit the nail on the head and won a bronze. What an exhilarating moment I would say was bigger than gold. That might not have been the case though if things had turned out slightly differently and probably wouldn’t have seen her returning with all the zeal as she did today. That is why the Paris Olympics seemed like an ideal opportunity for her to get the ultimate come back!