9-Year-Long Search Ends for Simone Biles as She Stays True to Her Promise for Gymnastics Star

Dreams do come true—just ask Simone Biles. Back in 2015, while prepping for the Rio Olympics, the gymnastics GOAT stumbled upon a Vine video that stopped her in her tracks. It featured a pint-sized prodigy nailing a standing backflip with a twist so flawlessly that Biles herself was blown away. Immediately, she tweeted the clip with the caption, “I’m in awe. {perfect}👯, Some1 help me find this cutie. I wanna meet her, so she could teach me a thing or two.” Fast-forward to 2024, and guess who that “cutie” turned out to be? None other than Joscelyn Roberson—now Biles’s teammate and close friend. Talk about a full-circle moment!

Even when Roberson started training with Biles at the World Champions Centre, she never mentioned that Vine moment. But fate had other plans: The video appeared again [and] Biles was delighted saying “Oh, yeah I remember this one.” Today, one would hardly find any stranger to Roberson on Team USA and she is more of a force all on her own. In fact, when Team USA was hit with a bunch of injuries before Paris, Roberson and Leanne Wong were nominated for replacements. Having impressed at Paris, Joscelyn later in the year returned to the forefront of gymnastics by performing with Biles at the Gold Over America Tour.

And just to put the cherry on top of this utterly romanticized narrative, Simone Biles recently posted on the gram to finally reap what was sowed four years ago in her promise to teach Rio how a thing or two. Beside each other, both performed a standing back flip, the same trick Josc attempted in that popular Vine video from years ago and their chemistry was as strong as ever. What will happen next? Read on to find out! As it happens, little Joscelyn was every bit the fan girl she craved to be.

Growing up, Roberson idolized Simone Biles significantly. In fact, paying tribute to her impeccable career, little Roberson prepared a feature project on Biles in school. In an Instagram post from May 2015, the now 18-year-old posed in front of her GT (gifted and talented) dressed up as Biles.

Behind her was her project, which had highlighted Biles’ major career accolades up until 2015. To add further intrigue, Roberson donned a Simone Biles special leotard and also had a fake medal dangling from her neck. And now, as she is dreaming of conquering the gymnastics world, Joscelyn Roberson has opened up about how Biles has helped her in maturing as a gymnast.

Joscelyn Roberson speaks highly of Simone Biles.

Roberson had always been intrigued by Simone Biles. After feeling saturated at her previous training facility, Roberson decided to move from Texarkana to the World Championships Center in Spring, Texas. After the 2022 US Championships, Roberson got her dreams fulfilled as she got to train with Simone Biles. Roberson also looked elated, getting the guidance of Cecile and Laurent Landi. Speaking about the closely-knit WCC environment, Roberson said, “It was a hard change for me because I was so close with everyone there. I had grown up with them. But this team has really taken me in and I’m so thankful for it. They really are a really close-knit team and l’m so happy that I got to be part of it. And this last year, really, I couldn’t have asked for a better year.”

And after having trained with her, the young gymnast has taken some valuable lessons from the GOAT. Roberson stated that getting to see the training routine of Biles was a blessing. Speaking to the International Gymnastics Media in March, Roberson stated, “Getting to see how she works and how she kept herself fresh and able to do gymnastics was really good. I’ll be taking how she goes down and comes back up, and her training, into my own training.” Impressed by Biles, Roberson incorporated bits of Biles’ training strategies into her own, and that landed her into the Olympics.

But the changes were not only a result of the training; the 18-year-old noticed they had been affected in some way. The thoughts that Biles expressed about remaining beyond the sport did miracles for Roberson’s assurance. Roberson also spoke with International Gymnastics Media about what she learned from Biles’ activism. It is dynamics,” she explained, “You can shut it off and do something else or talk about something else. Of course, it is quite probable that when I was still young, all I did was to discuss gymnastics or dream gymnastics and that really tired me up when I grew a little older. And knowing you can turn that off for a little while and do anything other than that.”

To China Daily once, she said; “It has been quite fun to know Simone” As for the age difference between the two of them Roberson noted that it has never been an issue because they are sisters. She said, “Yeah, I definitely feel like the age gap doesn’t really necessarily matter in the gym.” Also, in the last destination of the GOAT tour 2024 in Michigan, her teammates planned to meet at the Little Caesars Arena to congratulate Biles on her special privileges in this career.

The team had appointed Roberson to present a bouquet and speak on the team’s behalf to the group. Of them, she said, From the girls, from your teammates, we love you and we can’t wait for you to start a new future. Biles had to hug Roberson, and this moment looked quite emotional; the girl was crying. Therefore, it is clear that Simone Biles continues to be the figure of ‘a GOAT,’ contributing to the lives of many young talent gymnasts.