“I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I'm the first Simone Biles.”

Considered to be one of the best artistic gymnasts of all time, Simon Biles has been climbing up the ladder of fame as a global super star!

Simone is seen to be a confident and independent woman. She is extremely successful, making her a big inspiration to others - especially young athletes. But how has she come to this success and what does it take to be “the first Simon Biles”?

From the beginning of her gymnastics career, at six years old, Simone Biles developed an interest in gymnastics during a school trip. Quickly, she picked up the sport and her unique skills began to shine through. At only 16, Biles won an all-around title - winning all four events at her first world gymnastics competition. As well, she claimed the title of being the first African American woman to win the title. Unsurprisingly, this young talent caught the media's eye and became a super-star. Later, she won four world championship gold medals in 2014, and again in 2015 winning four more. By the age of 18 years old she had already won 9 world championships with 3 years of competition experience.

In 2016, she made it to her first Olympic Games in Rio at 19, becoming the first American female gymnast to win four gold medals at a single Games, and the first gymnast to win six world all-around titles. In 2019, at the world championships in Stuttgart, she won the all-around title and won five gold medals. She won these by attempting a new move, the Biles 2: a double tucked backflip with a triple twist, this is named after her because the move is unique just like Simone, her coach quoted “It’s not normal… She’s not normal”. At the Tokyo 2020 olympic games, Simone won two more olympic gold medals. But she ended up withdrawing from a lot of events, prioritizing her mental health over sport.

She was struggling with her mental health because of something gymnasts call “the twisties”. It happens when a gymnast is in the air and loses sense of their movement and direction, making maneuvers dangerous to attempt. Many advanced gymnasts like Biles have encountered this phenomenon, but it’s rarely ever talked about.  Simone encountered the twisties multiple times during her training for the Tokyo games. Simone says, “It’s honestly petrifying trying to do a skill but not having your mind and body in sync”. For this reason she took a break from her sport, giving herself time to work on her own mental health. After Simone’s withdrawal from the Olympic games, twisties became more known by the public, giving more of an understanding about gymnasts' health. Though many still grew irritated and started to question Simone Biles’ abilities. Little did they know the undermined gymnast would make a comeback…

During Simone’s break she was awarded the Medal of Freedom from U.S president Biden for her success in gymnastics, but more importantly her advocacy in the child's foster care system, sexual assault and athletes physical and mental health. She advocates for these things because of her own experiences: her mother could not support Simone and her siblings resulting from her drug and alcohol addiction, she was then adopted early on. Biles was also a victim of Larry Nassar (former Team USA gymnastics physician), now known to be a notorious sexual abuser to hundreds of women and young athletes alike. She believes this trauma played a part in her twisties. Simone is a part of a growing athletic community, where athletes are starting to speak up about mental health. Despite her trauma, Simone Biles still talks up about her experiences as she wants to help others to do the same. She encourages others to talk and ask for help when they need, “It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to take a break”, “Mental health is just as important as physical health. You can’t neglect one without neglecting the other”.

Last year, coming back from her mental health break, Biles went to the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgiums. As a result of her recent break it made this championship important to Simone. This Championship proved herself that even after her break she still has the special talent we all love. “I had to prove to myself that I could still get out here, twist, I could prove all the haters wrong, that I’m not a quitter” - and she did prove all the haters wrong; she won her 29th and 30th career medals, getting her back on her winning streak.

In the recent Paris Olympics, Simone won a bronze in balance beam, and four golds in: team, all-around, vault and floor exercise. The whole world was impressed by her floor exercise where she jumped 12 ft in the air! This is remarkable as she’s only 4’8”, so subtracting her height from this jump still leaves 7’4” which is the height of the tallest basketball player in the world. Also surpassing Victor Wembanyama’s 10-foot leap and the women's world record in high jump, which is presently set at 6 ft 10 ¼ inches. 

As a result of Biles’ influence and success she has become a major inspiration towards young female athletes. While Simone has successfully become “the first Simone Biles” she inspires others to become their own person rather than becoming someone else, like the next Michael Phelps, or next Usain Bolt. Simone says “Whenever you’re younger and you see somebody that looks like you, you’re like, ‘Wow, they’re doing it. Then I can do it too’” and this is the exact effect she had on Joscelyn Roberson. When Joscelyn was 9 year old, she caught Simone Biles eye on social media, after this Simone taught her a thing or two about gymnastics and now they both train alongside one another, are close friends, and went to the world championships together. Joscelyn said at the championship: “I gave Simone the biggest hug when I walked up there… It’s a moment I’ll cherish forever.”

Currently, Simone Biles holds in total 11 gold olympic medals, 7 gold and 30 world championship medals with 23 of those being gold. This gives her the record of world gold medals, but she also holds the record number of world all-around titles in the women’s competition.

Simone Biles continues to inspire others with her remarkable achievements and influential mindset. Biles believes that self-care and mental well-being are important, reflecting her commitment to advocating for young people's health. She will continue to speak up about health issues in the media and motivate others to follow their dreams. “I would say to always follow your dream. And dream big…” Use Simone as an inspiration. Path your unique journey, one step at a time.

By Charlotte Pringle