It is life-altering to watch Simone Biles compete three times in person in a span of two weeks.
When I said this on a podcast the first time, I instantly felt self-conscious about how dramatic I was, but now that I’ve said it twice and three times (four if you include the time she was in my line of sight at the Stade de France), it feels right.
It is stunning, of course, to witness that level of superiority in real life. Her ability to defy gravity on the floor and in the vault in particular might inspire you to think that everything is possible for people. Solve the climate emergency? We can, of course. Find a solution for Middle East peace? Why not? Close off the shadowy areas of the internet? Very likely.
Being the biggest ticket in town, she drew a crowd that included aspiring gymnasts, inquisitive adults, and a number of celebrities (including Snoop Dogg, Tom Cruise, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, and Anna Wintour on the first day alone) for each of her appearances in Paris in 2024.
She is just the best, which is what draws people to her.
She flies farther and faster. She strikes more forcefully. She continues to twist. A portion of it comes naturally. Because she is pushing boundaries, more of it appears more difficult than it actually is.
To her Messi, there is no Maradona.
Few people do not at some point in their lives wish to be in close proximity to that kind of brilliance.
United States swimmer Simone Biles performs on the balancing beam during the women’s artistic gymnastics all-around finals in the Bercy Arena on Thursday, August 1, 2024, in Paris, France. Stock Photo
Her moves and her scores weren’t the only things that contributed to her can-do attitude of humanity, though. Her perseverance over the previous three years to return to the Olympics despite her own mental health issues and a scary occurrence known as the “twisties,” in which a gymnast’s body and mind separate, was another factor.
She sprang onto the 10-centimeter-wide beam on Sunday, August 28’s qualification and defeated the Tokyo Games.
She completed the program with a full twist double back somersault and received a pleased score of 14.733.
Prominent athletes’ remarkable brain function is sometimes explained by the idea that because of their altered perception of time, which enables them to see things slowly and make swift decisions, they have a superior ability to think. Consider Clare’s incredible Tony Kelly goal against Cork in the All-Ireland Hurling Championship.
But Biles seemed to have conquered and subdued gravity. She can only squeeze in three turns this way when she exits the vault. Or, after landing on the floor with a triple twist double back somersault, be let down.
Even though I was in the Bercy for those incredible feats, I couldn’t help but notice the small moments taking on all throughout the arena. Some of which didn’t even concern the Texan.
Even though she was under pressure to perform well, Biles grinned and waved the entire time. Cecile Landi, her coach, was always by her side and would sometimes give her a comforting, maternal hug when she was feeling down.
Simone Biles of the United States embraces coach Cécile Landi Alamy Stock Photo in Paris, ile-de-france, France on July 30, 2024, after competing on uneven bars during the women’s team final artistic gymnastics.
When she demounted the beam, Jordan Chiles pumped his fist and jumped with joy. The two, who are clearly buddies off the mats, giggle while competing against one another on the uneven bars. When they dance, the desire of greatness and happiness are highlighted, and Biles ends with a score of 14.433.
Among the things I wrote down during that Olympic Day 2 practice are the following: “Everyone looks better. There is a delight to gymnastics that wasn’t always there in the past. Women, not girls. Is it a reclaiming?”; “Is that true?”; “Why?”
My curiosity kept drawing me back. I continued to watch. I persisted in my enquiries. I perused the statements made by the gymnasts themselves.
Recent years have seen investigations into gymnastics abuse conducted in a number of nations, most notably the US, Australia, Switzerland, and the UK.
Published in June 2022, the Whyte Review—a joint commission from UK Sport and Sport England—found that problems with emotional and physical abuse were systematic in British gymnastics.
Coaches sitting on athletes, gymnasts forced to work on injuries and disciplined for using the lavatory, youngsters having food taken away or withheld from them, and adults yelling and cursing at people under their supervision are a few examples of the practices that were found.
An elite gymnast in the past revealed to the investigation that she was forced to stand on the beam for two hours out of nervousness when attempting a new ability. There have been reports of remarks like “your thighs are awful” and “you have a beer belly.” The sportsmen used ceiling tiles to conceal meals.
Whyte claimed that emotional abuse was “much broader than British Gymnastics had understood” and that “the tyranny of the scales was coach-led and rather unwarranted.”
The organisation received 3,800 complaints in a 12-year period, which is indicative of what they should have known.
Gymnasts for Change, a group that promotes athlete-centered gymnastics, claims that following the 2016 USA Gymnastics sex abuse crisis, the sport has been under intense scrutiny worldwide.
There are four legal definitions of abuse that have been common in the sport, according to Dr. Natalie Barker-Ruchti, associate professor of sports science at the School of Health Sciences at Orebro University in Sweden: emotional or psychological violence; physical violence and boundary violations; sexual violence; and neglect.
Her research examines the significance of the shift gymnastics underwent in the late 1960s, when it was primarily a sport of women performing dance and callisthenics, to becoming an acrobatized sport of risk and difficulty in the 1970s and 1980s, when prepubescent girls performed it.
“The era of acrobatization was accompanied by assumptions that difficult moves could only be learnt in childhood and could only be performed by children,” she and Gymnasts for Change claim, “ushering in a new ideal of the female gymnast as a submissive child with no voice who needed to be dominated by their coach.”
Simone Biles is currently 27 years old. In 72 years, she is the oldest gold medallist overall. She was younger than ten of the competitors in artistic gymnastics. Now, 16 is the minimum age to compete. Two previous Olympic champions competed against each other in the women’s all-around category for the first time ever.
This sport’s longevity has completely changed. After the US trials, Chiles stated, “Simeone has changed that.”
The following people celebrate on the podium for winning the gold medal: Simone Biles of the United States; Jade Carey of the United States; Jordan Chiles of the United States; Sunisa Lee of the United States; and Helena Rivera of the United States.
The past two weeks have seen powerful female bodies, longevity, and experience displayed on every apparatus. The image of a “submissive child with no voice who needed to be dominated by the power of their coach” is no longer popular, despite teenagers dominating teams from China, Japan, and Romania.
In one of the most amazing tales of this century, gymnasts took it upon themselves to speak out against former US Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar, a child sex abuser, and to guarantee that justice was done. He has now claimed at least 265 victims.
Olympic gold medallist Aly Raisman is renowned for using the platform to address the discredited physician.
“You do know now, Larry, that we, this group of women you so cruelly mistreated for so long, are a force and you are nothing,” the woman remarked. “Larry, the roles have now reversed. Here we are. We are here to stay and we have our voices. It’s now your turn to listen to me, Larry.
“I’m here to tell you straight to your face, Larry: you haven’t taken gymnastics away from me,” she continued. I adore this sport, and my passion for it is greater than the evil within you and the people that allowed you to harm a great number of people.
“This tragedy could have been prevented if, over the course of many years, just one adult had listened and had the guts and integrity to act.”
Together with many of the 265 other women, both elite and non-elite, Raisman and her closest friend Simone Biles set out to recapture their sport.
Raisman, who is now more well-known for her support of safe sports than for her achievements in London 2012, made her first gym visit as a spectator last month in preparation for US trials.
She received a resounding ovation from the crowd.
She had not only come out against Nassar but had also begun to undermine the entire system that had been put in place around the long-serving US female gymnasts’ trainers, Bela and Martha Karolyi.
Being rejected by the Karolyis at first, Biles had never truly been on the inside track. She returned to the Karolyi camps after her potential became apparent and she didn’t hesitate to disobey any regulations.
In 2020, Biles stated to ESPN, “Martha never denied talent.” I will grant her one thing, though. It was difficult for me to see a successful outcome while I was rising because you hadn’t seen many gymnasts with my skin tone. It seemed more difficult to me to want to compete in the Olympics. I used to just say that I wanted to compete in gymnastics in college, but after Gabby Douglas won the 2012 Olympics, you kind of thought, “Wow, she looks like me.” You are motivated to do better if you believe that “If she can do it, I can do it.”
Numerous athletes have been credited with permanently altering their sport. For example, Tiger Woods contributed more revenue to golf than the tours could have ever dreamed of. It’s said that Jim McGuinness altered Irish Gaelic football play. Likewise, for football, Pep Guardiola. Venus Williams battled for and was successful in obtaining equal pay for female competitors. Billie Jean King, Mia Hamm, and Megan Rapinoe are examples of women who have dedicated their lives to achieving parity with males in terms of recognition and compensation.
But to truly enter a shattered sport, with its players battered and worn out, and to change it from the inside out? To surpass everyone who has ever done it before and to make it more inclusive, enjoyable, healthy, and entertaining?
to see Simone Biles at the world’s largest competition in the gym? I apologise, but this will change your life. It serves as an example of what is feasible, manifested before your very eyes in the form of actual flesh and blood.
Elisa Iorio of Italy remarked, “Simone Biles has always been the queen of gymnastics,” following her historic silver medal in the team competition behind the American quintet led by Biles.
Her approach to competing teaches you that you should enjoy yourself. She went on, confirming my suspicions, “She’s a point of reference for all of us.”
The first gymnast to post a photo of food on Instagram was Simone. Four years ago, Olympic athlete Missy Marlowe from 1988 told ESPN, “That feels stupid to even say, but it’s true.”
Since everyone understands that you should be relaxing if you’re not at the gym, Simone is the first to post images of herself in public. The first person to have a boyfriend in public was her. She has disobeyed every rule by appearing to be even somewhat normal. That probably would have resulted in a gymnast being removed from the national team or having her social media accounts blocked until recently.
In order to be exceptional, Biles dared to be ordinary.
She also did it in public so that those around her would be inspired to dare. dared to have ambition to win regardless their race or creed; dared to be older; dared to be stronger.
Last week, seasoned British gymnast Becky Downie honoured Biles on Instagram, referring to her as the best of all time.
“Sharing the floor with you over the years has been an honour,” the 32-year-old, three-time Olympian remarked.
“Your return of joy to our sport is unparalleled.
“I appreciate you being who you are, improving the game, and doing it with the biggest smile ever.”
This was no mere platitude from the two-time European champion.
Another remark on her profile makes fun of Downie for tripping over the uneven bars while performing a skill so outstanding that it bears her name (a skill is named after the first person to perform it in competition; Biles possesses five such skills).
“May the odds always be against you,” reads the caption on the video. “Your biggest professional test and relying solely on your own abilities.” But really, what are the odds?
Canadian gymnast Shallon Olsen adds, “It’s good I fell too girl,” to the comments below.
“Thanks to all the gymnasts that fell or made a mistake – it means I can show my 8-year-old not to be so hard on herself,” a mother of a young gymnast continued. She is capable of picking herself up and moving on.
The Karolyis never would.
The athletes Simone Biles of the United States and Jordan Chiles of the United States celebrate the gold medallist Rebeca Andrade of the United States. Biles pays tribute to Andrade, the one athlete who said she was “scared” to compete again. Paris, France, August 5, 2024
Gabby Douglas was Biles’ catalyst for change, and in what may have been her final Olympic podium, she shared it with two other Black women, including the first-ever gymnast (though, as I write this, this is being re-litigated, a reminder that sports administration can always be shown to be flawed). Chiles and Biles paused to acknowledge Andrade’s magnificence, or as they put it, to offer her the bouquet she so richly deserves.
“We demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and had a great time outdoors because it was our final competition,” Biles said.
The Paris Olympics were positioned to be more about medals than about Biles because to Cécile and Laurent Landi’s coaching ticket. So much so that when she first proposed competing, they first rejected her proposal.
“You’ve been putting so much pressure on yourself. They suggested, “Let’s just get back in the gym, get in shape, and see what happens,” based on her account on the podcast Call Her Daddy.
Yes, you are correct. And he said, “Let’s not limit our thoughts to the Olympics just yet.” Let’s consider the possibility that you could regain your ability to twist easily while performing this.
Simone Biles of the United States competes in the women’s artistic gymnastics competition at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. On July 25, 2021, Simone Biles withdraws from the Tokyo Olympics. Alamy Stock Photo
She explained that she was “simply working on my mind and my body more than I have or continuing to work on my body and my head” in order to approach the Games differently back then.
“Just as I have for the last 18 months, and it has been successful. Thus, maintaining that level of attention is draining, yet I feel compelled to do so. It functions. I didn’t think therapy would be effective, yet it is.
Biles resumed her treatment sessions and thanked her therapist in interviews and on social media as she went on to win three gold and one silver medal at the meet.
“I believe I’ve noticed a shift, particularly in women’s gymnastics.” When questioned about Biles’ impact on the sport’s atmosphere, her fellow Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan told The Journal, “It appears a lot less hectic, from the observations that I’ve made.”
“I think it’s important to bring out that Simone usually does bring it up and it appears like she has fun out there as well. It looks like they’re having fun, and the men’s side always looks to have had that enjoyment since I’ve been in the sport.”
However, she also possesses a hint of competition, which I would never want to take away from her. The ideal balance requires a healthy dose of rivalry mixed with enjoyment of the situation.
“Well done, she seems to have hit the mark.
Biles deliberately chose not to disclose her objectives before to travelling to Paris. However, on her last municipal press conference, she stated:
“I’ve done far more than I ever could have imagined. In the sport, not just at this Olympics.
“I never imagined that I would be back here at an Olympic Games a few years ago.” I’m not upset about competing and winning four medals afterward. I feel rather pleased with myself.
Only a few months before, Alex Cooper, presenter of Call Her Daddy, had questioned her about what she intended to leave behind. Her response?
“To be an ambassador for whatever I’ve spoken out against, be it ADHD, foster care, mental health, or anything else. In addition, she seemed to be someone who enjoyed her work and gave it her all—I believe that many athletes reflect on their career and say things like, “I wish I had more fun” or “I wish I had done this differently.” But now that I’m a little older and more mature, I’m at the point where I don’t really have any regrets. I have no regrets because everything I’ve done has been completed on schedule.
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