| Simone Biles | |
|---|---|
 Biles at the 2024 U.S. Championships | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Simone Arianne Biles Owens |
| Born | March 14, 1997[1] Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Hometown | Spring, Texas, U.S. |
| Residence | Spring, Texas, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Height | 4 ft 8 in (142 cm)[2] |
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics |
| Level | Senior international elite |
| Years on national team | 2012–2016 2018–2021 2023–present (USA) |
| Gym | World Champions Centre (2015–present)[3] Bannon's Gymnastix Inc. (2003–2014) |
| Head coach(es) | Laurent Landi Cécile Canqueteau-Landi |
| Former coach(es) | Aimee Boorman |
| Eponymous skills | Biles (6.0) (vault): Yurchenko half on–straight front salto double twist off Biles II (6.4) (vault): Yurchenko double pike Biles (H) (balance beam): double-twisting double tucked salto dismount Biles (G) (floor exercise): double layout salto half out Biles II (J) (floor exercise): triple-twisting double tucked salto (aka "triple double") |
Medal record | |
Simone Arianne Biles Owens[4] OLY (née Biles; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history.[5] She is widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.[6] With 11 Olympic medals, she is tied with Věra Čáslavská as the second-most decorated female Olympic gymnast, and has the most Olympic medals earned by a U.S. gymnast.[7]
At the Olympic Games, Biles is a two-time gold medalist in the individual all-around (2016, 2024). She is also a two-time champion on vault (2016, 2024), the 2016 champion and 2024 silver medalist on floor exercise, and a two-time bronze medalist on balance beam (2016, 2020). Biles led the gold medal-winning United States teams in 2016, dubbed the "Final Five," and in 2024, dubbed the "Golden Girls".[8] At the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition after the qualification round due to "the twisties", a temporary loss of air awareness while performing twisting elements. She won a silver medal with the United States team nicknamed the "Fighting Four" due to the adversity they faced.[9]
At the World Championships, she is the most decorated male or female artistic gymnast of all time with 30 total medals in which 23 of them are Gold. Biles is a six-time individual all-around champion (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2023), six-time floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), and four-time balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019, 2023), all record-high totals. She is also a two-time vault champion (2018–2019) and a member of a record-high five gold medal-winning United States teams (2014–2015, 2018–2019, 2023). She is also a four-time World silver medalist (2013–2014 and 2023 on vault, 2018 on uneven bars), a three-time World bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 2013 and 2018 on balance beam).
Domestically, Biles has won a record-high nine United States national all-around championships (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021, 2023–2024); her win in 2024 made her the oldest female gymnast to ever win the title. She is also a seven-time champion on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise, a two-time uneven bars champion, and the only woman to win all five gold medals in a single championships twice (2018, 2024).
Biles is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the Olympics and the World Championships and the first since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously. She is the tenth female gymnast and first American female gymnast to win a World medal on every event, and the first female gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympics or World Championships. Biles is the originator of the most difficult skill on women's vault, balance beam, and floor exercise and the only gymnast to attempt each skill to date.
In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[10] In 2023, she won her eighth U.S. Gymnastics title, breaking the 90-year-old U.S. Gymnastics title record previously held by Alfred Jochim.[11][12] Biles has won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year thrice (2017, 2019, 2020),[13] and Comeback of the Year once (2024).[13]
- ^ "GymDivas.Us". GymDivas. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
- ^ "Simone Biles Gymnastics". TeamUSA.org. United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ^ "Simone Biles – World Champions". MeetScoresOnline.com. March 11, 2015. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
- ^ "I do 🤍 officially owens 🤍". Twitter. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Simone Biles becomes the most decorated gymnast in history". npr.org. October 6, 2023. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ * Apstein, Stephanie. "Simone Biles Is a Legend in Her Prime". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- Coaston, Jane (October 10, 2019). "Simone Biles is the greatest female gymnast ever". Vox. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- Wiedeman, Reeves (August 12, 2016). "Simone Biles Becomes the Greatest Gymnast of All-Time". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
- Armor, Nancy (October 9, 2019). "Opinion: Simone Biles reaches GOAT status by doing 'alien gymnastics...inhuman gymnastics'". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
"greatest gymnast of her generation"
- Almasy, Steve (October 5, 2019). "Simone Biles nails two more amazing moves that will be named after her". CNN. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
"greatest gymnast of our time and probably ever'"
- Zaccadri, Nick (October 10, 2019). "Mic Drop: Simone Biles wins fifth world all-around by record margin". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
"greatest gymnast in history'"
- Bremner, Jade (August 3, 2021). "How many Olympic medals does Simone Biles have?". The Independent.
- "Simone Biles part of group seeking $US1 billion-plus from FBI over failure to prevent Larry Nassar's alleged sexual assaults". ABC News. June 8, 2022. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ "Simone Biles: All titles, records and medals – complete list". Olympics. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ "Simone Biles reveals champion gymnastics team's 'official' nickname: the 'Golden Girls'". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Cash, Meredith. "The USA gymnasts picked a team name, and it's an apparent homage to all they've overcome for the Olympics". Insider. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- ^ "Denzel Washington, Simone Biles to Receive Presidential Medals of Freedom". The Hollywood Reporter. July 2022. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ Graves, Will (August 27, 2023). "Simone Biles wins a record 8th US Gymnastics title a full decade after her first". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ "Simone Biles wins record eighth US all-around title as comeback continues". BBC News. August 28, 2023. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "PAST WINNERS". Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021.