Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles Owens[4] (born Simone Arianne Biles; March 14, 1997)[5] is an American artistic gymnast. With 37 World and Olympic medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in history,[6] and she is widely considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.[7] Her seven Olympic gymnastics medals are ninth-most of all time and tied with Shannon Miller for the most by a U.S. gymnast.[8]
Simone Biles Owens
Simone Arianne Biles Owens
March 14, 1997[1]
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Spring, Texas, U.S.
Spring, Texas, U.S.
4 ft 8 in (142 cm)[2]
Senior international elite
2012–2016
2018–2021
2023–present (USA)
World Champions Centre (2015–present)[3]
Bannon's Gymnastix Inc. (2003–2014)
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")
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Biles won individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor; bronze on balance beam; and gold as part of the United States team, dubbed the "Final Five".[9] At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition due to "the twisties", a temporary loss of air awareness while performing twisting elements. She won a silver medal with her team and a bronze medal on the balance beam.
Biles is a six-time World all-around champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), six-time World floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), four-time World balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019, 2023), two-time World vault champion (2018–2019), an eight-time United States national all-around champion (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021, 2023), and a member of the gold medal-winning American teams at the 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She is also a four-time World silver medalist (2013–2014 and 2023 on vault, 2018 on uneven bars) and a four-time World bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 2013 and 2018 on balance beam).
In 2019, Biles broke the record for most World Championship medals in gymnastics; she won her 24th and 25th medals at the event, surpassing Vitaly Scherbo's 23 World medals. Biles has since secured an additional five World medals, for a total of 30. She holds the record for World all-around titles (6), and is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, the first since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously. Biles 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 Olympic Games or World Championships.
In 2022, 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]
Early life and education
Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio,[13] the third of four siblings.[14] Her birth mother, Shanon Biles, was unable to care for Simone or her other children. All four went in and out of foster care.[14][15]
In 2000, Biles' maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles,[16] began caring temporarily for Shanon's children in the north Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, after learning his grandchildren were in foster care. In 2003, the couple formally adopted Simone and her younger sister Adria. Ron's sister, Shanon's aunt Harriet, adopted the two oldest children.[17][14][18] She holds Belizean citizenship through her adoptive mother and considers Belize to be her second home.[19] Biles and her family are Catholic.[20]
Biles attended Benfer Elementary School in Harris County, Texas.[21] In 2012, Biles switched from public school to home schooling, allowing her to increase her training from about 20 to 32 hours a week. She would complete her high-school degree in mid-2015. Biles verbally committed to UCLA on August 4, 2014,[22] and signed a National Letter of Intent in November 2014,[23] planning to defer enrollment until after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Instead, on July 29, 2015, she announced that she would turn professional and forfeit her NCAA eligibility to compete for UCLA.[24]
Senior gymnastics career
2013
Biles' senior international debut was in March at the 2013 American Cup, a FIG World Cup event. She and Katelyn Ohashi were named as replacements for Elizabeth Price and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross, both of whom withdrew from the competition because of injuries.[34][35][36] Biles led for two rotations but finished second behind her teammate, Ohashi, after a fall off the beam.[37]
Biles traveled to Jesolo, Italy to compete at the 2013 City of Jesolo Trophy. She took the all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise titles in addition to contributing to the U.S. team's gold medal. She and the U.S. delegation next competed at an international tri-meet in Chemnitz, Germany, against teams from Germany and Romania. The U.S. won the team gold medal. In addition, Biles won the vault, balance beam, and floor titles, and tied for second in the all-around, behind Kyla Ross, after a fall on the uneven bars.[33][38]
In July, Biles competed at the 2013 U.S. Classic. She performed poorly, falling several times, and did not compete vault after twisting her ankle on the floor exercise. In the aftermath of this poor performance, Biles consulted a sports psychologist[39] whom she credits with helping her anxiety and confidence issues and allowing her to begin her streak of dominance in the sport.[40]
Biles competed at the 2013 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships in August, where she was crowned the national all-around champion. Biles also won silver on all four individual events.[33] After the USA Gymnastics National Championships, Biles was named to the Senior National Team and was invited to the qualifying camp for the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Texas. She was selected for the World Championships team.
In October, Biles competed at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. She qualified first in the all-around, second to the vault final, sixth to the uneven bars final, fifth to the balance beam final, and first to the floor final, making her the first American gymnast to qualify to the all-around and all four event finals since Shannon Miller in 1991.[41] Biles competed cleanly during the women's individual all-around and won the competition with a score of 60.216, almost a point ahead of silver medalist Ross, and almost a point and a half better than the bronze medalist, 2010 world all-around champion Aliya Mustafina.[42]
At the age of 16, Biles became the seventh American woman and the first African American to win the world all-around title. In event finals, she won silver on the vault, behind defending world champion and Olympic silver medalist McKayla Maroney and ahead of 2008 Olympic gold medalist Hong Un Jong of North Korea; bronze on balance beam, behind Mustafina and Ross; and gold on the floor exercise, ahead of Italy's Vanessa Ferrari and Romania's Larisa Iordache. She finished fourth in the uneven bars final, behind China's Huang Huidan, Ross, and Mustafina.[43]
2014
Biles missed the start of the season due to injury, sitting out the 2014 AT&T American Cup and the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships.[44][45] Her debut that year was at the U.S. Classic in Chicago. She won the all-around by a wide margin and also took first place on vault, beam (tied with Ross), and floor.[46] At the 2014 USA Gymnastics National Championships, Biles repeated as national all-around champion after two days of competition, finishing more than four points ahead of silver medalist Ross, despite a fall from the balance beam during her final routine of the meet. She won the gold on vault and floor, tied for the silver on balance beam with Alyssa Baumann, and finished fourth on the uneven bars.[33] She was once again selected for the Senior National Team.
On September 17, Biles was selected to compete at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Nanning, China.[47] She dominated the preliminary round despite a major error on the uneven bars, qualifying in first place to the all-around, vault, beam, and floor finals, in addition to contributing to the U.S. team's first-place qualification into the team final. During the team final, Biles led the United States to its second consecutive world team championship, which they won over the second-place Chinese team by nearly seven points. In the all-around, Biles performed cleanly on all four events, bettering her bars score from qualifications by more than a point, and won her second consecutive world all-around title ahead of Ross and Romanian Larisa Iordache. Biles became the second American woman to repeat as world all-around champion, following Miller (1993 and 1994), and the first woman of any nationality to do so since Russia's Svetlana Khorkina (2001 and 2003).[43] Biles finished behind North Korea's Hong Un Jong in the vault competition, taking her second consecutive silver medal in that event. She won the gold in the balance-beam final ahead of China's Bai Yawen and the gold in the floor exercise final, again, ahead of Iordache. This brought her total of World Championship gold medals to six, the most ever by an American gymnast, surpassing Miller's five.[48]
2015
Biles competed at the 2015 AT&T American Cup at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 7. She placed first with a score of 62.299, 4.467 points ahead of second-place finisher U.S. teammate MyKayla Skinner. Later that month, Biles was nominated for the James E. Sullivan Award.[49] She ended the month at the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy, winning the all-around title with 62.100.[50]
On July 25, she competed at the U.S. Classic and finished first in the all-around, ahead of 2012 Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas and Maggie Nichols, with a score of 62.400. On the beam, she scored a 15.250 and took first at the event, ahead of Douglas and 2012 Olympic beam bronze medalist Aly Raisman. She scored a 16.050 on the floor and claimed first on the event, 1.050 points ahead of Douglas and also ahead of Nichols and Bailie Key. She had a small hop on her Amanar vault and scored a 16.000. She then scored 15.150 on her second vault, to score an average of 15.575 and place first in the event, ahead of 2014 Worlds vault bronze medalist and teammate MyKayla Skinner, who averaged 14.950. Biles ended on bars and scored a 15.100 to claim the all-around title. She placed fourth in the event behind 2014 Worlds teammate Madison Kocian, Douglas, and Key.[51]
At the 2015 U.S. National Championships, Biles secured her third all-around national title, becoming only the second woman ever to do so, 23 years after Kim Zmeskal (1990, 1991, 1992).[52]
Biles, along with Douglas, Dowell, Kocian, Nichols, Raisman, and Skinner, was selected to represent the United States at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Biles once again qualified in first place in the all-around, vault, beam, and floor finals. Her uneven bars score would have qualified her in eighth place in that final as well, but she was excluded, as per the rules, after teammates Kocian and Douglas qualified ahead of her. In team finals, she helped the United States team win their third consecutive gold medal at a World Championships event.[53] During the all-around final, Biles performed below her usual standard, taking a large hop on the vault, landing out of bounds on floor (which she stated was a first[54]), and grasping the beam to prevent a fall. However, her final score of 60.399 was more than enough to secure the title with her largest margin of victory yet (over a point ahead of silver medalist Gabby Douglas and bronze medalist Larisa Iordache).[55] With that victory, Biles became the first woman to win three consecutive all-around titles in World Gymnastics Championships history.[56] During day one of event finals, Biles competed on vault, taking bronze behind Maria Paseka (RUS) and Hong Un Jong (PRK). On day two, she competed on balance beam and floor exercise, retaining her world title on both events by large margins. This brought Biles's total World Championships medal count to 14, the most for any American, and total gold medal count to ten, the most for any woman in World Championships history.
Sponsors and endorsements
Biles signed with the Octagon sports agency in July 2015, which also markets fellow American gymnast Aly Raisman and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.[202] In November 2015, she announced on Twitter her sponsorship by Nike.[203] On November 23, 2015, she signed a deal to allow GK Elite Sportswear to sell a line of leotards bearing her name.[204] Later in 2015, Biles signed a deal with Core Power to become a spokesperson on its Everyday Awesome team of athletes.[205] In August 2016, Kellogg's put the Final Five's picture on the Gold Medal Edition of Special berries; the back of the box showed Biles with one of her Rio gold medals.[206] After the 2016 Rio games, Biles signed deals to endorse Procter & Gamble, The Hershey Company, and United Airlines.[205] In September 2016, Biles became a spokesperson for Mattress Firm's program of supporting foster homes.[207] In 2016, Biles signed a deal with Spieth America to create a line of gymnastics equipment, and another to become a spokesperson for Beats By Dr Dre.[208] In 2018, she worked with Caboodles to create and market products for women with active lifestyles.[209] In April 2021, Biles announced that she was leaving Nike for a new apparel sponsorship with the Gap's Athleta brand.[210][211]
Personal life
Relationships
Biles was in a relationship with fellow gymnast Stacey Ervin Jr. from August 2017 to March 2020.[212][213]
She started dating professional American football player Jonathan Owens in August 2020.[214] Biles announced her engagement to Owens on February 15, 2022.[215][216] They married on April 22, 2023.[217]
In October 2013, Biles had surgery for bone spurs in her right tibia, sidelining her for three weeks.[218]
In 2014, Biles had a shoulder injury that led her to withdraw from the March 2014 American Cup.[218]
In September 2017, Biles spoke about having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after her medical records were leaked online, revealing that she had been taking Ritalin (methylphenidate) to treat the condition during the Olympics. Having been diagnosed as a child, she had previously disclosed her condition to the World Anti-Doping Agency and obtained a medical exemption, allowing her to take the medication during competition. Biles said that ADHD is "nothing to be ashamed of and nothing that I'm afraid to let people know."[219][220][221]
In 2018, Biles suffered a broken toe and a kidney stone.[218]
Media related to Simone Biles at Wikimedia Commons