Simone Biles, with two Paris Olympics gold medals and counting, has cemented her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time — an athlete who transcends her sport in both triumph and defeat.
The diminutive dynamo dazzled at the 2016 Rio Games, winning gold in all-around, vault, floor exercise and team events.
She arrived at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics with superstar billing and history in her sights, but withdrew from most of events as she struggled with the disorienting and “petrifying” mental block that gymnasts call the “twisties”.
Hailed by many as a mental health trailblazer but criticised by a few as a quitter, Biles has returned from a two-year hiatus, at the age of 27, as good as or even better than ever.
She has laid the ghosts of Tokyo to rest, leading the United States to a resounding team gold in Paris and following up by becoming, at 27, the oldest woman in 72 years to win Olympic all-around gold. Biles shook off a disastrous uneven bars routine that had her trailing at the halfway point to edge Brazilian Rebeca Andrade for all-around gold on Thursday.
She is the third woman to capture more than one Olympic all-around title and the first to do so in non-consecutive Olympics.
Biles now has six Olympic gold medals and nine medals total. Her tally of world and Olympic medals is a jaw-dropping 39 — 29 of them gold.
The American, who started that cache with her first all-around world title in 2013, when she was just 16, remains a must-see sensation. Her competitions at Bercy Arena have drawn stars from Hollywood and the world of sport and billionaire entrepeneurs as well as legions of young girls thrilled to see their idol.
On Thursday, Biles suggested the glamorous turnout was a celebration of an Olympics freed of the Covid restrictions that made Tokyo a sterile affair.
Pop icon Taylor Swift took a moment during her Eras tour in Europe to tweet her approval when Biles chose a phrase from Swift’s “Ready For It?” to kick off her floor routine at the US Olympic trials.
Now she’s an elder stateswoman, and her more than 10 years of dominance have redefined a sport that now features five signature skills named for her.
Biles, who was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022, said she is as proud of her journey as she is of her athletic feats.
“Just to see where I’ve grown even from Tokyo and even from the 19-year-old from Rio is amazing,” Biles said after nabbing all-around gold.
