Simone Biles News: U.S. Gymnast Completes Paris Olympics “Redemption Tour” With Four Medals
Simone Biles is leaving the Paris Olympics with three gold medals and one silver, making her an 11-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history.
After largely withdrawing from the Tokyo Games in 2020, Biles has bounced back, referring to her performance in this year’s Summer Olympics as her “redemption tour.” The 27-year-old gymnast took home the gold in the individual and team all-arounds, as well as the vault, during which she landed her signature double pike. Although Biles stumbled in the balance beam rotation and missed the podium, she ended competition with a silver medal for her floor routine.
“Obviously, it wasn’t my best performance, but at the end of the day, whoever medaled, medaled, and that’s what’s so exciting, because you just never know, it’s gymnastics,” Biles said after her final performance. “I’ve accomplished way more than my wildest dreams, not just at this Olympics, but in the sport, so I can’t be mad at my performances. A couple years ago, I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic Games, so competing and then walking away with four medals… I’m pretty proud of myself.”
While it was previously assumed that she would retire after the Paris Olympics, Biles isn’t ruling out competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. After winning the gold in the vault, Biles said, “Never say never.”
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, having won a record 41 Olympic and World Championship medals. The gymnastics prodigy was introduced to the sport at age 6 and began dominating at the junior elite level. Her career skyrocketed in 2013 when she won the U.S. and World Championships all-around titles in her first year at the senior elite level. Biles has now won six all-around World titles and nine all-around U.S. Championships titles; both are records in the sport. The three-time Olympian dazzled at the 2016 Rio Games, winning five medals, before medaling twice at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which she largely withdrew from for her mental health. After two years off from the sport, Biles returned to competition in August 2023 and earned four medals at 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She is married to NFL player Jonathan Owens.
Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. Due to their mother’s struggle with substance abuse, Biles and her siblings—sisters Adria and Ashley and brother Tevin—entered foster care when Simone was 3 years old. Within a few years, her grandfather Ron and grandmother Nellie stepped in to raise Simone and Adria in Spring, Texas. Ron and Nellie eventually adopted the two girls, and Ashley and Tevin were adopted by their great aunt.
Biles discovered her athletic abilities at an early age. When she was 6 years old, she visited a gymnastics center on a field trip with her day care group. “While there I imitated the other gymnasts, and Coach Ronnie noticed,” Biles said. “The gym sent home a letter requesting that I join tumbling or gymnastics.” Very soon, Biles was on her way to developing those natural gifts.
Simone Biles with her parents, Nellie and Ron, in November 2021
Nellie has been a constant source of support through Biles’ rise in the world of competitive athletics; as the gymnast told CNN, “She encourages me and never lets me feel down about something for too long.”
In August 2019, Biles was stunned to learn that her brother, Tevin Biles-Thomas, had been arrested on triple homicide charges in connection with fatal shootings at a New Year’s Eve party. “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” Biles tweeted. “There is nothing that I can say that will heal anyone’s pain, but I do want to express my sincere condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.” After an initial mistrial, an Ohio judge acquitted Tevin due to insufficient evidence and dismissed the charges against him in May 2021.
Biles, who stands 4 feet 8 inches tall, began competing as a level 8 gymnast in 2007, and by 2011, she had cemented her standing at the junior elite level. That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balance beam events and finished third in the all-around at the American Classic. She followed with an impressive series of showings in 2012, winning the vault and the all-around events at the American Classic, the Alamo Classic, the Houston National Invitational, and the Secret U.S. Classic. Watching Team USA win gold in the women’s team all-around at the 2012 London Olympics propelled her to think beyond her original goal of collegiate gymnastics.
Simone Biles competes in the floor exercise at the 2013 U.S. Championships, where she became the meet’s all-around winner.
Biles soon emerged as a force to be reckoned with at the senior elite level, bursting into the spotlight as the all-around winner at the 2013 U.S. P&G Championships. Also that year, she delivered a historic showing at the World Championships by becoming the first Black woman to win gold in the all-around. As she explained to The Hollywood Reporter, the victory likely served as an example to other young gymnasts: “I think it inspires a lot of the little girls out there to go in the gym and train harder,” she said.
Biles continued to build on her successes in 2014, again taking the U.S. and World titles in the all-around competition. She also won gold in vault, floor exercise, balance beam, and all-around at the Secret U.S. Classic that same year. During her floor routines, Biles often executed what has become one of her signature moves: a double layout flip with a half-twist.
In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third consecutive World all-around title, giving her a record 10 gold medals at the international competition. Considered one of the country’s top Olympic hopefuls, she then resumed training for Rio 2016 at World Champions Centre, which is owned by her family, in Spring, Texas.
In July 2016, Biles wowed gymnastics fans with an impressive performance at the Olympic trials, winning the all-around title and first in floor exercise and vault. With that, the 19-year-old secured her spot on the 2016 Olympic team.
On August 9, 2016, Biles led the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to win the gold. She earned an impressive 15.933 in the vault, a 15.3 on balance beam, and 15.8 for a crowd-pleasing floor routine in which she performed the Biles, her signature move comprised of a double layout flip with a half twist. The powerhouse gymnast shared the victory with Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman, a team known as “The Final Five.”
Raisman explained the meaning behind the team nickname on the Today Show: “We’re the Final Five because this is [coach] Marta [Karolyi’s] last Olympics, and without her none, of this would have been possible… We wanted to do it for her just because she’s there with us every single day.” She added: “This is the last Olympics where there’s a five-girl team. The next Olympics is only going to be a four-person team.”
The Final Five became the third American women’s gymnastic team to win gold, following team victories in 1996 and 2012. Afterward, Biles tweeted “dreams DO come true” and a photo of the U.S. team on the medal podium.
Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, and Simone Biles—dubbed the Final Five—celebrate winning gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Biles continued to dominate the Olympic solo competition. She won the women’s individual all-around gold medal with a final score of 62.198, cementing a 2.1 lead over Raisman’s silver medal performance. The historic margin of victory was larger than any gymnast from 1980 to 2012 combined. She also became the first woman in two decades to win back-to-back Olympic all-around and World titles.
Not done yet, Biles won gold again in vault with a score of 15.966 then a bronze medal in the balance beam with 14.733 points. During that event, she fought to maintain her balance in a rare stumble. “The rest of the routine was still pretty good,” the Olympian said, according to USA Today, “so I can’t be too disappointed in myself.” Her victorious run concluded in the floor exercise, where she took the gold in a brilliant 15.966-point performance that incorporated her eponymous signature move.
Earning five medals in all, Biles joined only three other gymnasts who have won four gold medals in a single Olympic Games: Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union in 1956, Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and Ecaterina Szabo of Romania in 1984.
After taking much of 2017 off, Biles returned to intensive training and resumed her place at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she swept all four events at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships to win the competition by a whopping 6.55 points and become the first woman to claim five national all-around titles.
Biles managed to outdo herself the following year by becoming the first gymnast to pull off a double-double dismount from the balance beam and the first woman to nail a triple-double in the floor exercise, making her sixth U.S. nationals win a mere formality.
Biles then claimed her fifth individual all-around gold at the World Championships in October 2019, pushing her total haul to a record-setting 25 World Championship medals.
On May 22, 2021, Biles made history as the first woman to successfully land the Yurchenko double pike move in competition at the GK US Classic in Indianapolis. The move, which is typically performed by male gymnasts, is a roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vault and ends with a piked double backflip for the landing. She has since landed the move at the 2023 U.S. Classic, the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The latter instance was the first time a female gymnast performed the skill at an international competition, and as a result, the move has been renamed the Biles.
It was no surprise when Biles earned a spot on her second Olympic squad in June 2021 ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But competing on the world stage this time around proved different. Unable to shake “the twisties,” when a gymnast dangerously loses awareness of their body midair, Biles shocked fans when she withdrew from the women’s team gymnastics final.
“I say put mental health first,” Biles said at a press conference after the team event. “Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport, and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to.”
Team USA ended up earning a silver medal after Biles’ exit. She also sat out the finals on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, as well as the individual all-around. The Olympic favorite did compete in the balance beam final, scoring 14.000, and earned a bronze medal.
Biles’ American teammate Suni Lee went on to win the individual all-around title.
“I literally felt like I was fighting my body and my body to do these tricks,” Biles said in an April 2024 interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “It’s just like your body, your brain opens up, [you] have no idea where you are.”
Her withdrawal from the Summer Games began an extended break from competition, during which she focused on her mental health and entered therapy.
Simone Biles competes in the uneven bars at the 2023 Core Hydration Classic, her first meet since 2021.
Biles continued her break from the sport for two years, but in early August 2023, she returned to competition at the Core Hydration Classic, previously known as the U.S. Classic. She won the all-around title by an astonishing 5 points, in addition to the floor and beam titles. “I feel really good about where I am right now, mentally and physically,” Biles said afterward. “I still think there are some things to work on in my routines, but for the first meet back, I would say it went pretty well. I’m very shocked and surprised.”
Her dominant performance at the Classic qualified her for the U.S. Championships later in the month, where she became the first gymnast to win eight national all-around titles and, at 26, the oldest woman to win a championship. Biles broke her tie for most national championships with the late Alfred Jochim, who earned his seventh all-around title in 1933. As with the Classic, Biles also took home titles in beam and floor exercise.
In October, she joined Team USA at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, her first international competition in two years. The American women notched their seventh consecutive World title, and Biles individually scored additional gold medals in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise. She also took silver in vault. With her new hardware, Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history.
In the first half of 2024, Biles won all-around titles at the Core Hydration Classic and the U.S. Championships, extending her record number of wins at the latter event to nine. On June 30, she similarly claimed victory at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, clinching her berth on Team USA for the Paris Games. Biles is the first American gymnast since 2000 to make three Olympic teams. Only Muriel Davis Grossfeld, Linda Metheny, and Dominique Dawes have previously achieved the feat.
When the 2024 Olympics began in late July, Biles started strong, posting the top score in vault and floor exercise during qualifying for the team all-around to give the United States the top seed entering the final. She completed the competition with a score of 14.666 in the floor exercise, sealing the fourth ever Team USA gold medal.
Two days later, Biles excelled on the balance beam and in floor exercise to claim her second individual all-around title, besting Rebecca Andrade of Brazil and American teammate Suni Lee for the gold. Her gold streak continued during the vault final when she landed her signature double pike move to reach the top of the podium once more.
At the Paris Games, Simone Biles landed the Biles, a double pike vault skill named after her, to win her 10th overall Olympic medal.
The final days of gymnastics competition in Paris were more challenging for Biles. She cheered on Lee during the uneven bars event after narrowly missing out on a competition spot by 0.168 points. Partway through her balance beam routine, Biles uncharacteristically fell off the beam and placed fifth. She entered her final event, floor exercise, with the most difficult start value, making her the heavy favorite. However during her routine, she twice landed out of bounds for a 0.6-point total deduction. The costly mistake meant Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade took gold as Biles earned a silver medal.
Biles acknowledged her successes and errors after the meet: “Obviously, it wasn’t my best performance, but at the end of the day, whoever medaled, medaled… A couple years ago, I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic Games, so competing and then walking away with four medals… I’m pretty proud of myself.”
Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history and has won 106 medals as of August 7, 2024. This includes:
Olympic medals: 11 (7 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
World Championships medals: 30 (23 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze)
U.S. Championships medals: 41 (33 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze)
U.S. Classic medals: 26 (22 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
The gymnastic powerhouse has won six all-around World titles, more than any other female gymnast, and a record nine all-around titles at U.S. Championships. Over the years, Biles has also won two World Challenge Cup titles and many medals as a junior elite gymnast. She also has five tricks named after her: two in floor exercise, two in vault, and one in balance beam.
The gym isn’t the only place Biles has earned recognition. In July 2022, Joe Biden presented Biles with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 2017, Biles joined the cast of the 24th season of Dancing with the Stars, on which she was paired with pro Sasha Farber. Despite impressing the judges with her moves, the Olympian was eliminated during the semifinals that May.
The gymnast is the subject of the four-part docuseries Simone Biles Rising, debuting on Netflix on July 17, 2024. The project follows Biles as she “balances her personal life, mental health journey and training” on her way to qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In January 2018, Biles revealed on Twitter that she was one of the many young women who had been molested by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who had recently been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges and 25 to 40 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct.
“Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper” she wrote. “For too long I’ve asked myself, ‘Was I too naive? Was it my fault?’ I now know the answers to those questions. No. No, it was not my fault. No, I will not and should not carry the guilt that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG, and others.”
Jonathan Owens and Simone Biles, seen here at a 2022 World Series game, got married in April 2023.
Biles is married NFL football player Jonathan Owens. The couple got engaged in February 2022 after going public as a couple in August 2020. They were married in a civil ceremony on April 21, 2023, before having a destination wedding in Mexico less than a month later on May 6.
The couple has been partially long-distance as Simone lives and trains in the Houston area, and Jonathan pursues his football career. He played for the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin at the start of their marriage before signing a two-year contract with the Chicago Bears in March 2024. They are building a home in Texas.
Biles’ total fortune is estimated to be around $25 million as of August 2024, according to Celebrity Net Worth. This is largely because of the valuable endorsement deals she received following the 2016 Olympics, including with companies such as United Airlines, The Hershey Company, and Oreo.
According to Sportico, Biles was the ninth-highest earning female athlete of 2023 with $8.5 million—nearly all as a result of sponsorships and speaking engagements.
