Welcome to our 26th Woman of the Week! With the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics, today we will be discussing Simone Biles, a black Gymnast! Enjoy!
Simone Biles is considered by many to be one of the greatest female gymnasts and the most decorated American gymnast. Partaking on the American Olympic team in 2016 and 2021, along with the World Championships in 2018 and 2019, the competitive 24 years old has literally broken records and built a formidable reputation not only as an American athlete, but a global athlete.
On March 14th, 1997, Simone Arianna Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio as the third of four children. Going in and out of foster care, Biles and her younger sister were adopted by their maternal grandparents while the eldest siblings were adopted by their aunt. Through her grandfather’s wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, Simone holds Belizean citizenship (Official Website). Biles’s first experience with gymnastics occurred at age 6 on a daycare trip; she was encouraged to continue the sport and trained with Coach Aimee Borman. Her junior elite career started in 2011 in which Biles partook and placed in floor exercise, balance beams, uneven bars, and vault. Her junior career ended in 2013 while her senior elite career began.
Biles debuted her senior career in March 2013 in the American Cup, finishing in second place behind Katelyn Ohashi (both were replacements for Elizabeth Price and Kyla Ross). Later that year, she traveled with the American team to competitions in Europe such as the City of Jesolo Trophy and an international Tri-Meet in Chemnitz Germany, where she won the balance beam, vault, and floor titles in addition to the second place in the all-around. At 16, Biles became the first African American woman to win the world all around title. Most famously, is Biles’ achievements in the 2016 Olympics as the winner of four gold medals and the only American gymnast to compete in all four events(vault, bars, beam, floor). Biles was the first instance of a quadruple gold medalist since the 1984 Olympics and set the American record for most gold medals in gymnastics. She is the fourth female gymnast to be able to take all major all-around titles over an Olympic cycle.
Simone Biles has a long list of gymnastics titles that’ll get longer with time, especially with the 2021 Olympics. As for the sport itself, two vault skills have been associated with her name, along with one vault and one beam. However, her lasting legacy does not only stem from the shimmering gold, but also stems from the true root of her trailblazing success. Self discipline and drive enables her to go above and beyond to improve her technical and graceful skills - this mentality is not confined to gymnastics, but rather flexible enough for any athlete to apply.
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