Simone Biles

At 27 years old, Simone Biles has this physical status:

Simone Arianne Biles (born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast.

Biles is the 2016 Olympic individual all-around, vault and floor gold medalist, and a bronze medalist in balance beam.

Biles, a five-time World all-around champion (2013–19), three-time World floor exercise champion (2013–19), a member of the 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and a participant in the gold-medal winning American teams (2013–19).

In addition, she is a three-time World silver medalist (2013 and 2014 on vault, 2017 on uneven bars), as well as a three-time World bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 2013 and 2018 on balance beam).

Biles is the most decorated American gymnast and the third most decorated gymnast of all time, behind Vitaly Scherbo (33 medals) and Larisa Latynina (32 medals) with a combined total of thirty Olympic and World Championship medals.

In October 2019, Biles defeated Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo's record 23 world medals (both gold and bronze) at the World Championships in Stuttgart, as well as the female gymnast with the most World all-around titles (5).

Biles is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, as the first gymnast since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles concurrently.

She is the tenth gymnast and first American gymnast to win a World medal in every sport, as well as the first gymnast to face Daniela Siliva. We achieved this feat at the 2018 World Championships in 1988, where I won a medal on every sport at a single Olympic Games or World Championships.

Biles was the "greatest gymnast ever," according to Olympic Champion Mary Lou Retton, and several other observers have shared this sentiment.

Early life and education

Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, on March 14, 1997, as the third of four siblings. Shanon Biles, her birth mother, was unable to care for Simone or her other children – Adria, Ashley, and Tevin. Both four children were in and out of foster care.

Since learning that his grandchildren had been in foster care, Biles' maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, began temporarily caring for Shanon's children in Spring, Texas. Simone and her younger sister Adria were officially adopted by the couple in 2003. The two oldest children were adopted by Ron's sister, Shanon's aunt Harriet. Biles' adopted mother still holds Belizean citizenship and refers to Belize as her second home. Biles and her families are Catholic.

Biles attended Benfer Elementary School in Harris County. Biles converted from public school to homeschool in 2012, allowing her to advance her training from 20 to 32 hours a week. She completed all of her secondary education as a homeschooler, graduating in mid-2015. On August 4, 2014, Biles verbally committed to UCLA. She planned to postpone enrollment until the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in November 2014, she signed her National Letter of Intent with UCLA. She announced on July 29, 2015, that she would work as a professional and forfeit her NCAA status to compete for UCLA.

Personal life

From August 2017 to March 2020, Biles was in a friendship with fellow gymnast Stacey Ervin Jr. Since August 2020, she has been in a professional football player Jonathan Owens. On February 15, 2022, Biles confirmed her engagement to Owens.

Biles underwent bone spurs in her right tibia bone in October 2013, resulting in a three-week sideline.

Biles suffered with a shoulder injury in 2014, resulting in their withdrawal from the American Cup in March 2014.

After her medical records were leaked online, Biles admitted that she had been taking Ritalin (methylphenidate), which was used to treat the condition during the Olympics, she opened up about her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She had previously disclosed her illness to the World Anti-Doping Agency and gained a medical exemption, allowing her to take the drug during competitions. ADHD is "nothing to be ashamed of" and nothing that she is reluctant to reveal in Biles' address.

Biles sustained a fractured toe in 2018. She also suffered from a kidney stone.

Former USA Gymnastics professor Larry Nassar, D.O., was confirmed on Twitter on January 18, 2018. She had been sexually assaulted by a woman. She also argued that USA Gymnastics was involved in the violence's occurrence and then covering it up. She did not attend court hearings from January 16 to August 24, 2018, citing that she was "not physically fit to face Larry Nassar again." Biles and the other survivors of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award were announced in May 2018. Biles crafted and wore a teal leotard at the 2018 U.S. National Championships, a sign of unification. Biles testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 15, 2021, saying that USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee "failed to do their jobs." McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman, three of her national team teammates, testified with her.

Source

Gymnastics career

Biles first attempted gymnastics at the age of 6 during a day-care field trip. The instructors recommended that she continue with gymnastics. Biles are soon enrolling in a Bannon's Gymnastics optional training program. At age eight, she started training with coach Aimee Boorman.

Biles started her professional career at the 2011 American Classic in Houston, on July 1, 2011. She was ranked third on all-around, first on the vault and balance beam, fourth on floor exercise, and eighth on uneven bars. Biles finished fifth on balance beam and floor exercises at the 2011 United States Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where she placed 20th all-around, fifth on balance beam and floor exercises.

The American Classic, hosted in Huntsville, Texas, was Biles' first meeting of the year. She was first all-around and on vault, tied for second on floor exercise, third on balance beam, and fourth on uneven bars.

Biles' participation in the American Classic earned her a spot in the 2012 USA Gymnastics National Championships. She then competed in the 2012 U.S. Classic in Chicago. She finished first all-around and on vault, second on floor exercise, and sixth on balance beam. In June, she made her second appearance at the United States National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. She was third all-around, first on vault, and sixth on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercises. Biles was invited to the United States after this success. The National Team Coordinator, Márta Károlyi, is on the junior National Team in a committee headed by Márta Károlyi, the National Team Coordinator (2001–2016).

Biles' first international debut came at the 2013 American Cup, a FIG World Cup event. Elizabeth Price and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross were named as replacements for her and Katelyn Ohashi, both of whom were forced to withdraw from the sport due to injuries. Biles led for two rotations but finished second behind her colleague, Ohashi, after a fall off the beam.

The 2013 City of Jesolo Trophy champions traveled to Jesolo, Italy. In addition to competing for the gold medal with the US team, she also competed in the all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercises titles. She and the US delegation of Chemnitz, Germany, defeated teams from Germany and Romania in an international tri-meet. The United States received the team gold medal. In addition, Biles captured the vault, balance beam, and floor races, and finished second in the all-around championship, behind Kyla Ross, who suffered in the uneven bars.

Biles participated in the 2013 United States Classic in July. After twisting her ankle on the floor, she did not do well, falling several times, and did not qualify for vault after twisting her ankle on the ground exercise. Following this poor showing, Biles consulted with a sports psychologist who credited with alleviating her anxiety and self-confidence as well as allowing her to reclaim her sport's dominance.

In August, Biles competed at the 2013 USA Gymnastics National Championships, where she was named the national all-around champion. On all four individual competitions, Biles also took home silver. 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 squad.

In October, Biles represented the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics 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 finals, making her the first American gymnast to qualify for the all-around and all four event finals since Shannon Miller in 1991. Biles won the women's individual all-around competition with a score of 60.216, nearly a point higher than silver medalist Ross, and almost a point and a half better than bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina.

Biles, the sixth American woman and the first African American to win the world all-around championship, at the age of 16. In the event finals, she earned silver on the vault, behind defending world champion and Olympic silver medalist McKayla Maroney, and bronze on balance beam, ahead of Italy's Vanessa Ferrari and Romania's Larisa Iordache. She came fourth in the uneven bars final, behind China's Huang Huidan, Ross, and Mustafina.

Biles did not get off to the start of the season due to injury, and they were unable to participate in the 2014 AT&T American Cup and the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships. She made her debut at the U.S. Classic in Chicago last year. She won the all-around by a wide margin, as well as first place on vault, beam (tied with Ross) and floor. Despite a drop from the balance beam during her final routine of the meet, Biles remained national all-around champion after two days of action, more than four points ahead of silver medalist Ross. She took gold on vault and floor, tied for the silver on balance beam with Alyssa Baumann, and placed fourth on the uneven bars. She was again selected for the Senior National Team.

Biles was selected to represent the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Nanning, China, on September 17. Despite a significant failure in the uneven bars, she won first place in the all-around, vault, beam, and floor finals, in addition to being a participant in the U.S. team's first-place qualification into the team final. Biles led the US to its second consecutive world team championship, defeating the second-place Chinese team by almost seven points during the team's second straight world championship. Biles won her second straight world all-around title ahead of Ross and Romanian Larisa Iordache in the all-around. Following Miller (1993 and 1994), Biles became the second American woman to repeat as a world all-around champion, as well as the first woman of any nationality to do so since Russia's Svetlana Khorkina (2001 and 2003). Biles finished second in the vault competition behind North Korea's Hong Un Jong for her second straight silver medal in the event. She captured the gold in the balance-beam final in China, just weeks before Iordache. This brought her total number of World Championship gold medals to six, the most by an American gymnast, beating Miller's five.

On March 7, the Biles played at the 2015 AT&T American Cup in Arlington, Texas, where they met. With a score of 62.299, 4.467 points ahead of second-place finisher MyKayla Skinner, she came in first, placing her 62.299, 4.467 points ahead of second-place finisher MyKayla Skinner. Biles was nominated for the James E. Sullivan Award later this month. She came home on the last month in the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy, winning the all-around title with 62.100.

She appeared in the U.S. Classic on July 25 and finished first in the all-around, a step ahead of 2012 Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas and Maggie Nichols, who finished first, with a score of 62.400. She earned a 15.250 on the beam and finished first at the competition, ahead of Douglas and 2012 Olympic beam bronze medalist Aly Raisman. She scored a 16.050 on the floor and finished first on the competition, 1.050 points ahead of Douglas and well 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 earn an average of 15.575 and finish first in the event, ahead of 2014 Worlds vault bronze medalist and teammate MyKayla Skinner, who averaged 14.950. Biles finished on paroles and scored a 15.100 to win the all-around title. Madison Kocian, Douglas, and Key finished fourth in the competition, behind 2014 Worlds teammate Madison Kocian, Douglas, and Key.

Biles captured her third national championship in 2015, becoming the second woman to do so, 23 years after Kim Zmeskal (1990, 1991, 1992).

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. The Biles were also ranked in first place in the all-around, vault, beam, and floor finals. Her uneven bars results should have placed her in eighth place in the final, but she was barred, as required by the rules, after coworkers Kocian and Douglas qualified ahead of her. She helped the United States team win their third straight gold medal at a World Championships event. Biles did not do well in the all-around final, taking a big hop on the vault, landing out of bounds on the floor (which she described as the first) and grasping the beam to prevent a fall. However, her final score of 60.399 was more than enough to win the award with the largest margin of victory yet (over a point ahead of silver medalist Gabby Douglas and bronze medalist Larisa Iordache). Biles became the first woman to win three straight all-around titles in World Gymnastics Championships history. Biles competed on vault on day one of the event finals, finishing third behind Maria Paseka (RUS) and Hong Un Jong (PRK). She competed on balance beam and floor exercise on day two, retaining her world title by large margins. Biles' total World Championship medal count increased to 14, the most for any American, and the most for any woman in World Championships history.

Biles started her career in April in the Pacific Rim Championships, where she earned the all-around title and achieved the highest vault mark (where she debuted a new floor routine) and balance beam, where she debuted a new floor routine). In addition, the United States captured the team title by a wide margin. Biles did not qualify for the event finals. Biles appeared at the Secret U.S. Classic on June 4, only on two occasions, the uneven bars and beam. She came first on balance beam with a 15.650 and a fifth on uneven bars with a 15.1.

Biles retained the all-around championship by a 3.9 percentage over Aly Raisman in the following weeks. She won the gold medal on vaulting and floor exercises, with scores of at least 16 points on all four occasions. She earned the gold medal in balance beam and placed fourth on uneven bars.

Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman were among the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics team members named on July 10.

Following the hack into the World Anti Doping Agency by Russian cyber espionage company Fancy Bear's hack into the Russian cyber espionage organisation Fancy Bear's in September 2016, Biles' medical records were announced and she was accused of doping to raise success. Biles then confirmed on Twitter that she has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and was allowed to prescribe drugs for it after applying for and receiving a Therapeutic Use Exemption.

In a Tide commercial titled "The Evolution of Power" prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics, Biles appeared with gymnasts Dominique Dawes and Nadia Comanteci.

Biles qualified in the Women's Qualification at the 2016 Summer Olympics on August 7, which was the first time in the Women's Qualification. Along with assisting the US team in qualifying for the first time in the world's second-place team, China), she also qualified as the best gymnast in four of the five individual finals: the all-around with a score of 62.416, vault with an average score of 15.633, and floor exercise with a score of 15.733.

Biles claimed her first Olympic gold medal in the gymnastics team competition on August 9. With a score of 184.897, the only gymnast for Team USA to participate in all four events, 61.833 on vault, 15.800 on beam, 15.800 on beam, and 15.800 on floor), the Americans defeated the gold medalists.

On August 11, Biles claimed gold in the individual all-around competition, ahead of teammate Aly Raisman and Russia's Aliya Mustafina. Biles finished with a score of 62.198 on the vault, 14.966 on the uneven bars, 15.433 on the balance beam, and 15.933 on the ground, with 15.866 on the vault and 15.866 on the floor. Biles had the best scores on vault, balance beam, and floor, but she had the lowest score over 15 on balance beam in the finals. Since Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson in 2008, she and Raisman became the second pair of American gymnasts to win gold and silver in the individual all-around.

She earned her second individual gold medal, beating second-place finisher Maria Paseka of Russia and third-place finisher Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland in the vault final.

She grabbed the beam with her hands in the balance beam final after underrotating her front tuck and scoring a 14.733. Despite her mistake, she earned the bronze medal alongside Laurie Hernandez (who won silver with a score of 15.333) and Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands (who won the gold medal scoring 15.466).

She earned gold in the floor exercise final with a score of 15.966. Aly Raisman of the United Kingdom won silver with a score of 15.500, while Great Britain's Amy Tinkler of 12.933 received bronze. For the first time since 1984, Biles' five total medals were won alongside Madison Kocian's silver medal on the uneven bars.

Biles set an American record for the most gold medals in women's gymnastics at a single Games, as well as a number of other previous records with her Rio medals. After Larisa Latynina (USSR, 1956), Agnes Keleti (CZE, 1968) and Szabo, the first example of a quadruple gold medalist in women's gymnastics at a single Games since Ecaterina Szabo (Romania) in 1984, and fifth overall, after Larisa Latynina (CZE, 1964) and Szabo. Biles became the sixth female gymnast to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, the others being Larisa Latynina, Vra slavsk, Ludmilla Tourischeneva, Elena Shushunova, and Lilia Podkopayeva. In 1996, Biles became the first female gymnast to win gold in the all-around as well as an event final, as the first female gymnast since Podkopayeva (UKR) won gold in the Olympic all-around championship while also winning the European and American individual all-around championships. Biles is the fourth female gymnast to win every major all-around championship in an Olympic cycle, with Latynina (1956–1968) and Tourischeva (1968–1972) as the fourth female gymnast to win every major all-around championship in an Olympic cycle.

In 1984, Shannon Miller in 1992, and Nastia Liukin in 2008 in five women's gymnastics medals at a single Olympiad, as well as Szabo (ROU, 1984), Nadia Comaneci (East Germany, 1972). In 1984, Olga Mostepanova (USSR) received five gold medals at the Alternate Olympics. The overall record for the majority of women's Olympic gymnastics medals at a single games (majority gold), remains six medals (Latynina, 1956, Caslavska, 1988), Daniela Silivas, 1988).

At the same Olympiad, Biles and her colleague, Gabby Douglas, are the only American female gymnasts to win both the individual all-around gold and team gold. Douglas won both in the 2012 London Games.

Biles was selected by Team USA to be the flag bearer in the closing ceremonies, becoming the first female gymnast to be honoured.

In 2017, the Biles did not qualify.

She co-wrote an autobiography with journalist Michelle Burford, from Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance after the 2016 Rio Games. "I want people to reach for their dreams," Biles said, "and I want to pass on the love and encouragement to readers." The book debuted on the New York Times' best sellers Young Adult list this week and was turned into a Lifetime biopic.

Biles played on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars, attempting to imitate Rio teammate Laurie Hernandez's triumph in season 23. She was expected to win with professional dancer Sasha Farber, but she was disqualified on May 15, 2017, one week before the finals, ending in fourth place.

Biles said in August that she had returned to the gym to begin training. Aimee Boorman, her longtime coach, had joined Florida with her family; in October, Biles recruited Laurent Landi, who had worked with Olympic teammate Madison Kocian.

Following the viewing of new clips of Biles' appearances on the Athlete Selection Committee, she was welcomed back to the National Team on March 1st. In July, she captured the all-around title, beating Riley McCusker by 1.200 points in her first competition of the year. She also won the gold medal on the floor and balance beam, while still achieving the highest single vault score. Despite a drop in the uneven bars and a penalty on floor exercise out of bounds, she maintained her all-around score of 58.700, the highest score ever recorded under the 2017–2020 Code of Points. She made several changes to her routines from 2016, including a Fabrichnova (double-twisting double dismount) and a Van Leeuwen on uneven bars, as well as a Moors (double-twisting double layout) on floor exercise.

Biles competed at the 2018 National Championships in August. She came in first place in every event over the course of two days of competition, becoming the first woman to do so after Dominique Dawes in 1994. Biles won the all-around title 6.55 points ahead of second-place finisher and reigning world champion Morgan Hurd, who set a new record for the most national all-around titles with five. In addition, this was her fourth national vault title, third national balance beam and floor exercise titles, and first national uneven bars title. Her 60.100 all-around score from the first day of competition was the first score to score over 60 points since her own all-around victory at the 2016 Olympics. She was selected to her seventh national team and was invited to the 2018 World Championships' October selection camp.

The mixed multi-discipline teams were selected for gymnastics legends, including Biles, Nadia Computeci, and Khei Uchimura. Biles' team captured gold medals.

Biles participated in the World Team Selection Camp in October. She came in first on the all-around, as well as first on vault and floor exercises. She came in second on the uneven bars behind McCusker and fourth on balance beam (due to hands touching the mat on dismount) behind Kara Eaker, McCusker, and Ragan Smith. Biles introduced a new vault: a Yurchenko with a half turn to the table with a stretched salto forward off with two full twists (Cheng with an extra half twist). McCusker, Hurd, Grace McCallum, Eaker, Eaker, and alternate Ragan Smith were among the squad members selected to compete at the 2018 World Championships the following day.

Biles went to an emergency room in Doha, Qatar, late October, due to stomach pains that turned out to be a kidney stone. She checked herself out of the hospital after determining that it wasn't appendicitis. She qualified in first place on the all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise finals, as well as in second place behind Nina Derwael of Belgium. After completing the vault at the selection camp and earning a difficulty value of 6.4, which tied for the most difficult women's vault ever competed, it was awarded the Biles in the Code of Points and ranked 6.4 (for the 2017–2020 series of points). In addition, the United States qualified to the team final in first place. Biles competed on all four events, winning the highest score of any competitor on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise during the team's finals. The United States team captured the gold medal with a score of 171.629, 8.766 points ahead of second place Russia in the open-ended code of points, beating previous records in the open-ended world championships (6.693) and the 2016 Summer Olympics (8.209).

Despite losing on both the vault and the balance beam, Biles took the gold medal by a margin of 1.7 points in the all-around final. Morgan Hurd, a silver medalist Mai Murakami of Japan and bronze medalist Morgan Hurd, were unable to achieve the title due to the overwhelming difficulty difference between her and her opponents, who won the title with a score of 57.491. Biles won her fourth world all-around title, smashing the previous record of three women's World All-Around titles held by Svetlana Khorkina. She was also the first female all-around champion to win a world all-around title since 1972 Olympic champion Lyudmilla Turischeva won one in 1974.

Biles received a gold medal on vault in the event finals, her first world vault title. A Cheng and an Amanar were competing in the two vaults. Biles had won the most Gymnastics World Championships titles of any gender, defeating Soviet Vitaly Scherbo's previous record of twelve gold medals. She then gained a silver medal on uneven bars, second only to Nina Derwael of Belgium. Biles became the first American and the tenth female gymnast from any nation to have won a World Championship medal on every event by winning a medal on uneven bars. After a lengthy balance check on her Barani, she captured bronze medal on balance beam behind Liu Tingting of China and Ana Padurariu of Canada the next day. With a steady routine, she captured the gold medal in floor exercise. She became the first female gymnast and first non-Soviet gymnast to win a medal at a single World Championships, as well as the first gymnast from any country to do so since Elena Shushunova in 1987. She had 6 medals at the World Championships, raising her total number of world medals won to 20, tied for the most world medals won.

Biles won the Stuttgart World Cup in early March, her first World Cup appearance not on American soil. She came in first place, 3.668 points ahead of second-place Ana Padurariu of Canada.

Biles appeared at the 2019 GK US Classic in July. During podium preparations, she attempted a triple-twisting salto backwards (upgraded from a Silivas), but she did not perform it during the competition. Biles dominated the all-around, 2.1 points ahead of second-place finisher Riley McCusker. She came in fifth on bars behind Morgan Hurd, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum and McCusker, third third on beam behind Kara Eaker and McCusker, and first on floor exercise. She also had the highest single vault rating before Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner, who tied for the highest single vault score.

Biles competed at the 2019 National Gymnastics Championships in August. She came in first in the all-around with a two-day combined score of 118.500. She was the first woman to complete a triple twisting double somersault on floor exercise and the first gymnast to complete a double twisting double somersault dismount off of the balance beam for the first time in the tournament. She finished first on vault, ahead of Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner, first on balance beam, and third on uneven bars behind Carey and Sunisa Lee.

Biles qualified first in the all-around trials in September, finishing first in the all-around despite losing on her dismount from the uneven bars, earning a spot on the team that will compete in the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. Sunisa Lee, Kara Eaker, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum were among her teammates on the team's roster the following day.

Biles was instrumental in qualifying at the World Championships, helping the USA advance to the team final in first place, over five points ahead of second-place China. She qualified to the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise finals in first place, the vault final in second place by a small margin over teammate Jade Carey, and the uneven bars final in seventh place. The Biles II on floor exercise, a triple-twisting double-tucked somersault, and the Biles on balance beam, a double-twisting double-tuck somersault dismount, were among her debuting two new eponymous abilities. Both elements were given the highest difficulty rating of J (1.0) for all components of their respective apparatus, and the Biles II is the only component in artistic gymnastics to be granted the J rating in both men and women.

Biles led Team USA to its fifth consecutive team championship, scoring 15.400, 14.400, 14.433, and 15.333 on vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercises, respectively, in the team final. Biles defeated Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina as the most decorated female gymnast in World Championship history in doing so. Her vault, balance beam, and floor exercises were all high on the day. During the all-around final, the Biles took gold with a score of 58.999, a record-breaking 2.1 points ahead of second-place finisher Tang Xijing of China. She posted the highest scores of the day on vault, balance beam, and floor exercises once more.

Biles won the gold medal on vault on the first day of the event finals, ahead of teammate Carey and Ellie Downie of Great Britain. Biles tied for the most medals won at the World Championships with Soviet/Belarus gymnast Vitaly Scherbo after winning a medal on vault, her 23rd World Championships medal. Biles finished in fifth place in a time of controversy, one tenth behind bronze medalist and teammate Sunisa Lee.

Biles earned the gold medal over reigning World balance beam Champion Liu Tingting and Li Shijia, both of China, by more than 0.6 points on the second day of the event finals. This was Biles' 24th World Championship medal, beating Scherbo's record and making Biles the sole record holder for the most World Championship medals won by a gymnast, male or female. Biles praised her improved beam in the last year in the event finals at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2018 World Championships, giving her increased confidence on beam in the past year. Biles and Landi cut back on mismatched abilities, such as the Barani, front pike, and front tuck saltos, and replaced them with skills such as an aerial cartwheel (which Biles had not achieved since 2014) and the upgraded Biles dismount.

Biles earned gold medal on floor exercise, one point more than silver medalist Lee. Biles tied for the most gold medals won at a single World Championships in Stuttgart with Larisa Latynina and Boris Shakhlin, who both achieved this at the 1958 World Championships. In addition, Biles set the record for most world championships on one apparatus with Italian Jury Chechi (who earned five gold medals on still rings) and Russian Svetlana Khorkina (who captured five gold medals on uneven bars).

Biles was selected to represent the United States in the Tokyo World Cup, which will take place on April 4. However, USA Gymnastics announced in March that Biles would not attend due to a national and international pandemic, including Japan. The Japanese Gymnastics Association announced on the following day that they had cancelled the competition.

Biles competed at the United States Classic in May. On her way to another U.S. Classic all-around title, she debuted a Yurchenko double pike vault, which no woman had ever achieved before. The new vault was valued at 6.6, making it the most valuable vault in women's gymnastics.

Biles earned her 7th national all-around title and qualified for the Olympic Trials in June. Biles also placed first in the vault, balance beam, and floor exercises, as well as third in the uneven bars, in addition to winning the all-around title by 4.7 points. Biles finished first at the Olympic trials and gained an automatic spot on the Olympic team. Lee earned 2.266 points over second-place finisher Sunisa Lee, but Lee's day two all-around score (58.166), which was the first time anyone has posted a higher single-day all-around rating than Biles since Kyla Ross in 2013. Jordan Chiles, Lee, Biles' club teammate, and Grace McCallum were among the Olympic team members selected to the team.

Biles, who was all-around during the qualification process, helped the United States qualify for the team final, a second behind the ROC team in second place. During her screening, she had several mishaps, including landing on one of her tumbling passes and stepped one foot off the landing mat during her Cheng vault, and she took several falls back on her balance beam dismount. Despite all of his stumbles, Biles is now preparing for the all-around final in first place. She also qualified for the balance beam and uneven bars finals in first place, qualifying for the vault final and advanced to the floor exercise final in second place behind Vanessa Ferrari. She was the first woman to qualify for all of the individual finals.

Following her qualification results, Biles posted on Instagram that she was "[feeling] the burden of the world [her] shoulders" and that the Olympic pressure had harmed her.

Biles balked on her Amanar vault mid-air during warm-ups for the first rotation of the team final, turning 1.5 twists rather than the expected 2.5. She repeated this in the tournament, balking and executing the 1.5 twist with a wide lunge and near-fall on the landing, and scored just 13.766, which was lower than Amanar's 5.8). She then left the field (though she returned to the ground a few minutes later) and withdrew from the remainder of the team competition, citing mental health issues. Biles later revealed that she was inspired by fellow female Olympian Naomi Osaka, who had been barred from the French Open and Wimbledon Championships earlier this year for similar reasons. The US team went on to win the silver medal behind the ROC athletes. Biles was disqualified from the finals of the individual all-around competition on July 28, 2021, citing mental health issues as the reason. Following further medical treatment on July 30, she also dropped from the vault and uneven bars finals, both slated for the first day of the individual event finals. Biles also failed on the second day of individual event finals, citing a continuing mental blockade, but leaving the possibility of competing in the balance beam finals on the last day of the event finals. On August 2, she revealed that she would compete in the beam finals. Despite Biles' relatively easygoing routine, with a faster double pike dismount in the beam final, she took the bronze medal behind China's Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing. Shannon Miller tied for the most Olympic medals won by an American female gymnast with seven total medals. Biles also tied Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union for the most medals won by a female gymnast of all time, winning 32 combined World and Olympic medals. She ranked her bronze beam medal as her most meaningful one because it reflected her commitment to mental stability and perseverance. Biles later discovered that her aunt had died unexpectedly two days before the final of the beam event.

Biles explained that she drew mainly because of "the twisties," a psychological condition that can cause a gymnast to lose air space when performing twisting elements during the Olympics. She noted that although it was not the first time she had seen the twisties on vault or floor, it was the first time she had seen them on uneven bars and balance beams. Biles opted to withdraw after the first rotation of the team final because she felt she had "simply lost [her] security as well as a team medal." Biles could train at their gym, which is an hour outside of Tokyo, where she could safely practice away from the public eye for the week.

Biles was chastised by some commentators, accusing her of being a "quitter" or selfishly depriving another athlete of the opportunity to compete. She was also slandered in Russian state-owned media for making racist, misogyn, and transphobic remarks, as well as being publicly accused of being a drug addict thanks to her Therapeutic Use Exemption for ADHD drugs. However, several gymnasts defended Biles' decision and told their own stories of dealing with the twisties. Biles' decision to prioritize her mental health was generally applauded and credited with the beginning of a broader discussion regarding mental health in sports. Other Olympians in Tokyo, alongside Biles, demonstrated increased willingness to address and publicly acknowledge mental health issues in addition to a more general interest in sport in which athletes are prioritizing their wellbeing over success.

Source