Paris Olympics Simone Biles eyes gymnastics GOAT tag as she targets more history at Games
- She dazzled at the 2016 Rio Games, winning gold in all-around, vault, floor exercise and team events, before mental health issues in Tokyo
Simone Biles is headed to Paris poised to cement her legacy as gymnastics’ Greatest of All Time, an Olympic icon who transcends her sport in both triumph and defeat.
The diminutive dynamo dazzled at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro 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 her events as she struggled with the disorienting and “petrifying” mental block gymnasts call the “twisties”.
Hailed by many as a trailblazer for mental health but criticised by a few as a quitter, at the age of 27 Biles has returned from a two-year hiatus as good as ever.
In 2023 she took her number of world and Olympic medals to 37 – a tally she started with her first all-around world title in 2013, when she was just 16.
Now the holder of a record six world all-around crowns, Biles remains a must-see sensation, even among such superstars as NBA legend LeBron James and pop diva Taylor Swift.