- Simone Biles is returning to the U.S. women’s gymnastics Olympic team for 2024 after withdrawing from competition at the 2021 Olympics in Japan.
- Biles leads the team as the oldest American woman to compete on an Olympic gymnastics team since the 1950s, at 27 years old.
- Biles married Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023 and the two are building a house in the northern suburbs of Houston that they hope to move into shortly after Biles returns from Paris.
They all had a reason to come back. Each of them.
Simone Biles to forget those harrowing two weeks in Japan three years ago, when the gymnastics superstar prioritized her mental health and safety over her glory, a decision that inspired some and infuriated others.
Suni Lee to prove – perhaps to herself most of all – that the all-around gold medal she won while Biles watched from the stands was no fluke.
HALL OF FAME GYMNAST WENDY HILLIARD REFLECTS ON REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES ON THE WORLD STAGE
Jordan Chiles will turn the team silver medal she helped secure at the 2020 Games into gold.
Jade Carey will officially be a member of the five-woman Olympic team after earning her spot in Tokyo as an individual qualifier, a path that wasn’t available to the United States this time around and, frankly, one she had no desire to explore again anyway.
They all return to the unique spotlight — oh, and also 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera — that only the sport’s biggest stage can provide.
From left, Joscelyn Roberson, Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Leanne Wong smile after being named to the 2024 Olympic team at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials on April 30 June 2024, in Minneapolis. . (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Their reasons are deeply personal. But their motivation is not.
“It’s definitely our redemption tour“I feel like we all have more to give,” Biles said after winning the U.S. Olympic trials Sunday night for her third appearance at the Games.
Perhaps none more so than Biles, who, at 27, is the oldest American to compete on an Olympic gymnastics team since the 1950s. She didn’t expect to still be doing it for nearly a decade after becoming a crossover sensation at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
And there she is. She still works. She continues to fight. Not to silence the critics who continue to mention her on social media wondering if she’ll “give up” again, but because she remains determined to make the most of her remarkable talent.
“No one is forcing me to do it,” said Biles, who scored a two-day total of 117.225, putting him in the all-around nearly six points ahead of Lee. “I wake up every day and I choose to train at the gym and come here to perform for myself. Just to remind myself that I can still do it. »
And doing it at a level that no one else in her sport – and when she’s at her best, perhaps in sport in general – can match.
Since Biles returned from a two-year break last summer, she never really doubted a trip to France. In the past 12 months, she won a sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national championships – both records – while performing the most difficult gymnastics of her life.
She will be the clear favorite when she takes to the pitch at Bercy Arena, even if she still has a lot of work to do before the women’s qualifications on July 28. However, there are things to resolve over the next four weeks.
Biles fell back after landing her Yurchenko double pike, a testament to both the difficulty of the jump and the immense power she generates during a skill that few male gymnasts attempt and even fewer pull off as cleanly .
She jumped off the beam after failing to land her side aerial, though she wasn’t as frustrated as she was during a botched performance Friday that left her uttering an expletive for the world to see.
Biles finished her floor exercise, her signature event, with flying colors. While she took a small step out of bounds, she also displayed an unmatched world-class tumbling that recently earned a glowing tribute from pop star Taylor Swift, whose song “Ready For It” opens Biles’ routine.
She stepped off the podium to a standing ovation, then sat at the top of the steps to enjoy the moment, in what could be her last competition on American soil for a while. Maybe even forever.
Biles has sidestepped questions about what lies ahead. It can wait. It’s been a long and winding road to get back to this moment. She plans to try to enjoy it while being part of a team that will have “a lot of weight on our shoulders.”
She feels that she and her teammates are in a better position to handle this situation.
“It’s really good that Tokyo gave us the opportunity to lead the way in this debate,” Biles said. “So I think the athletes are a little more in tune now and we just trust our instincts. »
And Biles had the instinct to come back, she had to do it on his terms. This meant taking intentional steps to ensure that her life was no longer defined by her gymnastics.
She married Chicago Bears guard Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023 and the two are building a house in the northern suburbs of Houston that they hope to move into soon after Biles returns from Paris.
Biles heads to France as perhaps the face of the U.S. Olympic movement, although she is well aware that among the millions watching next month will be checking to see if the demons that derailed her in Tokyo are resurfacing.
And even though she still experiences moments of anxiety, especially during last year’s world championships, she has put protective measures in place. She meets with a therapist every week, even during the competition season, something she didn’t do in preparation for the 2020 Games.
The Americans will take their oldest women’s team ever to the games, as Biles’ unrivaled longevity — she hasn’t lost a competition she started and finished since 2013 — and the relaxation of rules regarding the name, Image and likeness at the NCAA level allowed Carey (24), Chiles (23) and Lee (21) to continue competing while enjoying their newfound fame.
They drew on that experience in a sometimes grueling encounter that saw leading contenders Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello are coming out with leg injuries that left them out of the mix weeks before the potential realization of a lifelong dream.
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Watching her friends leave the arena in tears reminds her of how thin the line between success and failure can be. Biles has been on the right side of that line for longer than she thought. She’s going to try to make the most of it, despite the pressure.
She may have taken things too lightly in 2021. She intends to not let that happen this time around.
“I feel like success is what I make it,” she said. “I feel like right now I’ve been able to make it to the Olympic trials and be successful the Paris Olympic team. So we’ll see from there.
