Simone Biles Gold and Suni Lee Bronze Medalists in Paris

Simone Biles Overcomes Adversity to Win Gold

PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles huddled with Sunisa Lee. She looked to her husband Jonathan Owens in the stands. Lost in the moment. And maybe a touch frantic.

The American gymnastics star knew she was trailing Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour through two rotations during the Olympic all-around final Thursday.

After a sloppy uneven bars routine that included a mistake Biles can never remember making in competition, she sat in a chair, closed her eyes, ignored the sea of cameras around her, and attempted to refocus.

She and Lee tried to do the math. How bad was it? They weren’t sure. It had been a long time since it was this tight.

Overcoming Stress and Competition

Biles checked with Owens, who reassured Biles that she was fine, even though she was in third. His wife of 15 months might not have believed him in the moment.

“I’ve just never been so stressed before,” Biles said.

Maybe because she hadn’t been pushed — not in a long time anyway — the way Andrade pushed inside an electric Bercy Arena.

Yet the jitters eventually faded. The 27-year-old who is redefining what a gymnast can do and how long she can do it went to work.

Breaking Records and Making History

One stoic beam routine and one floor exercise that is unlike anything ever done in her sport later, Biles found herself accepting a gold medal from IOC president Thomas Bach for a second time, this time with Lee standing next to her with a bronze.

Eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Biles was a teenage prodigy. Now, she’s an icon. One who remains peerless even when she’s not perfect.

Biles now has nine Olympic medals, six of them gold. And while she says she doesn’t keep track of these things, she sort of does.

Impact on the Sport

The sport then is not what it is now. The days of “little girls in pretty boxes” are long gone. Biles has fueled that transformation one performance at a time. There’s a reason stars like the U.S. men’s basketball team and Kendall Jenner flock to watch her Thursday.

When Biles tried to downplay her impact, Lee corrected her.

Mental Health and Advocacy

She’s a vocal advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and the importance of proper mental health. She met virtually with her therapist before the Americans won gold in the team final on Tuesday. They kept their regular Thursday appointment too.

Biles relied on the internal work she’s done over the years after that rocky bars routine. She sat with her legs crossed on a chair in her blue sequined leotard and joked she was “praying to every single God out there.”

Setting a Standard

Biles has said repeatedly over the last three years that what happened in Tokyo is a part of her past, not her present, and if critics have a problem with it, that’s their issue, not hers. She’s moved on to bigger things. Like setting a standard that may never be reached.

There is only one Simone Biles.