Olympic champion Simone Biles has done it again. When competing Saturday in Kansas City at the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, she became the first gymnast to land a double-twisting, double-somersault maneuver.
Biles, 22, is decorated in just about every imaginable way in the sports of gymnastics. Gold in individual all-around, vault and floor in 2016 alone alongside a litany of Olympic medals and championships to boot, quite simply she is one of the best to have ever graced a gym. Her career highlights will grace the Hall of Fame:
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- Olympic Gold medalist in vault, floor, Individual and Team all-around, Bronze medalist on Beam at 2016 Rio Olympics
- Won the all-around by a 2.1 margin of victory, larger than the margins of victory from 1980-2012 combined
- First woman gymnast to win three consecutive World all-around titles
- Most World Championship gold medals won by a female gymnast in history (10)
- Most decorated World Championship American gymnast with 14 total medals (10 gold, two silver, two bronze)
- First woman to capture four gold medals at a single World Championships (2014 & 2015) since the Soviet Union’s Ludmilla Tourischeva in 1974
- First female African-American all-around world champion
- Undefeated in the all-around competition since 2013
- First American woman in 23 years to win three all-around national titles
- Honored as the 2014 Women’s Sports Foundation’s “Sportswoman of the Year”
- Named Olympic Athlete of the Year by the USOC 2015
- Named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 2016
- L’Equipe Championne des championnes monde 2016
- Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports ‘Favorite Newcomer’ Award 2016
- BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year 2016
- Glamour’s ‘The Record Breaker’ Woman of the Year 2016
- One of the Most Influential People in the World list by TIME magazine
- Shorty Award recipient for Best in Sports
Simone Biles is also an accomplished author. Her book, ‘Courage to Soar’, details her life and dream to accomplish everything in the world of gymnastics. Per the release:
“Simone Biles’ entrance into the world of gymnastics may have started on a daycare field trip in her hometown of Spring, Texas, but her God-given talent, passion, and perseverance have made her one of the top gymnasts in the world, as well as a four-time winner of Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro.
But there is more to Simone than the nineteen medals — fourteen of them gold — and the Olympic successes. Through years of hard work and determination, she has relied on her faith and family to stay focused and positive, while having fun competing at the highest level and doing what she loves. Here, in her own words, Simone takes you through the events, challenges, and trials that carried her from an early childhood in foster care to a coveted spot on the 2016 Olympic team.
Along the way, Simone shares the details of her inspiring personal story — one filled with the kinds of daily acts of courage that led her, and can lead you, to even the most unlikely of dreams.”
Information regarding purchase can be found here through her official website.
