Simone Biles is officially heading back to the Olympics. To nobody’s surprise, Biles will lead the US gymnastics team in the Tokyo Olympics next month after putting on a show at the US Olympic trials in St. Louis over the weekend. The only surprising thing is that she didn’t come in first when it comes to the all-around score, due to a few mistakes on the bar and floor exercise, Sunisa Lee had the best all-around score at the trials.
“I kind of got in my head today and started doubting myself,” Biles said, per CBS News. “And you could see that in the gymnastics. But just go home, work harder. This is just the beginning of the journey.” Along with Biles and Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, MyKayla Skinner and Jade Carey will also compete in Tokyo. Kayla DiCello, Kara Eaker, Leanne Wong and Emma Malabuyo will serve as alternates.
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Biles will enter the Tokyo games with a lot of momentum. Earlier this month, Biles, 24, won her record seventh national women’s all-around gymnastics title in Fort Worth Texas. “I feel like I did try to enjoy it because it could be one of my last championships that I’ll attend,” Biles said. “But it’s also the road to Tokyo, and after this we have trials, so we just have to really embrace the moment.”
In 2019, Biles became the most decorated gymnast in world championships history. She now has 25 world championship medals with 19 of those being gold. And in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Biles won four gold medals and one bronze, and all of those medals make her arguably the greatest gymnast of all time.
Olympic legend Dominique Dawes recently spoke to PopCulture.com about what makes Biles great. “I love that she’s so ballsy,” Dawes told PopCulture. “I love that she has a goat on her leotard. I was never that confident. I was never the greatest of all time, but I love that about her. But really, I will say what I love more about Simone Biles versus her athletic achievements is her being so vocal, her being so honest, her being so truthful about her experiences, and what she does not like about the sport of gymnastics and how it does need to change.”
