On Thursday, she got the gold medal to go with it.
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The American stood head and shoulders above all her rivals on Thursday after she was crowned Olympic all-around champion.
Only Nadia Comaneci, who won three gold medals at the 1976 Olympics, even enters the conversation.
Without skipping a beat, Biles tweeted back that North merely needed a Simone Biles leotard from company GK Elite to be “my mini me!” However, she is known globally for being the first woman to win three consecutive world all-around titles.
No, Biles will never have an overall medal haul that will stack up with Michael Phelps. She is the GOAT.
The experience of USA team mate Gabby Douglas, who won the all-around women’s gymnastics event at the 2012 London Games, suggests it is tricky to balance the surge in attention with intensive training.
But that commitment to excellence was not something USA Gymnastics national team coordinator Martha Karolyi felt about Biles when Karolyi saw her the first time about five or six years ago.
By the time she left the floor after recording the highest score of the night, 15.933, Biles had already achieved sporting immortality by becoming the first woman in 20 years to win back-to-back world and Olympic all around titles. The last women to earn spots on back-to-back Olympic teams were Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes, who contributed to the 2000 squad after winning gold four years earlier.
For Biles, another step in what may be the best women’s gymnastic career of all time. “So I would think that gymnasts are the greatest athletes”.
And just like that, Biles crowned herself as the GOAT, but don’t you dare compare her to Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt. That would be five gold medals. No other gymnast can do what Biles can, leaving the Spring native with a huge advantage in the difficultly score.
Teammate Aly Raisman, who took silver, knew Biles would take the title by a comfortable margin.
But Raisman threw herself back into training and, despite a few bumpy performances at world championships past year, showed up this summer looking physically and mentally stronger than she did in her first attempt at 18. Aliya Mustafina won the bronze award.
She launched her challenge by nailing a hard Amanar vault scoring 15.866 despite a wobbly landing to lead Raisman by 0.233. She came from behind in the final 50 meters, and her reaction says it all.
Taking you step by step through Biles’ routines – nearly flawless on the vault, a tad less ideal on the bars, riveting on the beam, jaw-dropping on the floor – should be left to the experts.
“The longevity at this level, three world championships and an Olympic Games, I don’t think is precedented”.
Competing in event finals will be Biles on vault, Madison Kocian and Gabby Douglas on uneven bars, Biles and Laurie Hernandez on balance beam and Biles and Raisman on floor exercise.
Karolyi called Biles a “force of nature”. Then their attention turned to her. Biles, I told Seitz, was incredible.
“I was thinking, ‘I’ve finally done it, ‘ and when that hits you, you can’t stop the emotions”.
Biles was asked how she wants to spend her post-Olympic break. It was meant as a joke. “And you have to be fearless”, Boorman said as she matter-of-factly made the case. It is one thing to come in with a lot of pressure and it is another to completely deliver and she gets better when the lights come on.
“Well, obviously, yes!” she said with emphasis, as if to say, “Duh!”
She is one of the few gymnasts who hit the Amanar – the big vault that only Biles and a few other women can do – and gives an entertaining Beyonce-inspired floor routine, which was a medley of “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies”, including choreography from the iconic music video.
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As for Aly, she rallied towards a great comeback during the second rotation after only scoring in fourth place.
