Simone Biles in The Gentlewoman

 

Simone Biles

back-flipping, gold-winning, ever-smiling

Text by Horacio Silva
Portraits by Alasdair McLellan
Styling by Jonathan Kaye

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Issue nº 16, Autumn & Winter 2017

No one who watched the Rio Olympics will forget the astonishing acrobatics of the sunny four-foot-eight powerhouse gymnast from the USA. Simone Biles captured hearts and minds (not to mention a great many medals) at the 2016 Summer Games, somersaulting into the sporting stratosphere as the star-spangled poster girl for a new era of gymnastics. But for all her game-changing virtuosity, Simone is a down-to-earth 20-year-old from Texas with a natural gift of the gab. 

The resurrection of Simone Biles

Simone Biles, during one of her exercises in the team final.FRANCISCO SECO

PARIS 2024

The resurrection of Simone Biles

The gymnast is once again the star of the U.S. team and of the Olympic Games. She is back and will end her journey in the world of sports only when she decides to

Paloma del Río
31 July 2024

By now, everything has already been said about Simone Biles. That she was born into a broken home, that it was her grandfather who, with his second wife, adopted Simone and her sister Adria, and that she grew up happy and athletic doing gymnastics from the age of six. She joined the national team very early on due to her talent and began to stand out in “minor” competitions until she was old enough to be part of the U.S. senior team. The coach at the time, Martha Karoly (wife of Bela Karoly, coach and discoverer of Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton) included her in the national team for the 2014 World Championships in Antwerp, and at the age of 16 she was proclaimed world champion, a title she has won six times. She has won 30 medals at World Championships, of which 23 are gold, far surpassing the second gymnast with the most medals, Vitaly Sherbo, an Olympic champion in Barcelona 92. She was champion of the United States on nine occasions. And she arrived in Paris with seven Olympic medals, tied with Shannon Miller.