Simone Biles: Gymnast, Olympian, Superhuman. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for Simone Biles’ career moments so far, exploring her stunning successes both in and away from gymnastic competitions that turned her into a US legend.
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00:00And of course, the superstar of gymnastics, Simone Biles.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for Simone Biles' career moments so far,
00:12exploring her stunning successes both in and away from gymnastics competitions
00:17that turned her into a U.S. legend.
00:19The hashtag on that Instagram from years ago was brave about you,
00:22because it's what you've always been, but I think that this just brought it so into focus.
00:26Number 10, age is just a number.
00:30I can't believe I'm about to say this, but at 27 years old,
00:33you are the oldest female American gymnast since the 1950s to head to the Olympics.
00:40After her performance in the trials,
00:43Biles officially booked her place at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
00:47With that achievement, she's set to be the oldest United States gymnast since 1952,
00:53at the ancient age of 27.
00:56The oldest national competitor back then was 35-year-old Marie Hoseley.
01:01If Biles manages to take a top position,
01:03she'll become the most senior Olympic gold medalist in U.S. history.
01:07But yeah, it is crazy. I'm a lot older. I'm more mature.
01:11Um, what was the rest of the question?
01:13Just kind of...
01:13I'm forgetting.
01:14If she wants to be the oldest in Olympic history to get gold,
01:17the iconic gymnast will have to defeat Oscar Swan, who was 64 in 1912.
01:23On top of that, if Biles were to take one more medal in Paris,
01:27she'd move above Shannon Miller to become
01:29the most successful U.S. Olympic gymnast with eight medals.
01:32I knew I wasn't done after the performances in Tokyo,
01:35so just getting back in the gym and working hard and
01:38trusting the process with Cecile and Laurent, I knew I'd be back.
01:41Number 9. Dancing with the Stars
01:49After taking a medal haul at the 2016 Olympics,
01:52Biles took a break from the rigors of competitive gymnastics.
01:55Instead, she co-wrote her autobiography, Courage to Soar,
01:59A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance.
02:02In 2017, the Ohio-born athlete then signed up for Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars.
02:16Teaming with professional Sasha Farber, they were immediately one of the favorites to win.
02:21And they didn't disappoint as the duo was a big success,
02:25scoring consistently high from the judges.
02:27As such, it was shocking that they were eliminated in the semifinal, finishing fourth,
02:32especially as they had two perfect scores from their jive and Roomba.
02:37Justice for Biles and Farber.
02:52Number 8. Promoting ADHD
02:56In 2016, shortly after the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
03:00Russian hackers released the medical records of the athletes.
03:04The information showed that Biles had tested positive for methylphenidate, aka Ritalin.
03:10While this is usually a banned substance,
03:12the therapeutic use exemptions allow athletes to take it if they have a medical condition.
03:22Sadly, Biles was unable to make this announcement in her own time.
03:34Instead, she was forced to disclose her ADHD diagnosis publicly.
03:38On social media, the star gymnast was defiant by seeing having the disorder or taking medicine for
03:44it was nothing to be ashamed of, and that she's not afraid of people knowing her condition.
03:51Number 7. Creating Gymnastic Elements
04:00This is a tumbling pass that you would see on the floor, and she does it on four inches wide.
04:06It's also the hardest dismount in the world, and I'm the only one that does it.
04:10When you reach the pinnacle of your sport,
04:12you're able to have moves that you created named after you,
04:15such as Johan Cruyff creating the Cruyff Turn.
04:19Biles is no exception to this, as she has developed several gymnastic elements,
04:23many of which are ridiculously difficult.
04:26I've seen some of my guy friends try it, but they never land it, so they get really upset.
04:31In 2018, she landed a Biles on the vault at the World Championships.
04:36Having developed it in 2021, Biles upgraded the element into the Biles 2,
04:41a Yurchenko double pike vault at the 2023 World Championships.
04:46She became the first woman in history to land this astonishing maneuver.
04:50The gymnast also has elements named after her in the balance beam and floor exercise.
04:55The latter involved the Biles 2, which was given the highest difficulty rating of J.
05:07Number 6. Using Her Upbringing to Help Others
05:11Representation matters, and me being a former foster kid, we kind of integrated that in so
05:17that people could get a deeper look inside of what I hold very near and dear to my heart.
05:23While she has all the success today, Biles' early life was vastly different. Born in 1997,
05:29her mother was unable to look after Biles and her three siblings due to substance issues.
05:34As such, the kids spent some time in foster care, and some time out of it.
05:39I just remember us as kids being so hungry, and then I just remember this cat that would get fed
05:45and not quite us. And so we were taken, and thankfully we actually got to stay
05:52in one foster home and we were all together.
05:54By 2000, after discovering what had happened to the children,
05:57their grandparents took them in. Eventually, they adopted Biles and her younger sister,
06:03while the other siblings were adopted by their grandfather's sister.
06:06With that upbringing, Biles has been working with the non-profit organization
06:10Friends of the Children to share her experience. The group helps ambitious kids who face systemic
06:16obstacles by teaming them with a mentor to support them on their journey.
06:20And hopefully, those kids out there listening get to be like, wow, I can be somebody and
06:26this doesn't have to hold me back. You can still dream big and do amazing things.
06:31Number 5. Record-breaking at the World Championships
06:35Biles is a record-breaking machine. One of her best was at the 2019 World Championships.
06:41On top of collecting five golds, her medal collection in the competition was increased
06:45to a whopping 25. That's the highest number of prizes for any athlete, male or female, at Worlds.
06:53I'm excited with my performances I put out today. Obviously didn't medal on bars,
06:57but going into today, slim chance I was going to medal. I just wanted to hit a good routine,
07:02and I did, so I'm proud of the performances.
07:04She defeated Vitaly Zhurbo, who had held 23 since 1996.
07:10Yet before this astonishing success at Worlds, Biles broke another record at the competition in
07:152015. And she's done it! 15.266. Simone Biles is again the World Champion.
07:24She took the top prize in the all-around final, becoming the first woman to win it three times
07:29in a row. That same year, Biles was the first woman in 23 years to win three consecutive
07:35all-around titles at the U.S. National Championships too. I don't even think I can wrap my
07:40mind around it yet, but hopefully it'll set in soon, and I know what I've done,
07:45but it hasn't actually hit me yet. Number 4. First Olympic Gold
07:49You know, you want a moment like this to be punctuated
07:53by one of your best routines of your life, and that certainly was for Simone.
07:57No highlights of an Olympic athlete would be complete without them reaching a milestone by
08:01claiming their first gold. However, Biles broke the mold by not only achieving this,
08:06but it was also the top prize. And we have a feeling that the anthem Simone Biles is about
08:12to hear may not be the last time she will stand atop the medal podium here in Rio.
08:18At the 2016 Olympics, as part of the U.S. women's team nicknamed the Final Five,
08:23the group destroyed the competition to claim gold in the women's artistic team all-around.
08:28But Biles wasn't done.
08:30This has been her destiny all along.
08:35She followed this two days later with her first solo gold in the women's artistic individual
08:41all-around. This rapid ascent has seen her collect four golds,
08:44one silver, and two bronze medals at the Olympics so far.
08:48I heard America's going crazy.
08:51We are. We would have a big pizza party. We know you love pizza.
08:54We'll have a big pizza party right here in Times Square for you.
08:58Number three, putting mental health first.
09:00From the outside, athletes seem infallible, able to pull off seemingly superhuman feats.
09:07Yet underneath all that skill, we often forget they're human.
09:10They're like, are you okay? Are you okay? And I'm trying to convince myself I'm okay,
09:13so I don't need you asking me if I'm okay. Because I'm okay. Listen, I'm okay.
09:17We're great.
09:18Like, everything is not okay.
09:21At the 2020 Olympics, which were performed in 2021 due to the pandemic,
09:25Biles withdrew during the U.S.'s silver-winning women's artistic team all-around event.
09:30She stated she made the decision due to struggles with her mental health,
09:34the pressure of competing at the Olympics, and experiencing the twisties, also known as the yips.
09:40The best way I could describe it is every day you drive a car.
09:43If one day you woke up and you had no idea how to drive a car,
09:46your legs are going crazy, you have no control over your body,
09:48that's kind of how it feels like. You've been doing something for so long,
09:51and you now no longer have control.
09:54After withdrawing from several other events, Biles did compete in the balance beam,
09:58getting a bronze, which meant the world to her since she lost her aunt two days before.
10:04The sporting world was filled with praise for Biles for putting a
10:07spotlight on athletes' mental health.
10:09I feel like it impacts everybody and affects everybody on a daily basis.
10:14So if I can be a barrier breaker for that, then I'm going to do it.
10:18Number two, speaking about assault.
10:21Nelson Mandela once said,
10:24there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.
10:31It is the power of that statement that compels and empowers me to be here in front of you today.
10:36For 18 years, Larry Nassar was the team doctor for the United States women's national gymnastics
10:42team. During that time, he abused his power to assault hundreds of athletes in his care.
10:48From 2017 to 2018, Nassar was sentenced for his various heinous crimes in several court cases,
10:55essentially being sent to jail for the rest of his life.
10:58I have many defendants come back here and show me the great things they've done in their lives
11:03after probation, after parole. I don't find that's possible with you.
11:09Biles courageously spoke publicly about her experience of being assaulted by Nassar.
11:14In 2021, she testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she criticized the system,
11:20as well as the USA Gymnastics and the Olympic and Paralympic Committee,
11:24for allowing Nassar to get away with his crimes for so long.
11:28To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar, and I also blame
11:32him. An entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse.
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11:55Number 1. Most Decorated Gymnast in History
11:59The work that she has put in to get back to this level,
12:02I mean, she's arguably better than she was when she left.
12:06In 2023, Biles proved to the world why she's in the running to be considered one of the
12:11greatest gymnasts to ever grace the sport professionally. At the World Artistic
12:16Gymnastics Championships, she won the top prize in the individual all-around. With that,
12:22she became the most decorated gymnast in history, with 34 medals in Worlds and Olympics altogether,
12:29beating another Vitaly Zherbo record that had stood since 1996.
12:34So I just, I don't know, just being excited, being back out here competing, having fun,
12:39having that pressure again, all the things.
12:41But Biles didn't finish there. She added an additional three golds at the same event,
12:46taking her outstanding medal collection to 37. At the time of writing, on top of her seven Olympic
12:53medals, Biles has won 23 golds, four silvers, and three bronzes at Worlds.
12:59It's gold for Simone Biles! 14.533. She takes the all-around title in the style of the champion
13:10that she is.
13:11Which other Olympians do you want us to give a similar spotlight to?
13:15Michael Phelps, Alison Felix, Katie Ledecky, Jim Thorpe, or someone else?
13:20Let us know in the comments.
13:22Normally, the separations between first and second place could be three-tenths or five-tenths,
13:26and she goes out and wins by one or two points.
13:30Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo,
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