Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Simone Biles Has the Best Response to Olympic Critics
“They’ll still say like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re going to quit again?" the athlete said of the comments she still hears after stepping back from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Simone Biles is tuning out her critics ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It’s been three years since Biles, gymnastics’ record-breaking golden girl, was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics after experiencing a dangerous mental block known as the twisties.
Since then, Biles has devoted more time to her mental health, married Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens and proved her dominance once again in the sport she loves, taking home the world championship all-around title in 2023 and breezily earning the top spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
RELATED: Simone Biles & Husband Jonathan Owens Look So Happy Wearing Matching Team USA PJs
Simone Claps Back
Biles is ready to return to her third Olympic Games later this month at the age of 27 stronger than ever, but as she recently told The Associated Press, not everyone is ready to let her forget her troubles in Tokyo.
“They’ll still say like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re going to quit again? Or are you going to quit again?’ And like, and ‘If I did, what are you going to do about it? Tweet me some more?’” she told the outlet after the Olympic Trials. “Like I’ve already dealt with it for three years. But yeah, they want to see us fail.”
Biles is taking the criticism in stride, yet she admitted there was an “unfairness” to people remembering her struggle over her decade-long career full of victories. Biles has earned the distinction as the most decorated gymnast in history, with 37 world or Olympic medals to her name, according to NBCOlympics.com.
“I do think there’s an unfairness to it because you only watched it once and then if they fall it’s, ‘Oh she sucks’ and it’s like, ‘No, you’re still sitting on the couch and they’re still at the Olympics, what are you talking about they sucked? They’re the best in their country,’” Biles said of the often vocal critics who tune in every four years for the Olympics. “So it’s hard.”
Biles also touched on her critics — and the struggles she faced behind closed doors after Tokyo — in her new documentary Simone Biles Rising, premiering on Netflix July 17.
“People love to watch the come-up,” she said in the trailer. “As soon as you win, ‘God, I hate her.’”
RELATED: Team USA's Gymnastics Leotards Are Shimmering with Thousands of Crystals
Biles' Impact on Women’s Gymnastics
Biles has not only proved her own athletic prowess, but many attribute her efforts off the mat to helping to change the dynamic and culture within U.S. gymnastics. As a team leader, Biles is known to regularly cheer on her peers, talk openly about the pressures facing the world’s top athletes and encourage others to speak more openly to coaches and USA Gymnastics about their needs.
"I think now athletes are a little more in tune, and we trust what our gut is saying. We take mental health a little bit more serious," she told NPR after the trials.
She’s also helped bring a steady stream of new fans to the sport.
“What you see on TV doesn’t even do it justice,” Alicia Sacramone Quinn, the co-lead of the U.S. senior women’s program, told the AP. “Her gymnastics has brought such a larger pool of an audience because people want to see what she can do.”
While Biles may have some outspoken critics, she has an even greater pool of supporters eager to see her make history in Paris, including basketball legend LeBron James.
"She's the best," James, who will returning himself to the Olympics later this month, recently told ESPN. "It's that simple. She's the best."
As for Biles, she just focused on leaving it all out on the floor.
“I think with everything I’ve been through, I want to push the limits, I want to see how far I can go,” she told the AP. “I want to see what I’m still capable of so once I step away from this sport, I can truly be happy with my career and say I gave it my all.”
