The Profile Dossier: Simone Biles, the Greatest Gymnast in History
"I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I'm the first Simone Biles."
Simone Biles consistently does the impossible — and then some.
At 24 years old, she's broken just about every record there is to break. She boasts 25 World Championship medals, four never-before-done moves named after her, and jaw-dropping performances time and time again.
Biles currently has four signature moves that have been named after her: one on vault, one on balance beam, and two on floor exercise:
Vault - "Biles": Yurchenko half on with two twists (Cheng plus a half twist)
Beam - "Biles": Double-double dismount (Double-twisting double backflip)
Floor Exercise - "Biles": Double layout half out
Floor Exercise - "Biles II": Triple-double (Double backflip with three twists)
"She is, without question, the most dominant gymnast in the history of the sport," said two-time Olympic gold medalist and current ESPN gymnastics analyst Bart Conner. "She's doing the most difficult gymnastics ever attempted, and she does it effortlessly. She's the perfect gymnast for the perfect time."
So what exactly makes Biles such a dominant athlete whose competition pales next to her seemingly superhuman ability? It's a combination of elements that make her ideally suited for her sport.
In addition to her strength, balance, coordination, and precise muscle control, Biles has extraordinary technique that she has perfected over the years. Check it out in slow motion:
Although her physical dominance is impressive, her mental game is often overlooked. According to her coaches, Biles can calm herself under extreme pressure. "She is so strong mentally," said one of Biles' coaches Cecile Canqueteau-Landi. "She won't give up, she focuses well and she's very hard on herself."
Born in 1997, Biles and her three siblings were in and out of foster care because their birth mother was unable to care for them, and their birth father left the family. In 2000, three-year-old Simone and her younger sister, Adria, were adopted by their maternal grandfather Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie.
“Her mother had many problems with drugs or alcohol,” Ron Biles said in an interview. “We took them in as family because they were family. And just gave them what we had: That was love and encouragement.”
Even as a young child, Biles's energy was palpable. On a daycare field trip at age 6, Biles visited a gym where she saw older girls doing gymnastics for the first time. She began imitating them, and the coaches were impressed at her ability to pick up the moves quickly. They wrote a note to her family, urging them to sign her up for gymnastics classes.
By age 14, Biles was unstoppable. She left public school to be homeschooled and began training for six to eight hours a day. She made her Olympic debut at age 16, where she won individual gold medals in all-around, vault and floor; bronze in balance beam; and gold as part of the United States team, dubbed the "Final Five."
Since then, Biles has set a new standard of performance in the sport, and she's considered one of the greatest and most dominant gymnasts of all time — but she's not done yet.
"I’ve already done quite a lot, but I’m still trying to reach new heights and see what I’m capable of,” says Biles, who is set to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
READ.
On becoming the GOAT: Biles is the greatest gymnast in history. But there's always room for perfecting a new skill. As she prepares for the Olympics this summer, Biles is doing something she's never quite done in the past — approaching her sport with a newfound joy.
On finding grace under pressure: In a year when the nation erupted in protests after the murder of George Floyd, a different tragedy loomed over the Biles family — an incident that resulted in murder charges against her brother, Tevin Biles-Thomas. Prosecutors had set out to prove that he was responsible for the shooting deaths of three men at a 2018 New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland. He maintained he was innocent. Tevin was on trial, just as Simone was preparing to return to competition. Here's how she deals with the mental and physical pressure of being in the public eye. This is one of the best profiles on Biles.
On overcoming trauma: Biles won her fifth all-around international title in October, making her the most decorated gymnast in World Championship history. In this profile, Biles opens up about overcoming sexual abuse, dealing with the postponing of the Olympics, and training in the midst of a global pandemic.
On how she became Simone Biles: In this memoir, Biles takes the reader on a journey through the events, challenges, and trials that carried her from an early childhood in foster care to a coveted spot on the 2016 Olympic team. (Note that it can be a bit jargon-heavy at times).
LISTEN.
On personal gratification: What makes Biles the greatest of all time? In this podcast, the hosts look back on her historic national performance and interview her about what continues to fuel her love for gymnastics. "The first time around, I felt pressure to make other people happy," she says. "But this time around, I can do it just for myself so I feel a little bit happier. I don't have anything to prove to anybody."
WATCH.
On the biggest lessons she's learned: Gymnastics has dominated Biles's entire life. The biggest lesson she's learned is perseverance. "You may have a lot of setbacks, but it's important to never give up on your dreams," she says. In this masterclass, she talks about overcoming fear, doubt, and mental blocks.
TECHNIQUES TO TRY.
Set concrete goals: Don't leave achievement up to chance. Each year, starting at a young age, Biles and her mom would sit down together and write down her goals. She would write her short-term and long-term goals in concrete terms. "There are always little steps that you have to get before you reach the bigger goal, and sometimes it’s easier to see it if you write it down on paper," she says.
Learn how to keep your fear in check: Heart racing. Sweating. Shaking. Dry mouth. Nausea. Rapid breathing. All of these symptoms are signs of anxiety, and they happen to even the most elite athletes. Biles has developed several techniques to keep her nerves at bay. When she's lacking confidence, things can "get a little bit dangerous" because her doubts may lead to a misstep that causes serious injury. Before a big event, she begins positive self-talk or engaging in open body language that helps her re-gain her confidence. She also does a mental rehearsal in which she visualizes herself arriving at the gym, doing her warm-up stretches, and seeing people cheering her on. The mental preparation is just as crucial as the physical.
Find a mental outlet: Biles has been an outspoken proponent of seeing a licensed therapist, but she also explains that journaling has been a game-changer for her mental health. She's been journaling since childhood when a coach encouraged her to keep one in her locker. Each day after practice, Biles would write about the specifics of her workout. Biles said she enjoyed having a written record of her thoughts, feelings, and progress over the years as an athlete. "It's just really neat to see your perspective at that age, and what you were working on, and the skills you wanted to get, and then you get to check them off," she says.
There is no light without darkness: Even though she's in the public eye, Biles is a relatively private person. We may see the glitz and the glamour, but it's hard to know what Biles is grappling with mentally. For one, she dealt with years in foster care, she overcame the trauma of being sexually abused by disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar, and she recently dealt with her brother being charged with murder in a triple homicide (he was later acquitted). In spite of it all, she persists in achieving on and off the mat. "Knowing what it means to have the odds stacked against you, I believe it is my duty to provide assistance to those most in need," she said. Biles launched a scholarship fund for foster kids and others in need, which helps with the costs associated with earning college degrees. Biles understands the power of her platform, and she uses it as a tool for good.
You have to make your own luck: When a gymnast is on the four-inch balance beam, there is a lot of room for error. Generally speaking, luck should play a really big role in the sport of gymnastics where you could nail every move but lose your balance momentarily and fall off the beam. But Biles leaves zero percent of her performance up to chance. As one writer notes about watching her in the Olympics: "When the skill gap is so large, the influence of the luck on the outcome drastically diminishes. Biles’ margin of victory was so great that she could have fallen off the balance beam (a full one-point deduction) and still won." I'll leave you with this quote from Biles about how she views the effect of luck in the sport of gymnastics: "You have to make your own luck," she says. "You make it in practice and with your training and conditioning."
QUOTES TO REMEMBER.
"I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I'm the first Simone Biles."
"I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all."
"At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day."
"I was built this way for a reason, so I'm going to use it."
"You don't have to be serious all the time to do a good job."
"Being a gymnast means having the strength to hold on and the courage to let go."
"If you're having fun, that's when the best memories are built."
"If they said, 'Do five pull-ups,' I would always want to do 10."
"We can push ourselves further. We always have more to give."
"If you aren't committed to training, conditioning and practice, you aren't committed to being your best."
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