Simone Biles

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, the third of four siblings. Her birth mother, Shanon Biles, was unable to care for Simone or her other children. All four went in and out of foster care. In 2000, Biles's maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, began caring temporarily for Shanon's children in Spring, Texas, after learning his grandchildren were in foster care. In 2003, the couple formally adopted Simone and her younger sister Adria. Biles first tried gymnastics at age 6 during a day-care field trip. The instructors suggested she continue with the sport, and Biles soon enrolled in an optional training program at Bannon's Gymnastics. She began training with coach Aimee Boorman at age eight. At the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, at age 16, Biles became the seventh American woman and the first African American to win the world all-around title. She won gold on floor exercise, silver on vault, and bronze on balance beam. In 2016, Biles led the gold medal-winning U.S. team dubbed the "Final Five" and won individual all-around and vault gold, floor exercise gold, and balance beam bronze. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she withdrew from most of the competition after the qualification round due to "the twisties", a temporary loss of proprioception while performing twisting elements. She won a silver medal with the U.S. team nicknamed the "Fighting Four". In 2024, she led the gold medal-winning U.S. team dubbed the "Golden Girls" and won individual all-around and vault gold, floor exercise silver, and balance beam bronze.

In Their Own Story

At the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Biles qualified first in the all-around, second to the vault final, sixth to the uneven bars final, fifth to the balance beam final, and first to the floor final, making her the first American gymnast to qualify to the all-around and all four event finals since Shannon Miller in 1991. Biles competed cleanly during the women's individual all-around and won the competition with a score of 60.216, almost a point ahead of silver medalist Kyla Ross, and almost a point and a half better than the bronze medalist, 2010 world all-around champion Aliya Mustafina. At the 2016 Olympic Games, Biles was a two-time gold medalist in the individual all-around and on vault, the 2016 champion on floor exercise, and a bronze medalist on balance beam. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition after the qualification round due to "the twisties". She won a silver medal with the U.S. team. At the 2024 Olympic Games, Biles won gold in the individual all-around and on vault, silver on floor exercise, and bronze on balance beam, and led the U.S. team to gold.

Reader's Guide

Biles is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the individual all-around (2016, 2024). She is also a two-time champion on vault (2016, 2024), the 2016 champion and 2024 silver medalist on floor exercise, and a two-time bronze medalist on balance beam (2016, 2020). She is the most-decorated gymnast of the World Championships, with 30 medals, all but seven gold. She is a six-time all-around champion (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2023), six-time floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), and four-time balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019, 2023), all record totals. She is also a two-time vault champion (2018–2019) and a member of a record five gold-medal-winning U.S. teams (2014–2015, 2018–2019, 2023). Domestically, Biles has won a record nine U.S. national all-around championships (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021, 2023–2024); in 2024, she became the oldest female gymnast to win the title. She is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the Olympics and the World Championships; she is the first since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously. She is the tenth woman and first American woman to win a World medal on every event, and the first woman since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympics or World Championships.

Did You Know?

• Biles is the originator of the most difficult skill on women's vault, balance beam, and floor exercise; so far, she is the only gymnast to attempt them.
• In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• In 2023, she won her eighth U.S. Gymnastics title, breaking the 90-year-old record held by Alfred Jochim.
• Biles holds Belizean citizenship through her adoptive mother and considers Belize to be her second home.
• She is the first American woman to win a World medal on every event.