Simone Biles

Biles is the tenth female gymnast and first American female gymnast to win a World medal on every event, and the first female gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympic Games or World Championships.

In 2022, Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 2023, she won her eighth U.S. Gymnastics title, breaking the 90-year-old U.S. Gymnastics title record previously held by Alfred Jochim.

She holds the record for World all-around titles (6), and is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, the first since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously.

Simone Arianne Biles Owens (born Simone Arianne Biles; March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast.

The most decorated American gymnast in history, she is widely considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.

* Her seven Olympic gymnastics medals are ninth-most of all time and tied with Shannon Miller for the most by a U.S. gymnast.

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' maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, began caring temporarily for Shanon's children in the north Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, after learning his grandchildren were in foster care.

In 2003, the couple formally adopted Simone and her younger sister Adria.

Ron's sister, Shanon's aunt Harriet, adopted the two oldest children.

She holds Belizean citizenship through her adoptive mother and considers Belize to be her second home.

Biles and her family are Catholic.

Biles attended Benfer Elementary School in Harris County, Texas.

Biles began her elite gymnastics career at age 14 on July 1, 2011, at the 2011 American Classic in Houston.

She placed third all-around, first on vault and balance beam, fourth on floor exercise, and eighth on uneven bars.

Later that month, Biles competed at the 2011 U.S. Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where she placed 20th all-around, fifth on balance beam and floor exercise.

In 2012, Biles switched from public school to home schooling, allowing her to increase her training from about 20 to 32 hours a week.

Biles' first meet of 2012 was the American Classic hosted in Huntsville, Texas.

She placed first all-around and on vault, tied for second on floor exercise, placed third on balance beam, and fourth on uneven bars.

Biles' placement in the American Classic secured her a spot to compete at the 2012 USA Gymnastics National Championships.

She later competed at the 2012 U.S. Classic in Chicago.

She finished first all-around and on vault, second on floor exercise, and sixth on balance beam.

In June, she made her second appearance at the U.S. National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.

Biles is a six-time World all-around champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), six-time World floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), four-time World balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019, 2023), two-time World vault champion (2018–2019), an eight-time United States national all-around champion (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021, 2023), and a member of the gold medal-winning American teams at the 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

She is also a four-time World silver medalist (2013–2014 and 2023 on vault, 2018 on uneven bars) and a four-time World bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 2013 and 2018 on balance beam).

Biles verbally committed to UCLA on August 4, 2014, and signed a National Letter of Intent in November 2014, planning to defer enrollment until after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

She would complete her high-school degree in mid-2015.

Instead, on July 29, 2015, she announced that she would turn professional and forfeit her NCAA eligibility to compete for UCLA.

Biles first tried gymnastics at age 6 during a day-care field trip.

The instructors suggested she continue with gymnastics.

Biles soon enrolled in an optional training program at Bannon's Gymnastics.

She began training with coach Aimee Boorman at age eight.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Biles won individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor; bronze on balance beam; and gold as part of the United States team, dubbed the "Final Five".

In 2019, Biles broke the record for most World Championship medals in gymnastics; she won her 24th and 25th medals at the event, surpassing Vitaly Scherbo's 23 World medals.

Biles has since secured an additional five World medals, for a total of 30.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition due to "the twisties", a temporary loss of air awareness while performing twisting elements.

She won a silver medal with her team and a bronze medal on the balance beam.