Simone Biles is an internationally respected and admired athlete. She is teaching us that you don’t have to win to be a champion.
Simone Biles is a highly decorated American gymnast, regarded as one of the greatest (if not the best) gymnasts of our time. Biles won gold in Vault and Floor exercise and took the Bronze in the balance beam at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio. She was on a U.S. gymnastics team dubbed “The Final Five.”
Born in Columbus, OH, in 1997, Biles is the third of four siblings. Struggles defined her early years. For starters, her birth mother could not care for her and her siblings, and the kids went int0 foster care. That changed in 2000 when Simone’s maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his second wife, Nellie Biles, stepped in. The family lived in Spring, Texas, one of Houston’s northern suburbs.
Biles as a youth
Focusing on the sport that would eventually make her famous. Biles switched from public school to home school so that she could concentrate on gymnastics. Colleges came calling soon thereafter, and–after evaluating options–Biles verbally committed in 2014 to attend UCLA.
That decision was reversed when she decided to turn pro and (in effect) forfeit collegiate eligibility. But that didn’t end her college interest. She pursued higher education through an online option in Pasadena, CA, at a school called the University of the People. There she studied business administration and became (without a doubt) a high-profile undergraduate.
Many Americans know the rest of the story. That’s because Biles’s fantastic performance at the 2016 Games–and what she did and how she carried herself–made her an internationally respected and admired star. That’s still the overwhelming opinion today, especially in the aftermath of the 2020 Games, currently underway in Japan.
For starters, judges did not treat/score her fairly when she choose to perform some of the most complicated moves in the sport. That can happen in sports when performance-scoring is in others’ hands. Of course, fans were outraged, but the scoring debacle won’t be what most fans will remember about Simone Biles and The Games of 2020. They will remember her courage in articulating something that so many people experience and feel worldwide–issues associated with their mental health.
Here is Biles in her own words.
As a coach, I understand. I spoke recently to a few of my student-athletes and told them that you don’t even have to apologize. In this case, Simone Biles withdrew from the Olympics, citing mental health.
I join millions of people around the world in saying the words, “I support you, Simone, and I wish you all the best.”
