From security to Simone Biles, 5 Paris Olympics stories to know
As the Paris Olympics approaches, here’s what you need to know about the first post-pandemic Olympics.
Editor’s note: Follow Olympic gymnastics live, results, scores and highlights For the women’s qualifying round.
Simone Biles, now 27, has been known since she was 16 for her talent to win — and keep winning.
Biles took two years off the sport for mental health reasons after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to the pandemic, but is now back and feeling better than ever.
Biles has won everything from 37 World and Olympic medals to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. Here are her victories and records so far.
How many Olympic medals has Simone Biles won?
Biles has won seven Olympic medals, four of which are gold. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won three gold medals in the individual all-around, vault and floor exercise, and led Team USA’s “Final Five” to a team gold medal. She also won a bronze medal on the balance beam.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles added to her medal collection with a silver in the team event and a bronze on the balance beam. Prior to the Games, Biles was the favorite to win gold in the all-around, vault and floor exercise finals, but she withdrew from the competition after suffering from “twisties,” a gymnasts’ term for losing one’s sense of space and direction in the air.
Biles currently ranks ninth in women’s gymnastics Olympic medals, but will undoubtedly be looking to improve on that total in Paris.
How many World Championship medals has Simone Biles won?
Biles has won a record-breaking 30 World Championship medals, including 23 gold, four silver, and three bronze medals, making her the all-time World medalist in both total and gold medals. At the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, then 16 years old, Biles won her first four World Championship medals, including gold in the all-around and floor exercise. After a decade of dominating, gravity-defying performances, Biles will return to compete at the 2023 World Championships, also in Antwerp, where she will win her last five World Championship medals, winning four gold medals in the team, all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise finals, and one silver on vault.
Biles’ world championship honors include six all-around gold medals, the most in gymnastics history. She also remains the only American gymnast to win world championship medals in all six events – all-around, team, balance beam, uneven bars, vault and floor exercise.
When was the last time Simone Biles lost an all-around competition?
Biles hasn’t lost an all-around competition in more than 11 years, last losing to U.S. teammate and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross at the 2013 Chemnitz Goodwill Games in Germany.