When Simone Biles steps onto the mat, fans expect a marvelous routine and a gold medal-worthy score. With a total of 32 Olympic and World titles to her name, it is never a surprise to see her at the top. But that wasn’t always the case for the star gymnast.
2013 was Simone Biles’ first time competing at the World Championships. Though Biles was coming out of her first U.S. all-around win, the athlete had low expectations from the get-go.
The Biles family bet
In a recent segment called ‘Dinner With the Biles’, Simone’s family sat down to talk about it. “There’s no way you go to the worlds for the first time and win it. That’s just really unheard of,” Simone said. Biles was competing with Olympic and World Champions like Kyla Ross, Aliya Mustafina, and many others.
Her mother, Nellie Biles, was happy that she was competing on the world stage. She encouraged her to give it her all. Even Simone’s coordinator told her that she had nothing to lose as a challenger. However, Nellie hadn’t really expected Simone to win either. So much so that she had agreed to a bet with Simone. If she won the gold, Biles could get her belly button pierced.
When the results came in, Biles had won. “In my mind, she was competing on a world stage and I was happy about that. But to actually win? That was… Can’t even explain that experience. That was really out of this world.” Nellie claimed. Biles had the permission to get that piercing after all.
Biles has won almost everything one could possibly win in gymnastics. With a World title right from her senior debut season, Biles has defended that title in every season she competed. With a tally of 19 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze medals at Worlds, Biles also has 4 gold, a silver, and 2 bronze medals at the Olympics. Add to that her seven national all-around titles. There has been nobody more worthy of being called the GOAT.
With this incredible record and several moves named after her, the whole world was looking forward to her performance in the Tokyo Olympics. However, Biles decided to pull out from multiple events to prioritize her mental health and well-being. Even then, Biles had bagged a bronze in the balance beam and a silver in the team event before her withdrawal.
There has been no news regarding Biles’ return to competition. But with her engagement to NFL player Jonathan Owens, Biles has been focusing on her relationships and off-arena life.
