Simone Biles, considered by sports aficionados as the G.O.A.T. of the gymnastics world was already the world’s most decorated gymnast with a record 37 world and Olympic medals. On Thursday, Aug. 1 the petite but powerful athlete secured her status as the greatest gymnast of all time after she became the third woman ever to win a second gold medal in the individual all-around final at the Olympics last night.
Her win comes two days after she led the U.S. women’s team back to the gold medal in the team event. The win did not come easy. An unusually poor performance on the uneven bars put her behind two strong competitors. But, that setback did not stop her from standing on the winner’s podium with her sixth Olympic gold and her ninth medal overall — more than any other U.S. gymnast in history.
Due to a medical condition called the “twisties,” Biles withdrew from women’s team gymnastics at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Biles withdrew from the competition on July 27, 2020 after leaving an arena to be assisted by her trainer. “Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue,” officials said a USA Gymnastics statement.
Biles last won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and after taking a hiatus in 2017, during which she co-wrote her autobiography and competed on Dancing with the Stars, she returned in 2018 to dominate the World Championships in Doha and, the following year, in Stuttgart.
As she revealed in 2018, Biles was among the victims of USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar, who is serving an effective life sentence for the sexual abuse of hundreds of young female athletes.