Simone Biles is about to return to the Olympics, and with it, the spotlight.
The gymnastics superstar took to gymnastics’ biggest stage for the third time with a victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday night, as her two-day all-around total of 117.225 secured the only automatic spot in the five-person women’s team event.
Three years removed from the Tokyo Olympics — where she withdrew from some events to prioritize her safety and mental health — Biles could look as good as ever when she returns to the Games.
“Believe in the process and [my coaches]I knew I would be back,” Biles said.
A trip to France had never really been in doubt since she returned from a two-year break last summer. Over the past 12 months, the 27-year-old has won her sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national titles (both records) while further cementing her status as one of the The best player the sport has ever seen.
She heads to Paris as the favorite to win Olympic gold in 2016, but she has work to do.
Biles stepped back after landing her Yurchenko double-spear vault, a testament to both the difficulty of the vault and the sheer force she generates in a skill that few male gymnasts have attempted, let alone Said he could land cleanly.
She jumped from the beam after the side antenna failed to land, but she wasn’t as frustrated as a sloppy performance on Friday that saw her curse on camera.
Biles ended the competition with a gorgeous floor exercise, her signature event. It was a small step, but also an unparalleled world-class roll, recently drawing praise from pop star Taylor Swift, whose song “Ready For It” kicked off Biles’ routine.
She walked off the podium to a standing ovation, then sat on the steps and savored the moment in what could be her last race on American soil.
Team USA will be full of experience as they try to get back to the team gold medal after finishing second behind Russia at the Tokyo Olympics. Biles was joined in the top four by defending Olympic champion Sunitha Lee, 2020 Olympic floor exercise champion Jed Carey and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles. Sixteen-year-old Hezly Rivera will also be part of the team as she competes in her first Olympics.
However, Biles, who will step onto the Bercy Arena for an Olympic qualifying match in four weeks, is not the same woman who left Tokyo. She has taken conscious steps to ensure her life is no longer defined by gymnastics. Byers is marrying NFL player Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023, and the two are building a house in a Houston suburb that they hope will move in when Byers returns from Paris.
Biles heads to France as one of Team USA’s representatives, though she’s well aware that many of the millions who will tune in next month will check to see if the demons that derailed her in Tokyo will resurface.
While there are still anxious moments – including last year’s world championships – she has taken protective measures to protect herself. She meets with a therapist every week, even during competition season, but she didn’t do that while preparing for the 2020 Olympics.
The U.S. will enter the Olympics with their oldest-ever women’s team because of Biles’ unparalleled longevity — she has never lost in a competition that began and ended in 2013 — and U.S. universities relaxing names, images and iconography rules that allow 2020 Olympic veterans Carey, Chiles and Lee to continue competing while also capitalizing on their newfound fame.
They relied on that experience to get back to the moment in a game that was at times harrowing, with leading contenders Shires Jones, Skye Blackley and Kayla Diserlo withdrawing with leg injuries. They withdrew from the competition a few weeks before the opening ceremony.
