Simone Biles and the Gymnastics Revolution She Created

Rewriting the Record Books at 4 Feet 8 Inches

Simone Biles stands 4 feet 8 inches tall and weighs approximately 104 pounds. She has won 37 combined Olympic and World Championship medals as of the 2024 Paris Olympics, making her the most decorated gymnast -- male or female -- in the history of the sport. Seven of those medals are Olympic gold. Her dominance is not measured only in medal counts, though; it is measured in skills so difficult that the sport's governing body had to create new scoring categories to accommodate them.

Born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, Biles was placed in foster care as a toddler and adopted by her maternal grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles, in the Houston, Texas, area. She first tried gymnastics at age six during a daycare field trip. A coach noticed her natural ability immediately.

Senior Career and Early Dominance (2013-2016)

Biles burst onto the international scene at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, winning the all-around gold at age 16. She then won four consecutive World all-around titles from 2013 through 2015 -- a feat never previously accomplished.

• 2013 Worlds: All-around gold, floor gold
• 2014 Worlds: All-around gold, team gold, floor gold, balance beam gold
• 2015 Worlds: All-around gold, team gold, floor gold, balance beam gold
• 2016 Rio Olympics: Four gold medals (team, all-around, vault, floor) and one bronze (beam)

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles won the all-around by 2.1 points -- an enormous margin in a sport where tenths of a point separate medalists. She was 19 years old and already being called the greatest gymnast ever.

Skills Named After Biles

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) names elements after the first gymnast to perform them in international competition. Five skills bear the Biles name.

The Yurchenko double pike vault deserves special mention. No woman had ever landed this vault in competition before Biles performed it at the 2023 World Championships. The skill requires a round-off onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the vault table, and two full backward somersaults in the pike position before landing. The physics involved demand extraordinary power-to-weight ratio and spatial awareness.

The Tokyo Olympics and Mental Health

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the pandemic) became a defining moment for a different reason. During the team final on July 27, 2021, Biles experienced a case of the "twisties" -- a dangerous loss of air awareness that prevents gymnasts from knowing their position mid-flip. She withdrew from the team final after one vault, then pulled out of four individual event finals.

• She cited mental health concerns publicly and without euphemism
• She returned for the balance beam final, winning a bronze medal
• Her withdrawal sparked a global conversation about athlete mental health and the pressure of competition
• Sponsors, including Athleta and Visa, publicly supported her decision

Biles was not the first elite athlete to discuss mental health, but her candor at the Olympic Games -- the sport's highest stage -- normalized the conversation in ways no prior disclosure had achieved. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee subsequently expanded its mental health resources for athletes.

The Comeback: 2023-2024

Biles took a two-year hiatus after Tokyo. Many assumed she had retired. She returned at the 2023 U.S. Classic in August, performing the Yurchenko double pike vault and winning the all-around. At the 2023 World Championships, she added four more gold medals, bringing her World Championship total to 30 -- the most ever.

Physical Advantages and Training

Biles generates more power per kilogram of body weight than virtually any athlete in women's gymnastics history. Her leg strength allows her to reach heights on tumbling passes that other gymnasts cannot match. She trains under Laurent Landi at World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas, which her family owns.

Her floor exercise routines illustrate the gap. Biles achieves tumbling heights of roughly 9 to 10 feet on her opening pass -- about double the height of most elite female gymnasts. That extra air time allows her to complete rotations and twists that others physically cannot.

The Scoring Controversy

FIG has been criticized for undervaluing some of Biles's skills. The Yurchenko double pike vault, for instance, was initially assigned a difficulty value of 6.4 -- lower than many observers expected for a skill of its unprecedented difficulty. Critics argued that the federation was deliberately suppressing the score to discourage other gymnasts from attempting dangerous skills they could not safely execute. Biles herself has publicly expressed frustration with this approach.

Legacy in Numbers and Beyond

Biles's medal count will grow or remain fixed, but her legacy extends past hardware. She disclosed in 2018 that she was among the survivors of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, and she subsequently testified before the U.S. Senate about institutional failures in protecting young athletes. Her advocacy forced reforms within USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

She made it acceptable for elite athletes to say "I am not okay." She performed skills that redefined the physical limits of her sport. She used her platform to demand accountability from institutions that failed their athletes. The record books capture only part of that story.