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Simone Biles will be a familiar face at this year's Olympic Games.
Biles is set to compete in Paris at the 2024 Olympics with the U.S. gymnastics team. The gymnast previously competed at both the 2016 Rio Games and the 2020 Tokyo Games. She is the fourth American woman to compete at a third Olympic Games and, at age 27, is the oldest American gymnast to compete at the Olympics in 72 years, while also currently tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast.
The Olympian's return to the team comes after she had to withdraw from most of the 2020 competitions due to a case of “twisties,” which is a temporary loss of air awareness when performing twisting elements.
“The brain no longer communicates with the body, they change the movement, they lose their place,” explained American coach Landi in the first part of Biles’ recent Netflix documentary, titled Simone Biles: On the rise“Most of the time it’s not related to gymnastics.”
“I knew from that moment,” Biles said, reflecting on her performance in Tokyo. “I felt silent. I felt like I was in a prison in my own brain and body.”
Since then, Biles has trained and earned her place back on the mat.
This year, Biles will be joined by reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 floor exercise gold medalist Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera.
On July 17, in an interview with TodayBiles explained what she planned to do in the days leading up to competing in Paris. “Limiting social media and things like that is going to be (important),” Biles told Hoda Kotb. For the Olympian, this means completely cutting off access to X, formerly known as Twitter, and using only Instagram and TikTok.
“Insta is good. It’s a good way for us to connect,” she said. “It’s a way for us to share what we’re going through. And TikTok. I’ve tried to do a little bit more TikTok, I’m not the best at it. I’m learning.”
In addition to medals, the gymnast revealed that she also has another goal for the games.
“As long as I can have fun and do what I love, that’s all I can do, because I don’t want to look back 50 years from now and say, ‘Wow, she was good, but she was so miserable,’” Biles said.
“I think I thought that a couple of times, but now I’m like, ‘Wow, look at her. She’s having so much fun. She loves what she’s doing and who she’s doing it with. ’ So I’m actually enjoying that moment.”
Depending on the events for which each gymnast qualifies, they will compete on different days. The 2024 Olympic Games will run from Friday, July 26, when the opening ceremony takes place, to Sunday, August 11.
Possible events include: Women's Qualification: Sunday, July 28, Women's Team Final: Tuesday, July 30, Women's All-Around Final: Thursday, August 1, Event Finals, Day 1 (Women's Vault): Saturday, August 3, Event Finals, Day 2 (Women's Uneven Bars): Sunday, August 4, and Event Finals, Day 3 (Women's Balance Beam and Floor Exercise): Monday, August 5.
All Olympic events are available to watch on cable at NBC, USA Network or E! The Olympics are also available to stream on Peacock.
