As I write this, Simone Biles is training for her second Olympic Games [1], the first of which she made history at (and would you expect anything less?!). As part of the "Final Five" at Rio 2016, Simone's five medals — one bronze and four gold — tied the record of the most medals won by a US gymnast at a single Olympics [2]. She also became the first American to win four Olympic golds at a single Games [3] in women's gymnastics.
Many star athletes in the sport have tried making an Olympic comeback — Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson [4], for example — but it's uncommon for gymnasts to return to that stage for another go around (the most recent athletes to do this were Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas [5]). Note: we won't officially know on paper if Simone has booked her ticket to Tokyo until the Olympic trials in late June.
However, if Simone's six-year-and-counting all-around winning streak [6] — and the large margin of victory by which she wins — has proven anything, it's that time hasn't slowed her down. In fact, Simone added two more skills to her list of moves [7] named after her in 2019 alone. Her routines are getting harder.
Simone has been the gymnast to beat for the better part of a decade, and she started getting skills named after her as early as 2013 (The Biles on floor). The accolades in her trophy case, besides the aforementioned accomplishments, include first woman to win four, then five, World all-around titles [8]; most decorated gymnast in World Championship history [9]; and the list goes on. Simone, though, will be the first to tell you that she's a) not finished yet and b) staying humble but owning her talents [10]. Ahead, check out some of Simone's best routines of all time. Are you ready? She certainly is.
Simone Biles on Bars at the 2013 AT&T American Cup
The announcers here are right: if Simone struggles on any event, it's bars, simply due to how much power she has (and power is hard to control). It's also worth noting that bars is the only event that she didn't place on the podium for at the 2016 Olympics [12]. This particular competition, though, was Simone's debut as a senior in women's elite gymnastics, and it's one of the cleanest bar routines I've seen from her (i.e. her lines are straight, and she makes her release move connections). The fact that she could hit a bar routine like this as a gymnast in her first year on the senior elite level is one of the reasons why she's proven her greatness from the beginning.
Simone Biles on Floor at the 2013 World Gymnastics Championships
This is the competition — 2013 Worlds — where Simone got her very first gymnastics skill named after her: a double layout with a half twist on floor known as "The Biles." For a refresher, a skill can only bare your name in the FIG Code of Points if you're the only person to complete it successfully at a World Championship or Olympic Games [13]. You can see her do The Biles here as her second pass.
Simone Biles on Floor at the 2016 P&G National Championships
Simone Biles won the gold medal on floor for this routine at the Rio Olympic Games. The footage from that event final specifically [14] (and from her in Rio at all) is scarce for editorial use, meaning I couldn't include the performance due to copyright purposes. But, this is the next best thing: her winning floor performance from the 2016 P&G US National Championships, which took place just weeks before the Olympic trials that year. Plus, she won floor along with vault, beam, and the all-around at this competition!
Simone Biles on Vault at the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships
This is the moment that Simone got a second skill named after her in the FIG Code of Points: a vault called, "The Biles." It's a round-off on the springboard connected to a half turn onto the vault with two full twists. We don't blame you for wanting to replay this more than once!
Simone Biles on Floor at the Qualifications For 2019 Worlds
Once Simone did her triple-twisting double backflip in this routine during the qualifying round for 2019 Worlds [15], the skill would officially become known as "The Biles II." It's worth a J, or one full point, in the FIG Code of Points, which is the highest-level skill to date [16] in the gymnastics rulebooks. The smile on Simone's face says it all.
Simone Biles on Beam at the Qualifications For 2019 Worlds
And this was the moment [17] that Simone got The Biles named after her on beam. It's a double-twisting double backflip dismount and is worth eight-tenths of a point, or an H, despite opposition by some officials and fans in the gymnastics world who think it should be worth more. Simone herself as voiced her own opposition to the H value as well [18]. It's to be determined if we will see this dismount in her beam routines leading up to Tokyo 2020 (she left it out of her beam performances at 2019 Worlds after this qualification round).
Simone Biles on Vault at the 2019 World Gymnastics Championships
This vault that Simone performed at the event finals of the 2019 World Championships is the most "stuck" vault I have seen from her in a long time (though you'll see she takes a small hop at the end). It's one of two vaults that she performed — in event finals you have to do two different vaults that are averaged together — and she received a 15.466 [19] for that specific vault, called an "Amanar." I remember I gasped after seeing this on TV.
Simone Biles on Floor at the 2019 World Championships All-Around Final
This routine solidified Simone's fifth world all-around victory [20]. In appropriate fashion, she did a pretend mic drop at the end, and it will forever stick in my mind as a truly great moment. Here's one more exciting note for you: Simone is getting a new floor routine for 2020 [21], so stay tuned for more highlights to come.
