SportsAsToldByAGirl Spotlight: Simone Biles

Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

If you have been following the Olympics you are very familiar with this week’s spotlight Simone Biles. She has slowly become one of the favorites for Rio and slowly but surely is becoming the face of the United States gymnastics team. At age 19, she isn’t doing too bad and that’s why Simone Biles is this week’s spotlight. Until the Olympics start, I will be spotlighting an Olympic athlete as previously mentioned.

Biles was raised by her grandparents who legally adopted her. She has a sister who is also a gymnast and two brothers. She graduated high school in 2015 and verbally committed to attending UCLA the previous year.   She has deferred enrollment, for now, to pursue being a professional gymnastic.  However, after the decision to turn professional, she forgoes her NCAA eligibility.

Biles started competing in 2011 but her career didn’t really heat up until 2013. In 2013, she began competing in the World Championships, U.S. National Championships, and the American Cup for the US National Team. She walked away with ten gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals from 2013-2016.

In 2015, she had one of her best years as an athlete. She was ranked number one overall in the world for the  all-around, vault, balance beam and floor exercise events.  After Biles decided to forfeit attending college because she was able to have sponsorships and receive prize money. She signed with Octagon, a sports agency and signed deals with Nike and GK Elite Sportswear who manufactures gymnastic sportswear.

In 2016, she competed in the 2016 U.S. Classic, 2016 U.S. Nationals and most recently the U.S. Olympic Trials. The results of the trials ensured that she will a member of the U.S. National Gymnastics Team. She is also the first African-American to be world all-around champion and the first woman to win three consecutive world all-around titles. Along with being one of the most-decorated female gymnasts in World Championships history, she is the record-holder for the most gold medals won by a female gymnast in the World Championships history.

She is quickly becoming one of the greatest female athletes of all time and role model for young girls. She doesn’t take any crap about her body and even posed for Teen Vogue with Gabby Douglas. She also won the 2015 Team USA Female Olympic Athlete of the Year, becoming the fourth gymnast to do so. She is poised to win a gold medal for all-around as she is one of the best to perform in the event. One of the greatest qualities about Biles is her willingness to actually have fun while she competes. Unlike the normal stone-faced expressions, she competes with an intent to win but an intent to have fun which is rarely seen.

Her story still isn’t even closed to finished and with the Olympics coming up, her narrative is not even close to being over.  As she competes in the biggest sporting event in the world, the world will finally get to see what Simone Biles can do and why she’s one of the best gymnasts and athletes in the world.