Simone Biles’ impact looms large over gymnastics, Olympics
After a dominant performance at the Paris Olympics, USA TODAY’s Nancy Armour says Simone Biles has cemented her legacy as the greatest gymnast.
GOAT. Legend. Idol. Those are just a few words used to describe gymnast Simone Biles. The decorated Olympic athlete is joining Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Fred Richard, Hezly Rivera, Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos and more in Northeast Ohio later this year to put on a world-class gymnastics performance.
What is the Gold Over America Tour?
The Gold Over America Tour starring Simone Biles is heading to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Oct. 27.
“Prepare for a pop concert-style spectacle showcasing athletic brilliance, championship journeys and of course, the Gold Squad dancers,” the tour’s site states.
The initials, GOAT, are a nod to Biles’ greatest of all-time status.
This is the second iteration of the tour, which first went out in 2021, with the goal of embodying strength, resilience and determination to audiences young and old.
Besides the Cleveland show, the other Ohio stop the tour will make is in Cincinnati on Nov. 2.
When do tickets go on sale?
Tickets went on sale back in May at rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com/events/detail/gold-over-america-102724.
Who is Simone Biles?
Biles was actually born in Columbus, but grew up near Houston, Texas, as a foster child before being formally adopted by her maternal grandfather and his wife, according to Andscape.
At 27 years old, she is the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in history. She’s won 40 medals total at the world championships and Olympics.
In 2022, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.’s highest civilian honor.
As of December 2023, Biles was ranked as the 16th highest-paid female athlete in the world at $7.1 million, according to Forbes, making her the first gymnast to be among the top-paid female athletes in at least 12 years.
Simone Biles makes history at 2024 Paris Olympics
With her second Olympic all-around title Aug. 1 at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles surpassed all the other GOATs.
She is the third woman to win two Olympic all-around titles and first to do it in non-consecutive Games. She has nine Olympic medals, six of them gold. A total of 40 medals at the world championships and Olympics, more than any other gymnast, male or female. Not to mentions six world titles, which is twice as many as the next woman.
She won a medal on every event at the 2018 world championships, adding a silver on uneven bars to her golds on vault and floor and bronze on beam. Earlier this summer, she swept every event title at the U.S. championships.
Biles has also changed her sport. She has five skills named after her, including the Yurchenko double pike vault that is so difficult few men do it. It’s not only that she did these things first, but that they’re so advanced and so hard that few have been able to match her.
Simone Biles shines light on mental health
Simone Biles’ impact on mental health continues to reverberate
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles removed herself from competition in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She had no idea the impact that decision would make in the conversation around mental health.
USA TODAY
Biles was open about her mental health struggles when she surprisingly took a step back from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She talked about dealing with the “twisties,” a mental block that gymnasts can face.
Rising anxiety from the high expectations on her and the isolation of COVID protocols caused her to lose her sense of where she is in the air, USA TODAY reporter Nancy Armour wrote. Unwilling to risk her health and safety, Biles withdrew from all but one final during those Olympics.
During this year’s Olympics, she said she prioritized her weekly therapy sessions.
“To see where I’ve grown, even from Tokyo, even from the 19-year-old from Rio, is amazing. I’m really proud of the work that she’s put in, because I never thought I’d be on a world stage again.”
Who is Simone Biles’ husband?
Biles married Jonathan Owens, a safety for the NFL’s Chicago Bears, on April 22, 2023, in Mexico.
Owens played for the Houston Texans when he and Biles first got together and then signed with the Green Bay Packers shortly after their wedding. He’s now signed with the Bears.
Biles was mainstay on the sidelines cheering her husband on in Wisconsin and Owens got the chance to the return the favor at the 2024 Olympics when the Bears gave him permission to miss “a couple of days” of training camp to support his wife in Paris.
Owens caused quite the stir when he insisted that he had never heard of Biles before they met.
“I never really paid any attention to gymnastics,” Owens admitted when he was a guest on “The Pivot” podcast last year, saying he didn’t watch the 2016 Olympics when Biles was one of the brightest stars of the Summer Games. “It piqued my curiosity.”
The podcast hosts weren’t buying it. Peep the 8:53 minute mark in the episode linked here.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
