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Simone Biles set to return to competitive gymnastics (0: 41)
Christine Williamson and Domonique Foxworth react to Simone Biles announcing her return to gymnastics. (0: 41)
ESPN.com
Jun 28, 2023, 07: 29 PM ET
Simone Biles is returning to competition.
The 26-year-old gymnast, who last competed in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, will be part of the field at the U.S. Classic in early August outside Chicago, USA Gymnastics announced Wednesday. The seven-time Olympic medalist withdrew from multiple events in Tokyo for her mental health but still won a bronze medal on balance beam and cheered her teammates on as they won silver in the team event.
Biles is arguably the greatest gymnast of all time and one of the greatest Olympians in history. Her sheer dominance over the sport can be expressed only in numbers.
Four
That’s the number of gold medals Biles won at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She grabbed gold in floor exercise, vault, all-around and team with one bronze (balance beam). This is the highest number of Olympic golds in a single Games for a U.S. gymnast.
Throwing back to @Simone_Biles #tbt pic.twitter.com/ioPwpeKghs
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) October 20, 2016
2013
Just 16 years old at the time, Biles burst onto the scene at the 2013 Antwerp World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She won two gold medals (all-around and floor exercise), a silver in vault and a bronze in the balance beam. Of course, Biles wouldn’t be done winning world medals …
#tbt Three years ago today, @Simone_Biles won the first of her three World titles on floor in Antwerp! pic.twitter.com/GZWXuhkAzd
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) October 6, 2016
25
In five world championships, Biles has an incredible 25 medals, most among men or women. Her gold medals alone would put her second on the women’s all-time overall list, one behind Svetlana Khorkina with 20. As it stands, Biles’ 19 golds are more than double the total of the next-most-decorated women’s athletes (Khorkina, Gina Gogean and Larisa Latynina have nine apiece).
Five
Biles is the first woman to win five all-around World Championship titles — three in a row from 2013 to ’15, then back-to-back titles in 2018-19. On top of that, she won in 2018 despite suffering through a kidney stone.
Four
Gymnasts are always pushing the boundaries of new skills, and Biles is no exception. There are four gymnastics elements named after Biles — two on floor exercises, one on vault and one on balance beam.
Data from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.