At 4 feet 8 inches tall, Simone Biles is absolutely, positively unstoppable. After watching just one of her gymnastic routines, you will say to yourself, "Damn, who is this girl?!" At just 19 years old, she is beating records and accomplishing gymnastic feats never done before. She's already won two gold medals (Editor's note: by the time of publishing, Biles has won three gold medals after the vault event final) in the Rio Olympics, finishing first place in the women's individual all around. She's also made it to the finals in all of the events so she has the potential to win more gold.
Simone is from Columbus, Ohio. She was born on March 14th, 1997 (a '97 baby just like me!) to a broken mother and father. Her mom was a drug addict and deemed unfit to care for her and her little sister in 2000. That is when her grandparents took charge and started to care for Simone and her little sister.
Simone's gymnastic career began when she was 6 years old in a day camp. The counselors encouraged her to continue, and boy are we thankful they did! Her professional gymnastic career began on July 1st, 2011 at the American Classic. In 2012, she switched from going to school to homeschooling. She upped her practice hours from 20 a week to 32. As she competed more and more, she won more and more. She has made it to the finals in all the gymnastic events.
Biles is the first woman in 20 years to win back-to-back world and Olympic all around titles. She is popularly referred to as the world's greatest gymnast. She is also super down to earth and said, "I'm not the next Usain Bolt or the next Michael Phelps, I'm the first Simone Biles." She defies gravity, physics and social stigmas, and does it so gracefully and perfectly. As the fourth American in a row to win gymnastic's biggest prize, this gives the U.S. bragging rights that no other country has!
We should all aspire to have some Simone Biles in us. She has such great power and so many good strong vibes that I get so emotional when I watch her compete. Simone inspires me so deeply, and I think everyone should watch her because she is is the best example of someone who won't stop at anything to win. At this point, she has beat all of the records, she is just competing against herself and she continues to. Watching her flip through the air with such precision and grace gives me strength. Here is her Olympic Gold Medal routine: Enjoy!
