American basketball player A’ja Wilson
Credit: © Thurman James, CSM/Alamy Images

On Sunday, September 18, the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun, 78-71, to clinch the best-of-five Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals, three games to one. The Las Vegas took home their first championship in team history. Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who had 20 points and 6 assists in Game 4, was named the series MVP. Gray celebrated with league MVP A’ja Wilson and their teammates on the Sun home court at Mohegan Sun Arena, on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Connecticut Sun remained without a title in four trips to the Finals.

First-year Aces Coach Becky Hammon, helped the Aces meld their exceptional individual talents into a strong championship unit. Hammon had been an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and a seven-time All-Star in a 16 year WNBA career.

The basketball teams met for Game 4 before a large Sun home crowd. The score was close throughout, but the steady Aces extended their two-point halftime lead into a final margin of seven. In addition to Gray’s heroics, Wilson played all 40 minutes of the game, totaling 11 points and 14 rebounds. The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas also played 40 minutes, recording a second straight triple-double in the loss. Aces Kelsey Plum scored 15, and guard Riquna Williams added 18 points to help the Aces win their first title. The Aces’ party continued on September 20, when the team held a rally with their fans on the Las Vegas Strip.

American women’s basketball star Breanna Stewart
Credit: © Zach Bolinger, Icon Sportswire/AP Photo

The Aces’ Wilson won her second MVP award. She also led the WNBA in blocked shots and was named Defensive Player of the Year. The All-WNBA Team included Wilson, her teammate Plum, the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart, the Chicago Sky’s Candace Parker, and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Phoenix Mercury. The Aces’ Hammon was named Coach of the Year.

Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez
Credit: Intercosmos

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez is a Cuban cosmonaut and politician. In Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union, astronauts are called cosmonauts. In 1980, Tamayo became the first Black person in space, when he spent a week docked at the Soviet Salyut 6 space station. That same year, he became a member of Cuba’s National Assembly.

Tamayo was born on Jan. 29, 1942, in Guantánamo. After being orphaned as a baby, he was raised by his maternal aunt and uncle. As a child, Tamayo worked many odd jobs, for example shining shoes, selling vegetables, and working as an apprentice carpenter.

After the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country in 1959, Tamayo joined the country’s Revolutionary Army (see Cuba (The Castro revolution). In 1961, he completed studies at the Technical Institute to be an aviation technician. He was then selected to continue studying in the Soviet Union. Tamayo learned how to pilot fighter jets at the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School in Russia, on the Sea of Azov. He returned to Cuba in 1962 to become a flight instructor for the Cuban Revolutionary Guard. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, he participated in reconnaissance missions. He also served in the Vietnam War (1957-1975). By 1976, Tamayo had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Cuban air force.

The Soviet Union selected Tamayo to participate in its Intercosmos program in 1978. The program was established to send non-Soviets into space on Soviet spacecraft. Tamayo spent two and a half years training at the Yuri Gargarin Soviet Space Center. On Sept. 18, 1980, Tamayo and the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko blasted off on the Soyuz 38 mission. Tamayo became the first person from the Caribbean, the first Cuban, the first Latin American, and the first Black person in space. On the space station Salyut 6, the crew of Soyuz 38 joined other cosmonauts and carried out various experiments designed by Cuban scientists. The mission lasted a little over a week.

Tamayo and Romanenko were both awarded honors after landing. Tamayo became the first person ever awarded the Hero of the Republic of Cuba medal. Additionally, he received medals for Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin. Tamayo continued his military service, eventually attaining the rank of brigadier general and serving as director of Cuba’s civil defense. His space suit is displayed in the Museum of The Revolution in Havana.

In June 2012, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary as queen) at Chelsea Pier in London.
Credit: © Bethany Clarke, Getty Images

People around the world are mourning the loss of Elizabeth II, the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She became queen when her father, King George VI, died in 1952. Her reign was the longest in British history. She passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday, September 8, after ruling for seventy years. She spent her last weeks at Balmoral Castle in Grampian Region, Scotland, and died surrounded by family members. Thousands of people from all over the world lined the streets of London to pay respects at the Queen’s funeral today, September 19. The state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey. The Queen was married and crowned at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was followed by a procession through London to a chapel in Windsor Castle, the Queen’s final resting place near her husband Prince Philip.

As a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth was formally head of state in the United Kingdom. But she had no power over what the British government does. Laws are formally enacted in the name of the queen, but their content is the responsibility of the government.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in London on April 21, 1926. Her father was the Duke of York, second son of King George V. Her mother—Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother—was the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of a Scottish earl.

Elizabeth’s father became king in 1936 after his older brother, King Edward VIII, gave up the throne to marry a divorced American woman. This event greatly changed the course of 10-year-old Elizabeth’s life. It made her the heir to the throne, since George VI had no sons and she was the older of his two daughters.

Princess Elizabeth spent most of her childhood at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, near London. The castle is the British royal family’s main residence outside of London. Buckingham Palace, in London, is the family’s main residence. Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret (1930-2002), were educated at home by governesses. In March 1945, during World War II, Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, a support branch of the military. She joined to train as a mechanic to repair military vehicles for the war effort. But Elizabeth served only until May, when the war in Europe ended.

Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, a British naval lieutenant and member of the Greek royal family, on Nov. 20, 1947. Her husband became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021). When King George’s health began to fail, Princess Elizabeth and her husband began to undertake more public duties. The king died on Feb. 6, 1952, and Princess Elizabeth succeeded him as the British monarch that day. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey, London.

Queen Elizabeth II poses during her coronation at London’s Westminster Abbey in 1953.
Credit: © Cecil Beaton, Camera Press/Redux Pictures

After a general election, the queen formally appoints the prime minister. In practice, this person is the leader of the majority party in the democratically elected House of Commons. The queen has a weekly meeting with the prime minister to discuss public affairs. The prime minister is not obligated to act on her advice, but may find it useful because of her many years of experience. The Queen welcomed 15 prime ministers in her career, including Prime Minister Liz Truss who assumed the role this Tuesday.

The queen’s chief public role was to attend ceremonial state occasions and to represent the United Kingdom in visits throughout the country and the world. Queen Elizabeth traveled extensively. In the United Kingdom, the queen sometimes puts ceremony aside and meets informally with subjects. She hosts luncheons at Buckingham Palace, which are attended by people of many different walks of life.

The queen is also head of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of independent countries and other political units that have lived under British law and government. Queen Elizabeth has no authority in Commonwealth nations. She serves mainly as a symbol of historical ties.

The queen and Prince Philip had four children. The children are Charles, Prince of Wales (1948-…); Anne, Princess Royal (1950-…); Andrew, Duke of York (1960-…); and Prince Edward (1964-…). Prince Charles became king after Queen Elizabeth passed away. The older of his sons, Prince William (1982-…), is next in line after his father as the heir. The royal family’s surname is Windsor. However, in 1960, Queen Elizabeth announced that her descendants, except for princes and princesses, will bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

The royal family has two country residences. One is Balmoral Castle in Grampian Region, Scotland. The other is Sandringham, an estate in Norfolk County, England. Queen Elizabeth enjoyed country life and bred dogs and horses. She owned successful race horses.

Serena Williams, an American tennis star, ranks among the most dominant players in women’s tennis. She is noted for her muscular body, her powerful shot making, and her foot speed.
© Leonard Zhukovsky, Shutterstock

Game, set, match, career! One of the most dominating players in women’s tennis, Serena Williams, has retired from the sport. In August 2022, Williams announced her plans to retire after the US Open. She waved goodbye to fans and other players after losing her match against Australian Ajla Tomljanović on September 2nd. Williams is noted for her muscular body, her powerful shot making, and her foot speed. In 1999, Williams won the US Open, defeating top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland. Williams became the first African American woman to win a grand slam event since Althea Gibson won the tournament in 1958. The grand slam consists of the Australian Open, French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon in England.

Serena Williams, shown here at the Nasdaq-100 in 2003, is one of the most dominant players in women’s professional tennis.
© Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

In 2002, Williams won the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She gained the number-one ranking for the first time that year. She defeated her sister Venus in the final match in each tournament. When she defeated Venus for the Australian Open championship in 2003, she became only the fifth woman to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time. Serena also won Wimbledon in 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2016; the Australian Open in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2017; the US Open in 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014; and the French Open in 2013 and 2015.

She defeated her sister for the 2009 Wimbledon title and the 2017 Australian Open title. At the 2017 Australian Open, Serena won her 23rd grand slam title, setting a record for the most grand slam singles titles in the open era. The open era began in 1968, when the International Tennis Federation allowed professional players to compete in major tournaments. Previously, only amateurs could compete in such tournaments. Only the Australian Margaret Smith Court, who began playing before the open era, has won more grand slam singles titles, with 24.

Serena won the gold medal in women’s singles at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Serena and her sister also won the gold medal in women’s doubles in 2000, 2008, and 2012. Serena and Venus have won all four grand slam women’s doubles titles, though not in the same year.

Serena Jameka Williams was born on Sept. 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, and grew up in Compton, California. She began playing tennis at about the age of 5 under the guidance of her father, Richard. She turned professional in 1995. Williams discussed her personal life and her tennis career in the memoir On the Line (2009).

Rigoberta Menchu, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize
Credit: © Micheline Pelletier Decaux, Getty Images

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Rigoberta Menchu, a Guatemalan K’iche’ (previously spelled Quiche) Indigenous woman, won the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to gain respect for the rights of Guatemala’s Native American peoples. The Ki’che’ are descendants of the Mayan Indigenous people.

Menchu was born on Jan. 9, 1959, into a poor family in Chimel, northeast of Santa Cruz del Quiche. She became an agricultural laborer as a small child. In 1977, her father, Vicente Menchu, helped organize the Peasant Unity Committee, a group seeking rights for agricultural workers and land for peasants.

Rigoberta Menchú is a Guatemalan human rights activist. Menchú won the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in support of American Indians’ rights in Guatemala.
Credit: © Robert Pitts, Landov

Since about 1960, Guatemala’s government had been fighting a civil war with leftist groups. It objected to the Menchu family‘s political activities. By 1981, Menchu’s parents and one of her brothers had been killed by the Guatemalan army. That year, Menchu fled Guatemala.

Her autobiography, I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala, was published in 1983. The book called attention to injustices suffered by Indians in Guatemala and to the human rights abuses of the Guatemalan military. A study published in 1998 charged that certain parts of Menchu’s book were inaccurate. Menchu responded that she had mixed other Native Americans’ experiences into her book, and that it represented the story of the Guatemalan people rather than of one individual.

In 2004, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger offered Menchu a position in Guatemala’s national government. She agreed to help oversee the implementation of the 1996 peace accords that ended the civil war. In September 2007, she ran for the presidency of Guatemala but was not elected.

Australian author Emily Rodda.
Credit: © Michael Small

If you find yourself surrounded by giants with golden eyes, lake creatures, sand beasts, orchard keepers, and fighting spiders, you might have fallen into Australian author Emily Rodda’s imagination. Emily Rodda is the pen name of Jennifer Rowe, an Australian writer. Rowe has also published books under the pen name Mary-Anne Dickinson.

Rodda is known for her fantasy novels for children. In her series “Deltora Quest” (2000-2006), the boy Lief and his companions embark on quests to save the magical land of Deltora from the grips of the evil Shadowlord. Rodda has authored or co-authored over 100 children’s books.

Jennifer June Rowe was born on April 2, 1948, in Sydney. Rowe attended Abbotsleigh School for Girls in Sydney. She graduated from the University of Sydney with a master’s degree in English literature in 1973. Rowe began her career in publishing as a book editor and publisher at the company Angus & Robertson. She served as editor of the magazine Australian Women’s Weekly from the 1980’s to 1992. She has been a full-time writer since 1994.

Rodda’s stories are engaging, creative, and full of surprises. Rowe submitted her first published book, Something Special (1984), under her grandmother’s name, Emily Rodda. It won the Australian Children’s Book Council Book of the Year for Younger Readers Award.

Rodda has won the award six times. She has become known for children’s fantasy series, including “Deltora Quest,” “Deltora Shadowlands” (2002), “Dragons of Deltora,” (2005), “Rowan of Rin” (1993), and “Star of Deltora” (2015-2016). An anime (Japanese animation) series based on “Deltora Quest” ran from 2007 to 2010.

She was named a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019. Rodda has also published adult mysteries and cookbooks under her real name, Jennifer Rowe.

Bill Russell, number 6, was one of the leading rebounders in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Russell played for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969. As player-coach of the Celtics from 1966 to 1969, he became the first African American head coach in major league professional sports.
Credit: © Bettmann/Getty Images

Legendary basketball player Bill Russell passed away on July 31, 2022, at the age of 88 years old. Russell won 11 league championships with the Boston Celtics. His awe-inspiring career, bold civil rights activism, and dedication to the sport prompted the National Basketball Association to retire number six, marking the third number to be retired leaguewide in all American sports. NBA players who currently wear number 6, like Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, may continue wearing the number, but can also choose to switch numbers. Russell joins the ranks of NHL hockey player Wayne Gretzky (99) and MLB baseball player Jackie Robinson (42). Russell’s number will be the first number retired leaguewide in the NBA.

Russell became one of the finest defensive players in basketball history. A 6-foot-10-inch (208-centimeter) center for the Boston Celtics, Russell became a master at blocking shots and rebounding. He ranks second only to Wilt Chamberlain among the leading rebounders in the history of the NBA.

William Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, in Monroe, Louisiana. He helped lead the University of San Francisco to win 57 of 58 games during the 1954-1955 and 1955-1956 seasons. Russell joined the Celtics in the 1956-1957 season and helped lead the team to 11 NBA championships in the 13 years he played.

Russell walked with Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Four years later, he stood up alongside football player Jim Brown and basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in support of boxer Muhammad Ali who faced criticism for not fighting in the Vietnam War. He also supported the movement against segregation in Boston schools. Russell continually stood up for himself and his Black teammates even when was unpopular in the league.

Russell served as player-coach of the Celtics from 1966 to 1969. He was the first African American head coach in major league professional sports. Russell retired as a player in 1969. He served as general manager and coach of the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA from 1973 to 1977. He coached the Sacramento Kings of the NBA from 1987 to 1988, and served as a vice president for the team in 1988 and 1989.

Russell was a TV sports commentator between coaching assignments. He discussed his life and his views on basketball in Go Up for Glory (1970), Second Wind (1979), and Red and Me (2009). In 2011, Russell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor awarded by the president of the United States.

English-born Australian actress and singer Olivia Newton-John
Credit: © DFree/Shutterstock

Olivia Newton-John was an English-born Australian singer and actress. Her recording career extended from the 1960′s into the early 2000′s. She co-starred with John Travolta in the musical motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most popular movie musicals ever made. From that film, two of her duets with Travolta, “You’re the One that I Want” and “Summer Nights,” became hits. Newton-John won a number of Grammy Awards for her music. She passed away on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Olivia Newton-John, left , and the American actor John Travolta, right , starred in the motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most successful musicals in Hollywood history.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

Newton-John was born on Sept. 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England. She moved with her family to Australia at the age of 5. When she was 14 years old, she formed her own musical group in Melbourne. In 1966, she won the Johnny O’Keefe “Sing, Sing, Sing” talent quest. The prize was a trip to England, where she recorded her first single record. She remained in England and built her career as a singer and television performer. During the 1970′s, she worked in the United States, where she became a best-selling country singer. She won a Grammy Award as best female country vocalist for her first American album, Let Me Be There (1973).

Newton-John also starred in the motion-picture musical Xanadu (1980). She had a hit with “Magic” from that film. Her other hit recordings include ”If Not For You” (1971), “Let Me Be There” (1973), ”If You Love Me, Let Me Know” and “I Honestly Love You” (both 1974), “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Please Mr. Please” (both 1975), “A Little More Love” (1978), “Physical” (1981), “Heart Attack” and “Twist of Fate” (both 1983), and “Livin’ in Desperate Times” (1984).

Her other films include Funny Things Happen Down Under (1965), Toomorrow (1970), Two of a Kind (1983), It’s My Party (1996), Sordid Lives (2000), Score: A Hockey Musical (2010), and A Few Best Men (2011). She also acted in a number of television series and made-for-television movies.

In 1979, Newton-John was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to the performing arts. In 2010, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to the entertainment industry and to the community through organizations supporting breast cancer treatment, education, training and research, and the environment. She was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, a higher degree in the order, in 2019. The Order of Australia is Australia’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. In 2020, Newton-John was made a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to charity, cancer research, and entertainment. She then became known as Dame Olivia Newton-John.

Australian Aboriginal Flag
Credit: © myphotobank.com.au/Shutterstock

On July 11, 2022, the New South Wales (NSW) state government announced the Aboriginal flag will fly permanently on the Sydney Harbor Bridge after a five-year campaign by advocates. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is Australia’s most famous bridge, and one of the longest single-span bridges in the world. Including its approach spans, it is 3,770 feet (1,149) meters long. It stretches across Sydney Harbour from Dawes Point in the south to Milsons Point in the north. The new addition will fly next to the Australian flag. The Aboriginal flag is the flag of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The Aboriginal people are descendants of the first inhabitants of the continent.

Sydney Harbour
© Ingus Kruklitis, Shutterstock

The lower half of the Aboriginal flag is red, representing the earth. The upper half of the flag is black, symbolizing Aboriginal people walking on the land. A yellow circle at the flag’s center stands for the sun, the giver of life and the protector. Aboriginal art commonly used the colors red and yellow. Artists traditionally made the colors from ochre, a type of clay.

Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist, designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971. Thomas created the flag as a symbol of national identity and unity for Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. The flag was first flown at Victoria Square in the city of Adelaide during National Aborigines Day on July 12, 1971.

In 1972, a group of Aboriginal protesters set up an Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Australia’s capital. The protesters wanted recognition of Aboriginal land rights. The protesters chose Thomas’s flag design as one of the flags to fly over the Tent Embassy. The flag’s acceptance among Aboriginal groups soon grew. The Australian government officially recognized the Aboriginal flag as a flag of Australia in 1995.

The New South Wales government announced a plan this year that would cost two years and millions of Australian dollars to affix the flag. Many people criticized the costly plan. Officials decided to replace the New South Wales flag with the Aboriginal flag in order to avoid the cost of constructing and installing a six-story flagpole. The money will now go towards initiatives for Aboriginal people.

From the time of the European colonization of Australia until the mid-1900’s, the government took control of many aspects of Aboriginal life. Government policies denied Aboriginal individuals many of the basic human and citizen’s rights that other Australians took for granted. Since the mid-1900’s, government policy has changed. Aboriginal people have received Australian citizenship, gained land rights, and reclaimed some of the land that they lost.

Today, there are more than 700,000 Aboriginal people in Australia—some 3 percent of Australia’s total population. Aboriginal languages, art, religion, ritual, and other aspects of their traditional life are gaining increasing acceptance and support within Australia and abroad. Despite these gains, however, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia still face many difficulties. They are underprivileged economically, socially, and politically. They face more problems than white Australians face in such areas as health, education, and employment.

The Aboriginal track star Cathy Freeman gained international recognition after she was chosen to light the flame at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney. At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Freeman won the gold medal in the 400-meter race. She followed her Olympic victory by taking a lap of honor with the Australian and Aboriginal flags entwined. Now, the Aboriginal flag will fly next to the Australian flag 22 years after Freeman’s victory lap.

American gymnast Simone Biles receives the Presidential medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden during a ceremony where President Joe Biden will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen recipients in the East Room of The White House on July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Credit: © Oliver Contreras, SIPA USA/Alamy Images

With seven Olympic gold medals, one silver, two bronze, and now a President Medal of Freedom, Simone Biles has quite a collection! Simone Biles, an American gymnastics star, is the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport. In 2019, she surpassed the record previously held by Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus, winning 25 world championship medals. Biles has been celebrated internationally for her grace and athletic skill in executing the most difficult moves in women’s gymnastics.

On July 7, 2022, Biles received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden, becoming the youngest living person in United States history to earn the honor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor awarded by the president of the United States for outstanding service. The medal recognizes individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

The honor was established on July 6, 1945, as the U.S. Medal of Freedom by President Harry S. Truman to recognize notable civilian service that aided the United States during a time of war. On Feb. 22, 1963, after extensive study by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg and Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, President John F. Kennedy reintroduced the medal as an honor for distinguished civilian service in peacetime. It was renamed the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Recipients have included educators, diplomats, former presidents and first ladies, authors, scientists, medical researchers, military leaders, humanitarians, religious leaders, civil rights activists, business executives, journalists, athletes, and performers.

Biles was a star of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won a team gold medal as well as individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise events, plus a bronze medal on the balance beam. By winning five medals, Biles tied the record for the most medals won by an American woman gymnast in a single Olympics. Her four gold medals tied the world record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics by a female gymnast.

In 2019, Biles became the first woman to win five world championships in the all-around event. She is the first Black American to hold the women’s world all-around champion title. She won the world floor exercise title five times, the balance beam title in three times, and the vault title two times. Biles won the United States national all-around championship seven times. She was also a member of the American team that won gold medals in the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

At the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Biles brought attention to the intense pressure Olympic athletes face. (The games were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) After balking on the vault event in the team final, she withdrew from the rest of the team competition and four individual events—all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise—citing mental health issues. Biles went on to win a bronze medal on the balance beam. She also won a team silver medal.

Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. She grew up in Texas, raised by her grandparents. Biles was introduced to gymnastics at the age of six on a day-care field trip to a gym in Spring, Texas. She began copying the moves of gymnasts practicing in the gym, attracting the attention of a coach. Biles soon enrolled in recreational classes at the gym under instructor Aimee Boorman, who became her coach. Biles, who stands only 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 meters) tall, entered her first competition in 2011. She won her first gold medals in 2013. Within two years, she became one of the most celebrated and dominant gymnasts in history.