Megastar Monday: Leaping for the Gold
Monday, April 4th, 2016April 4, 2016
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will have its share of major sports stories. But none may be bigger than the eagerly anticipated performance by American Simone Biles in the women’s gymnastic competition from August 6 to August 21.
Simone Biles of the United States performs the floor exercise portion of the women’s all-around final at the world gymnastics championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 29, 2015. Biles became the first woman to win three consecutive world all-around titles. Credit: © Kyodo/AP Photo
Biles, who stands only 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters) tall, is the undisputed queen of international women’s gymnastics. She gracefully executes moves with the highest degree of difficulty, dazzling spectators, judges, and her fellow competitors with her daring, creativity, and athletic skills.
Biles began piling up the national and international honors in 2013. In just two years, she had become one of the most celebrated and dominant gymnasts in history, placed in the rarefied company of such former gymnastics champions as Olga Korbut, from what is now Belarus, and Nadia Comaneci of Romania.
In 2015, Biles won the 2015 world championship in the all-around event, repeating her victories in the event in 2013 and 2014. Biles thus became the first woman to win three straight world championships in the event. She also became the first African American to hold the women’s all-around world championship title.
Biles won the United States national all-around championship in 2013, 2014, and 2015. She won the world floor exercise title in the same years and the balance beam title in 2014 and 2015. She was also a member of the American team that won gold medals in the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Biles is warming up for the 2016 Olympics by competing on the American team in the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships from April 8 to April 10 in Everett, Washington.
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 soon enrolled in recreational classes at the gym under instructor Aimee Boorman, who became her coach. Biles was home schooled during her high school years in order to devote more time to gymnastics. She won her first gold medals in 2013.
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