Controversial AP Athlete of the Year Vote Sparks Fan Reactions as Biles Finishes Second

PARIS (AP) — In the early days after she was adopted by her grandparents, Simone Biles, a preschooler at the time, put herself in charge of younger sister Adria.

Part of it was Biles doing what big sisters do. Part of it was trying to give Adria something familiar to hold onto as they adjusted to life in Texas.

All of it hinted at an inherent toughness, the kind Biles has relied on time and again over the last quarter century. Through dozens of medals and bouts of crippling self-doubt. Through triumph and trauma. Through it all.

READ MORE:Brave Simone Biles reaffirms her status as ‘The GOAT-est of GOATS

So maybe it’s fitting that in the middle of the second Olympic all-around title the 27-year-old earned on Thursday night in a taut final against Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade, Biles turned inward and leaned on a resolve that often gets lost amid her unparalleled greatness.

It had been a long time since Biles had found herself in second place, let alone third. So when she glanced at the scoreboard and found her name under Andrade and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour through two rotations after a sloppy uneven bars routine, Biles kind of freaked.

That’s hardly true.

This is the same woman, after all, who came forward as one of the hundreds of sexual abuse victims of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, then spent the next several years holding the organization’s feet to a very hot fire.

It’s hardly a coincidence that Kerry Perry and then Mary Bono exited as USA Gymnastics president — Bono after just four days — not long after Biles very publicly questioned their competence. Through tears in 2019 she admitted “it’s hard coming here for an organization having had them failed us so many times.”

Two days later, she won the sixth of her record nine national titles.

Then came Tokyo 2020, where trauma that she’s still struggling to properly define manifested itself in “the twisties.” After one wayward vault during the team final, she retreated to the back of the Ariake Gymnastics Centre and told mom Nellie Biles on the phone back in Texas “ I can’t do it.”

There was a lot on the line in the moment. She was the face of the U.S. Olympic movement heading into the Games and leaned heavily — if at times with a wink — into the “Greatest of All Time” moniker. She was well aware of the social media attacks that might come — to be honest, the attacks that still come — and she did her best to ignore them. To a point anyway.

RELATED:Simone Biles celebrates husband Jonathan Owens’ birthday from Olympic Village

Yet rather than hide from her decision, she exposed her vulnerability for all to see.

There is power in that level of realness. That’s the thing with Biles. For all of her unmatched talent, she doesn’t exist in a bubble. She has long been unafraid to be exactly who she is: “Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, who flips” as she put it late Thursday night after becoming just the third woman in Olympic history to win multiple all-around titles.

Only she has become much more than that. She made the mistake of halting therapy sessions ahead of Tokyo, a mistake she has not made this time around. She meets weekly with her counselor, sometimes more when she’s competing. They talked virtually before the team final on Tuesday. Then again before the all-around final 48 hours later.

She told The AP in February she felt she was better prepared to meet the moment and all the pressure that comes along with it.

And there she was halfway through the final, sitting in a chair with her legs crossed underneath her and her eyes closed trying to re-center herself, literally practicing what she has long preached in front of the U.S. men’s basketball team, Kendall Jenner, plus all the people she knows are only tuning in to see if she will fail.

Biles joked afterward she was “praying to every God out there,” her way of deflecting. Yet it’s telling that on Friday morning, after an adrenaline-filled night that featured little sleep, she shared a picture of herself in that position on social media with the caption “mental health matters.”

While Biles responded with a typically steely beam routine that put her back in the lead, she also stood just off the mat encouraging Andrade during her set with the final result still very much in doubt.

Across the floor, Luisa Blanco of Colombia — a Dallas native and Alabama graduate competing for her parent’s homeland — watched transfixed. The 22-year-old knows only too well what this sport can do to you. The mental toll it takes. The way it makes you question everything, maybe your self-worth most of all.

“I don’t give myself credit, I really don’t,” a tearful Blanco said after becoming the first gymnast representing Colombia to make the final. “I think that’s what gymnastics does to you.”

It’s only in recent years that Blanco made peace with all of it. It makes Blanco shake her head wondering how Biles has shouldered so much attention and the inherent scrutiny that comes along with it so authentically.

“She is a trailblazer and rewriting the script entirely and getting better as years come,” Blanco said. “And all these girls that I met just in these last two weeks, you know, show me that you can do it your own way.”

UPDATE:WHY SIMONE BILES JOURNEY TO PARIS 2024 HAS BEEN TOUGHEST TASK YET

The little girl who tried to create a protective cocoon for her sister has become a powerful Black woman and Olympic icon unafraid to be who she is at all times.

Sitting next to Lee and Andrade in a packed press conference with her ninth Olympic medal around her neck, Biles talked openly about “the fight that I’ve had for the last three years, mentally and physically” to get back to this point.

A fight that’s been there all along. You just needed to know where to look.

• Simone Biles, 27, won the fifth gold medal of her Olympic career on Tuesday
• The Gymnastics icon led USA to gold in the women’s artistic team all-around
• Among the crowd at Bercy Arena in Paris was tennis legend Serena Williams

• Pure theatre. Bercy Arena, not far from Notre-Dame, was as American as an election rally on Tuesday night. And the star of the show was given a stage on which to indulge her fans’ adulation.

• READ MORE:Simone Biles celebrates husband Jonathan Owens’ birthday from Olympic Village

  All the rest of the competitors were done, and the announcer declared: ‘The green light goes on for the United States of America: Simone Biles.’ She was left to perform her floor exercise — and you had better stop and watch.

  

  The greatest gymnast in history did not disappoint, producing the highlight of the team final rather than merely getting the job done. And, so, this was her first gold medal in Paris, her eighth medal in an Olympic story of great highs and sad lows. Her team-mate Jordan Chiles, basking in their shared victory, hailed Biles as: ‘The GOAT-est of GOATS.’

  So much emotion went into Biles’ manic celebrations and high-fiving. The mind went back three years to her torment then, when, aged 24 and at the peak of her genius, she was meant to sweep all before her, only to be brought low by the ‘twisties’, a psychological phenomenon that results in the sufferer losing a sense of direction mid-flight.

  RELATED:To Support Simone Biles, Baby Biles Takes Extra Step to Ensure Complete Safety at Paris Olympics

  All those thoughts crowded in on Sunday night, at least on this viewer. Never mind her record of 29 — now 30 — Olympic and world gold medals, and nearly £15million of wealth through endorsements. Those riches are not a protector against emotion.

  And as she was introduced — two-and-a-half hours before her final flourish — she failed to stop to wave to the crowd as the rituals demand. She had to be called back. She flashed a wide smile of embarrassment, but a happy one.

She would have seen the Stars and Stripes predominating in the stands. Serena Williams, a fellow royalty of American and women’s sport, sat up there.

As Biles prepared for her first foray she seemed so strangely fragile, taking deep breaths, her eyes surveying the scene under long lashes, as she prepared for the vault. There was strapping down her left calf to guard against the injury she picked up in qualifying on Sunday. It added to her sense of vulnerability.

And to start on the vault of all cruelties. It was this apparatus that did so much to twist her mind. Its symptoms kept her out of serious competition for 729 days. She continues to spend time in therapy, even seeing her therapist on Tuesday morning, to get in the right frame of mind to purse the remarkable feats that are her trademark.

UPDATE:Simone Biles ready to vault back into spotlight after Tokyo Twisties ordeal

How would she fare once she set off for the vault on Tuesday night? Perhaps bullish Americans were not concerned, but that strikes me as a bit gung-ho.

She managed it brilliantly well, though on a less demanding vault than in qualifying, this one known as the Cheng. Still, it was enough to help the US to the top of the leaderboard, the position from which they never slipped.

Biles expresses her love and gratitude for her hubby while preparing for a triumphant return to the Olympics stage

Simone Biles is proving once again that love knows no bounds-not even time zones or Olympic preparations. The gymnastics icon didn’t let the time difference deter her from celebrating her husband Jonathan Owens‘ 29th birthday, crafting a heartfelt social media tribute to the NFL player from the bustling Olympic Village in Paris.

“Happy happy birthday to my husband, best friend, confidant and party goer ,” the 27-year-old gymnastics powerhouse gushed on Instagram. “Thanks for being the calm to my storm! I love you with all my heart and I can’t wait to see what this year brings! Let’s do it big baby”

The touching message comes as Biles is settling into her digs in Paris, gearing up for what promises to be a spectacular showing at her third Olympics. Despite the miles and the madness of Olympic prep, Biles’ love for Owens shines through, a beacon of steadiness in her whirlwind world.

“Wish I was there to celebrate you, but I’ll see you soon!!!” she added, complete with a signature “XO.”

Jonathan Owens will be supporting Biles at the Olympics thanks to the Bears

And see him soon she will. In a move that’s sure to win them some serious brownie points, the Chicago Bears have given Owens the green light to jet off to France to support his wife, despite the hectic grind of training camp. Owens, who secured a two-year deal with the Bears earlier this year, isn’t just any NFL safety-he’s a rock for one of the world’s most celebrated athletes.

Biles, who tied the knot with Owens in April 2023, is clearly grateful for the Bears’ understanding and her husband’s unwavering support. This Olympic run is a redemption arc for Biles, who famously withdrew from the 2020 games due to the twisties, a mental block that sent shockwaves through the sports world. Now, with four gold medals already under her belt, Biles is back with a vengeance, eyeing that fifth gold with the tenacity of a true champion.

As she takes to the mats in Paris, you can bet Jonathan Owens will be cheering her on from the stands, his heart as full as the stadium around him. And in those electric moments, amid the cheers and the flashes of cameras, the love story of Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens will continue to unfold-one leap, one twist, one heartfelt message at a time.

Cecile Canqueteau-Landi fit “in the box,” as she put it. She was skinny. She was blonde. She was pretty good at gymnastics.

And so at 9 years old, she was whisked away to become part of the French national team program, a path that ultimately led her to the 1996 Olympics.

READ MORE:2024 Paris Olympics: Simone Biles, Jimmer Fredette among athletes to watch

There was reward in that journey. Yet looking back nearly three decades later, Landi wonders how many promising young athletes had their careers and their lives altered – and not for the better – because they didn’t fit someone’s preconceived notion of what a gymnast needed to look like by the time they reached their 10th birthday.

When Landi transitioned into coaching in the early 2000s, she vowed not to make the same mistake.

So maybe it’s not a coincidence that when Landi and her husband Laurent – himself a former French national team member – walk onto the floor at Bercy Arena for women’s Olympics qualifying next Sunday, they will do it while leading the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team – headlined by 27-year-old Simone Biles – the Americans have ever sent to a modern Games.

A healthy partnership

In another country in another era, maybe Biles becomes something other than an icon. Maybe she becomes a casualty.

“An athlete like Simone would never have reached her full potential in France,” said Cecile. “Because she would have been put aside because she didn’t fit that box.”

For the Landis – who began coaching Biles in 2017 – there is no “box.” There can’t be.

“It’s not the athlete that needs to adjust to the coaches,” Laurent Landi said. “The coaches need to adjust the athletes and the athlete’s abilities.”

Biles was already 20 and the reigning Olympic champion when the Landis agreed to helm the elite program at World Champions Centre, the massive gym run by the Biles family in the Houston suburbs.

They knew Biles fairly well at the time having already coached gymnasts who competed alongside Biles at several world championships and the 2016 Olympics. During the interview process, all three agreed there was no point – and no fun – in having Biles merely try to hold on to her otherworldly talent. To keep her engaged, they needed to make sure she kept moving forward.

RELATED:To Support Simone Biles, Baby Biles Takes Extra Step to Ensure Complete Safety at Paris Olympics

The result has been perhaps the best gymnastics of Biles’ remarkable career, a stretch that includes three world all-around titles and another handful of entries in the sport’s Code of Points with her next name next to them, from the triple-double on floor exercise to the Yurchenko double pike vault that drew a standing ovation at the Olympic trials last month.

Biles views her relationship with the Landis as more of a partnership.

“They’ve been big mentors in like my adulthood (because) they got to see and harness the more mature Simone,” Biles said. “They’ve helped me a lot not just in the gym but out of the gym too.”

When Biles moved into her first house, Cecile who came over and showed her how to operate the dishwasher. When a gymnast who had just gotten their driver’s license had a problem with one of her tires, Cecile went to a nearby gas station and gave a tutorial on how to use the air pump.

“If we can help and they want the help, then why not?” she said with a laugh.

Changing with the times

The trick is finding a way to provide that help safely and productively, particularly amid a culture shift in the sport aimed at empowering athletes to take ownership of their gymnastics. It is a delicate needle to thread. What serves as motivation for one athlete could be construed negatively by another.

It’s a reality the Landis are well aware of as they try to find the proper balance between being too rigid and too lax. They grew up in a time when the coach/athlete relationship was one-sided. There was no back and forth. There was no discussion. The coach set the standards and expectations. The athlete met them or they didn’t last long.

The shift toward a more cooperative approach was overdue, but that doesn’t mean it is always easy. Laurent Landi admits he’s not the most patient coach, though those around him say he has mellowed a bit over the years. He also understands if he wants to keep doing this for a living, he didn’t have much of a choice.

“Yeah, there will be frustration,” he said. “But you can always go around some stuff and just take your pride (as a coach) away and make sure that the athletes still get the skill done.”

It’s an approach that helped World Champion Centre’s elite program send five athletes to the Olympic trials, with Biles and Jordan Chiles making the five-woman U.S. team while Joscelyn Roberson and Tiana Sumanasekera were selected as alternates.

It’s the kind of success Roberson envisioned when she moved to the Houston suburbs a few years ago to train under the Landis. She was intimidated at first before realizing her new coaches “have a million different ways to coach one skill,” a marked departure from what she was used to.

“We’re not always right,” Laurent said. “If you do your own way all the time, you will hurt the majority of the athletes. Maybe one will survive and will be an amazing person, amazing athlete but the (other) 90 percent, they will be broken. … We had to adjust to Simone, otherwise we would have broke her.”

It’s not just Biles’ age they had to accommodate, but her schedule. She is no longer a precocious teenager who buries herself in the gym. She’s a newlywed whose schedule is packed with everything from corporate commitments to building a house and a family with her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens.

“When (we) tell him he just hears ‘you’re missing practice’ and kind of freaks out,” Biles said. “Because he sees all the end goals and then he gets the calendar and then he’s like, ‘Oh, OK, that’s fine. We’ll do this today, we’ll do that.’ So it just takes time for him to process.”

Biles certainly appears well-prepared. She arrives in Paris at the height of her powers more than a decade after ascending to the top of her sport. She’ll be accompanied by a pair of coaches who view the trip as more of a business trip than a homecoming.

A new challenge awaits

While the Landis have been approached to take over the women’s national team program in France in recent years, returning never made much sense to them even with the women’s program is in the midst of a resurgence.

“I think our family will be very proud, probably more than we are,” Cecile Landi said. “Because in a weird way, it’s just work for us.”

UPDATE:Simone Biles leaves an encouraging message for Jonathan Owens before traveling to Paris Games

And perhaps, goodbye too.

Cecile, long a supporter of NCAA gymnastics, earlier this year agreed to become the co-head coach at the University of Georgia. Laurent will remain at World Champions Centre in the short term until the Landis’ daughter Juliette – who will dive for France during the Games – graduates from high school next spring.

“I think I’ve done everything I could do in elite, and beyond what I could ever have imagined as a little French girl in a little town,” Cecile said. “I’ve coached the greatest of all time. I’ve coached many kids. I’ve had many great athletes in NCAA and elite that I feel like I want to try what’s next, a new challenge.”

Remember Jimmer Fredette? Well, if you’ve forgotten about him, you’re about to get a reminder because Jimmermania is back and its heading to Paris.

The former BYU star is now trying his hand at 3×3 basketball, where he’ll hope to bring gold back to the United States.

In all, some 10,500 athletes will be in Paris over the next three weeks to live out their dreams and, maybe, take home some hardware. The athletes include names you know (Simone Biles, LeBron James, Rafael Nadal) and many more you will get to know. That list includes Victor Montalvo, a medal favorite in … wait for it … break dancing — or breaking as its formally known.

Yep, the Olympics are changing.

READ MORE:To Support Simone Biles, Baby Biles Takes Extra Step to Ensure Complete Safety at Paris Olympics

Per Nielsen’s Gracenote Sports, the United States is expected to win 123 medals, including 37 gold. The U.S. is followed by China (87) and Great Britain (62) in Nielsen’s predictor. Notably absent: Russia, which will send around only 16 athletes to Paris.

With the Games set to formally begin on Thursday, here are some names to know:

Archery

Brady Ellison (USA): Making his fifth appearance in the Olympics, Ellison will attempt to add to his Olympic haul of two silver medals and one bronze. One of the most decorated archers in American history, Ellison will face the challenge of competing at Paris’ picturesque Les Invalides, one of the many spectacular venues for Olympic events. — Jay Busbee

Jimmer Fredette (USA): Jimmermania is coming to the Olympics. The former BYU folk hero and NBA flop could still be starring for a club team in Europe or China if he wanted. Instead he has left behind traditional 5-on-5 basketball to reinvent himself as the world’s best-known 3×3 player. — Jeff Eisenberg

Basketball

LeBron James and Steph Curry (USA): You know the names, but you haven’t seen them play together (outside of an All-Star Game) ever. Curry, for all his accolades, has never competed in an Olympics, withdrawing from the 2016 Games with an injury. (LeBron wasn’t on the Rio roster, so they wouldn’t have played together there anyway.) That makes this the first and likely last time these two all-time greats will team up together. — Jay Hart

Victor Wembanyama (France): He may not yet be the face of the NBA, but he’ll certainly be one of the French faces of these Games. Wembanyama is the latest example of the continued internationalization of the NBA, with France becoming one of the league’s most prolific producers of foreign talent. — Jay Hart

A’ja Wilson (USA): Unlike the men’s game, where the world is catching up with the Americans, the U.S. women remain the class of the field by a wide margin. Leading the way — if you have to pick one — is Wilson, who is the WNBA’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. It will be a stunner if the Americans don’t win an eighth straight gold. — Jay Hart

Beach volleyball

Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes (USA): Partners as teenagers who reunited in college only to go their separate ways ahead of the Tokyo Olympics where … Hughes failed to qualify and Cheng bowed out in the Round of 16. They reunited two years ago, won the world championship in 2023 and head to Paris as medal favorites. — Jay Hart

Hannah Roberts (USA): The favorite in the women’s BMX freestyle, Roberts won silver in Tokyo. After fracturing a vertebra at age 10 that left her in a back brace for a month, she molded herself into one of the most dominant riders of her era. She has five world titles already and has owned the women’s BMX freestyle since 2017, but wants to snare that elusive Olympic gold. — Jay Busbee

RELATED:Simone Biles ready to vault back into spotlight after Tokyo Twisties ordeal

Boxing

Morelle McCane (USA): One of America’s most promising medal contenders in boxing, McCane captured three international medals in 2023, including silver at the Pan American Games. The female welterweight is the latest in a long line of Cleveland boxers; “Believeland” has now sent boxers to five straight Olympics. — Jay Busbee

Breaking

Victor Montalvo (USA): Now 30, Montalvo grew up breakdancing ever since he fell in love with the sport at age 10, but the Olympics were never on his radar — mostly because breaking wasn’t an Olympic sport until this year. But Montalvo — who goes by just “Victor” in competition — is one of the stars of the sport that’s likely to be a marquee event this summer. He’s also a decorated champion, winning gold in the 2022 World Games. — Jay Busbee

Taylor Knibb (USA): Knibb is that rarest of athletes: an Olympian in two different sports. Knibb qualified for Team USA’s triathlon team in August 2023, and then a surprising cycling finish in May qualified her as an Olympian in road race and time trials. She surrendered her road race slot in early July to focus on the triathlon, but will still compete in the time trials. — Jay Busbee

Equestrian

Steffen Peters and Mopsie (USA): Make sure to find the equestrian’s individual dressage event; you won’t want to miss Mopsie, nicknamed the “Rave Horse,” and Peters, a six-time Olympian, in action. As they did in Tokyo, the duo will perform to club music in the individual dressage event. Versailles has never seen anything like this. — Jay Busbee

Golf

Scottie Scheffler (USA): The world’s No. 1 golfer takes on the world’s No. 1 sporting extravaganza. The reigning Masters champion, Scheffler has dominated the PGA Tour this season, and could expand his reign across the Atlantic. Playing in a familiar format against known opponents, Scheffler ought to be a medal favorite … as long as he stays on the good side of the French gendarmerie. — Jay Busbee

Céline Boutier (France): France’s most successful golfer owns an NCAA title from her days at Duke, and claimed a major last year at the Amundi Evian Championship. Now she wants to add an Olympic medal to that list, and she’ll be playing in front of a home crowd, on a course (Le Golf National) she grew up playing almost daily. Talk about a feelgood story in the making. — Jay Busbee

Simone Biles (USA): The Greatest of All Time returns for her third Olympics seeking redemption after a case of the “twistees” overwhelmed her in Tokyo (she still won two medals). Unbeaten in 11 years of all-around competition, the degree of difficulty in her routines is incomparable and previously unimaginable. The likely star of stars in Paris. — Dan Wetzel

Sunisa Lee (USA): When Biles was unavailable in Tokyo, Lee stepped up to win all-around gold — the fifth consecutive American woman to be crowned Olympic champion. If both are on their game, she can’t beat Biles, but after a health scare and a couple seasons of college gymnastics, Lee will look to win multiple medals and help the US reclaim team gold. — Dan Wetzel

Hezly Rivera (USA): The 16-year-old from New Jersey is both the only new member of Team USA in gymnastics and its only teenager. She isn’t a big name with big expectations, but she should stand out on beam and bars and has a chance to break out as the next generation American star. — Dan Wetzel

Qiu Qiyuan (China): Biles’ degree of difficulty makes her nearly impossible to beat, but if there is a challenger it could be this 17-year-old from China. Qiu defeated the GOAT in uneven bars at last year’s world championships and is raising eyebrows with her own degree of difficulty. Paris may not yet be her time, but it appears to be coming. — Jay Hart

Judo

Teddy Riner (France): In terms you’ll understand, Riner is the Muhammad Ali of heavyweight judo. He’s an 11-time world champ, two-time individual gold medalist and an absolute legend in the sport. He was upset at the Tokyo Olympics, not even medaling. At 35, this is possibly his last shot at winning a third individual gold. — Jay Hart

Rugby

Ilona Maher (USA): Maher won worldwide social media acclaim during the Tokyo Olympics for her behind-the-scenes and offbeat TikTok videos. She and the rest of the Team USA rugby squad will look to improve on their sixth-place finish in Tokyo. — Jay Busbee

Shooting

Vincent Hancock (USA): Hancock is, quite simply, the most dominant skeet shooter in Olympic history, holding three gold medals in skeet; no other Olympian has won more than one. A former sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, he’s now competing in his fifth Olympics, and hopes to retire after LA28. — Jay Busbee

Simone Biles (USA): The Greatest of All Time returns for her third Olympics seeking redemption after a case of the “twistees” overwhelmed her in Tokyo (she still won two medals). Unbeaten in 11 years of all-around competition, the degree of difficulty in her routines is incomparable and previously unimaginable. The likely star of stars in Paris. — Dan Wetzel

Sunisa Lee (USA): When Biles was unavailable in Tokyo, Lee stepped up to win all-around gold — the fifth consecutive American woman to be crowned Olympic champion. If both are on their game, she can’t beat Biles, but after a health scare and a couple seasons of college gymnastics, Lee will look to win multiple medals and help the US reclaim team gold. — Dan Wetzel

Hezly Rivera (USA): The 16-year-old from New Jersey is both the only new member of Team USA in gymnastics and its only teenager. She isn’t a big name with big expectations, but she should stand out on beam and bars and has a chance to break out as the next generation American star. — Dan Wetzel

Qiu Qiyuan (China): Biles’ degree of difficulty makes her nearly impossible to beat, but if there is a challenger it could be this 17-year-old from China. Qiu defeated the GOAT in uneven bars at last year’s world championships and is raising eyebrows with her own degree of difficulty. Paris may not yet be her time, but it appears to be coming. — Jay Hart

Judo

Teddy Riner (France): In terms you’ll understand, Riner is the Muhammad Ali of heavyweight judo. He’s an 11-time world champ, two-time individual gold medalist and an absolute legend in the sport. He was upset at the Tokyo Olympics, not even medaling. At 35, this is possibly his last shot at winning a third individual gold. — Jay Hart

Rugby

Ilona Maher (USA): Maher won worldwide social media acclaim during the Tokyo Olympics for her behind-the-scenes and offbeat TikTok videos. She and the rest of the Team USA rugby squad will look to improve on their sixth-place finish in Tokyo. — Jay Busbee

Shooting

Vincent Hancock (USA): Hancock is, quite simply, the most dominant skeet shooter in Olympic history, holding three gold medals in skeet; no other Olympian has won more than one. A former sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, he’s now competing in his fifth Olympics, and hopes to retire after LA28. — Jay Busbee

Sha’Carri Richardson (USA): Three years after she tested positive for marijuana and an Olympic berth slipped through her fingers, Richardson has earned another. She owns the world-leading time in the women’s 100 this year and heads to Paris as the gold-medal favorite. — Jeff Eisenberg

Noah Lyles (USA): The reigning world champion in the 100 and 200 meters will try to pull off the Olympic sprint double in Paris. Lyles is a heavy favorite in his signature 200. The 100 projects as the tougher challenge, especially after 23-year-old Kishane Thompson threw down a world-leading time of 9.77 seconds to win Jamaica’s national title earlier this summer. — Jeff Eisenberg

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA): McLaughlin-Levrone is the most dominant athlete in her sport, what Tiger Woods was to golf, what Serena Williams was to tennis, what Michael Phelps was to swimming. At U.S. Olympic Trials, she further entrenched herself as the gold-medal favorite in the 400-meter hurdles, lowering her world record for the fifth time since June 2021. — Jeff Eisenberg

Quincy Wilson (USA): Wilson, the 16-year-old phenom who captivated fans during Trials, is the youngest male to make the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team. The rising high school junior will go to Paris as part of Team USA’s 4×400-meter relay pool. — Jeff Eisenberg

Gabby Thomas (USA): The nine fastest women’s 200-meter runners this year are all Americans. Thomas established herself as the class of that group during Olympic Trials when she comfortably claimed first place in a world-leading time of 21.81 seconds. — Jeff Eisenberg

Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya): No marathoner in Olympic history has won three straight golds. Kipchoge has a chance. Now 39, he won at Rio and Tokyo and will be a favorite in Paris. Sadly that’s because fellow countryman Kelvin Kiptum, who set the marathon record in Chicago in 2023, died in a car accident in February. Kipchoge will be racing with a heavy heart but also with a chance to make history. — Jay Hart

Tennis

Coco Gauff (USA): Gauff was supposed to make her Olympic debut in Tokyo but she got COVID and missed the Olympics altogether. Now ranked No. 2 in the world, she heads to Paris with gold in her sights. — Jay Hart

Rafael Nadal (Spain): A name every tennis fan knows, the question here is this: Will this be Nadal’s final tournament in Paris? Ending his brilliant career with gold at Roland Garros, a place where he’s won a record 14 times, would be fitting. His best chance may be in doubles, where he’ll team up with World No. 3 and fellow countryman Carlos Alcaraz. — Jay Hart

Novak Djokovic (Serbia): There is only one hole on Djokovic’s résumé and that’s Olympic gold. He won bronze in 2008 but, surprisingly, that’s it for the 24-time major winner. If he wins gold, he’ll join Andre Aggasi as the only men to win the “Golden Slam,” all four majors and Olympic gold. — Jay Hart

UPDATE:“Unwell”: Simone Biles Shares Jitters Just Days Before Potential Record-Breaking Performance at the Paris Olympics

Water polo

Maggie Steffens (USA): The U.S. women have won three straight golds in large part because of Steffens’ goal-scoring prowess. At 31, Steffens is now an “elder” on a team going for a fourth straight gold. Oh, and she has the support of hype man Flavor Flav. So she’s got that going for her, which is nice. — Jay Hart

Wrestling

Amit Elor (USA): She missed the Tokyo Olympics by one day. Born on Jan. 1, 2004, she was a single day shy of the age cutoff for those Games. She has since won world championships in 2022 and 2023. Despite being unseeded, she actually heads to Paris as the wrestler in the 68kg field. — Jay Hart

Mason Parris (USA): Seeded third among the big boys, Parris is on a collision course with three-time world champion Geno Petriashvili. The Georgian beat Parris 8-6 in the semis at last year’s world championships. Another semifinal meeting is probable in Paris, with the winner earning a chance to go for gold. — Jay Hart

Kyle Dake (USA): He’s a four-time world champion, but he’s never won Olympic gold. He won bronze in Tokyo. At 33, this is likely Dake’s last shot. — Jay Hart

In the latest Netflix documentary on Simone Biles, the gymnast can be heard preferring safety measures over everything. She never feels ready to try out something, ignoring the precautions, be it her charismatic Biles II vault or leading her lifestyle, avoiding unwanted discussions. This has contributed greatly to her mental peace and extending her career. It seems like her adorable niece, Ronni, aka Baby Biles, is also following the same suit, choosing the safety measures at first. Her mother’s latest Instagram share supports that part.

READ MORE:Simone Biles ready to vault back into spotlight after Tokyo Twisties ordeal

On July 20, Sammi shared several Instagram stories showing her little daughter’s preparation to join the audience at the Paris Olympics. Notably, Simone Biles and the US Olympic gymnastics teams have already reached the French capital, and in the opening ceremony, the full squad, including Simone, has a chance to appear before the crowd.

Being a careful mother, Sammi has already started to take precautions for Ronni’s travels to watch her aunt perform in her third Olympic Games. As a part of that safety measure, the kid has now started becoming habituated to wearing the toddler harness or leash.

That protective leash is customized to save the loving kid from crowd pressure, and on an occasion like the Olympics, a crowded arena or stadium is the most expected thing. On that aspect, Sammi’s step could prove to be a standout in Paris. Now, as far as Baby Biles’ feelings are concerned, in the shared stories, she seemed to be happy enough to wear that harness and gambol freely on her wish. However, initially, Sammi had to fight a few mental battles to think of such an out-of-the-box approach.

RELATED:WHY SIMONE BILES JOURNEY TO PARIS 2024 HAS BEEN TOUGHEST TASK YET

In her shared Instagram story, she revealed that she had never thought of herself as being the mother to put her in the ‘harness’. But as they say, “Crisis is the mother of all innovation”, she had to think in that way, as their next destination is not any gymnastic arena in the American mainland. Rather, Simone Biles’ family will have to travel to a ‘foreign country’ where the crowd will be the most diverse.

Above all, Sammi knows the mindset of a kid, as she mentioned, “it takes less than 0.2 seconds for a toddler to run off ‘judgements can politely gtfo & exit’”. So, her decision turns out to be crisis-driven. And it will help little Ronni witness her TT on the Greatest Show on Earth and get motivated. The adorable niece has already a record of copying her aunt.

TT’s niece is all set to watch gymnast Simone Biles on the global stage 

The Paris Olympics will be the very first occasion for Baby Biles to watch her aunt on such a big stage. Since 2023, she has been a regular in the audience box to watch her aunt TT on the mat. Whereas the gravity-defying gymnastics moves awed the spectators, for Ronni Biles, those became something that could be emulated. Simone’s gymnastics den, World Champions Centre, has now become a regular watcher of Ronni trying to land a gymnastic skill on the mat, that too, at this little age.

UPDATE:“Unwell”: Simone Biles Shares Jitters Just Days Before Potential Record-Breaking Performance at the Paris Olympics

On July 12, Simone Biles’ sister-in-law shared a few pictures showing little Ronni trying to do a floor exercise at WCC. The large mat held her in a corner, but her effort was big enough to cover the huge length. Such an effort found a fitting shoutout from her mother, as she captioned, “the way she is so intrigued w/ this sport at such a young age is so special for many reasons.” Subsequently, she added, “WCC’s littlest elite /honorary member kidding but ahhh so adorable.” The little legs have already moved forward to be the one elite gymnast, as GK Elite gifted her a set of leotards, almost similar to the ones Simone Biles wears. Does that signify something in her future? Let’s wait for that day to watch another Biles on the mat.

American gymnast has every chance of adding to her medal haul in Paris three years after heartbreak in Japan

As Simone Biles sprinted down the vault runway at the beginning of the women’s team final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the eyes of the world followed her every stride. Biles had already compiled an unprecedented, record-breaking career, marking herself as the greatest ever gymnast and pushing the limits of gymnastics far beyond what anyone could have imagined. Her combination of technique, air-awareness and power had driven her to unheard of successes; she had not been beaten in an all-around competition since 2013.

READ MORE:WHY SIMONE BILES JOURNEY TO PARIS 2024 HAS BEEN TOUGHEST TASK YET

But something was wrong. Although the famed Amanar vault is one of the most difficult skills in the world, Biles has made it look easy throughout her career. This time, though, she completed only one-and-a-half twists, a full twist short of the planned vault, before landing in a deep squat as she barely managed to stay on her feet.

Shortly after her mistake, Biles withdrew from the women’s team final and she later expressed the need to protect her mental wellbeing. It soon became clear that this was not merely a mental timeout in the middle of the Olympic Games. Biles was suffering from the Twisties, a mental block that caused the American to lose herself in the air whenever she attempted to twist. In such a dangerous sport, Biles risked seriously injuring herself if she tried to push through.

After withdrawing from all but one final, Biles returned on the final day to clinch a bronze medal with a downgraded routine that did not include her usual twisting. Despite her resilience at the end of the competition, Biles departed Tokyo heartbroken.

RELATED:“Unwell”: Simone Biles Shares Jitters Just Days Before Potential Record-Breaking Performance at the Paris Olympics

The reasons behind the mental struggles in Tokyo were varied, ranging from the nature of the Covid-19 restrictions to the general pressure on Biles, but there was another stressor. Biles was one of hundreds of gymnasts who had been sexually abused by the convicted former team doctor of the US team, Larry Nassar. As the only active gymnast among the survivors of Nassar, she later spoke about how she could not shake the feeling that she carried an immense weight on her shoulders.

In the months after Tokyo, Biles took a break from the gym and it seemed there was a fair chance that the world had seen the last of her. Instead, Biles’s name appeared on a list of participants at a Team USA training camp. Biles had managed to keep her return to training a secret and she left little doubt about her intentions as she dominated her first meet back.

Ten years after winning her first world all-around title in the very same arena, Biles made her global return at the 2023 world championships in Antwerp where she worked through one of the most incredible comebacks in recent years. Biles led the US team to gold and also won the individual all-around, balance beam and floor titles, along with a silver medal on the vault.

With her success, she earned the all-time record for Olympic and world gymnastics medals: 37. Biles has also now added five eponymous skills in the code of points, each of them some of the most difficult elements ever competed.

UPDATE:Simone Biles leaves an encouraging message for Jonathan Owens before traveling to Paris Games

One of the most incredible aspects of Biles’s comeback is how she has managed to continue improving. With memories of the Twisties still fresh, Biles was hesitant to execute her elaborate twisting vaults so soon into her comeback. Rather than easing her way back into competition with a lesser vault, Biles opted for the most difficult vault imaginable: the Yurchenko double pike. No other woman has ever even come close to competing it yet in Biles case, the few times she has fallen on the skill, it has been because she has too much power.

Biles was still digesting the events of Tokyo last year and she had only a modest amount of training behind her. This year, she returns having gained significant confidence from her success in Antwerp and with another nine months (October to July) of work. No all-around champion has even made it to a third Olympics, yet she returns to the stage performing some of the best gymnastics of her career and looking to make up for the events of three years ago.

Simone Biles has always made it look so easy.

She burst onto the senior international stage as a 16-year-old gymnastics phenom who went from rising U.S. junior star to best in the world in the blink of an eye.

“At that point, I was just trying to go out there and make a name for myself,” Biles said of her breakout 2013 World Championships performance in the Netflix series Simone Biles Rising produced in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee. “That was the first and only Worlds that I was an underdog in.

“Once you win it, it changes all expectations for the rest of your career. It’s easy being the underdog,” continued Biles. “Now, every time I show up, I’m expected to win.”

READ MORE:“Unwell”: Simone Biles Shares Jitters Just Days Before Potential Record-Breaking Performance at the Paris Olympics

That’s what Biles did.

A second world title in 2014, a third in 2015. Her run through the Rio 2016 Olympic Games ended with her on the top step of the podium four times, as she claimed team, all-around, vault and floor exercise gold medals.

Even her return to the sport after a year of not training seemed effortless. When she came back to the global stage in 2018 after sitting out the year before, Biles had her most successful worlds ever: winning a medal in every final.

In 2019, she soared to five gold medals at the World Championships, tying a 61-year-old record.

“I actually think there was something good about going into 2016 blindly because I didn’t know anything and the expectations weren’t as big as they are now,” said Biles following her ninth U.S. title win earlier this year. “Now, having gone to two Olympics, every one I feel like gets a little more stressful because I know exactly what to expect.”

That stress caught up to Biles at Tokyo 2020 where she had to withdraw from the women’s team final and four subsequent individual finals to prioritse her mental health as she dealt with what gymnasts call the twisties, a condition where the body and mind fall out of sync.

The performances that had come so easy for her time and again weren’t possible.

In the years since, Biles has said it was a combination of trauma stemming from her abuse at the hands of the former U.S. team doctor, the isolation of the COVID impacted Games and feeling like she had “the weight of the world” on her shoulders.

A COMEBACK IN THE OFFING

Tokyo took its toll on Biles.

“Working five years for a dream and just having to give it up, it was not easy at all,” she told NBC’s Hoda Kotb while in Japan.

A comeback to the sport swirled in her mind, but so did doubts. Would that trademark ease return? Could she twist again comfortably? Biles wasn’t sure.

“I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to compete again because there were multiple times this year where I was in the gym and I was like, ‘I’m actually terrified of this full-in, like I’m not doing it again, never going to do it,'” Biles told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview prior to the 2023 World Championships.

She persevered, thanks in large part to her training partners at World Champions Centre, the gym owned by her parents Ron and Nellie Biles.

“I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to come back another day, another day,’” said Biles. “The girls on the team really helped me with that because they were like, ‘No, Simone, just come in. Come on.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, you’re right. I can’t give up now because then I’ll forever be afraid of it.’”

Eventually, she overcame her fear and found a sense of comfort in doing so.

“I, at least, knew that if I were to walk away from the sport, I could come in the gym and at least do a full-in, a double-double, or triple-double and I’d be good,” explained Biles. “I feel like right now, if I walk away, I know that I can do that, so that helps me.”

CHANGES OUT OF THE GYM

Therapy has also helped.

In the three years since Tokyo, Biles has done more than just spark the global conversation about mental health in sports, she’s put it into practice.

“I’m making a bigger effort into taking care of my mind and my body, which includes going to therapy once every week, usually Thursday is kind of my therapeutic day and I try to take a day for myself,” Biles told Olympics.com last September. “It’s really important that I’m taking care of my mind as much as I do my body, especially in this sport and outside of the sport.”

Her life outside the sport has flourished, too.

She wed NFL safety Jonathan Owens, who plays for the Chicago Bears, last May in a ceremony in Cabo.

The two have supported each other in their athletic careers with Biles trekking back and forth from her training base in Houston to many of his games last fall. Owens, for his part, could be seen diligently keeping score in the stands as Biles won the U.S. Classic, U.S. Championships and U.S. trials in May and June.

“People think if you’re a wife, you can’t be a professional athlete, you can’t be a gymnast, you can’t do whatever, and I came to the realization, like, yeah, I can still be a wife and be out there,” Biles told us. “I was, like, married to gymnastics, and now, I feel like I’m attached to so many other things and gymnastics is just a part of my day because at the end of my practice, I’m like, ‘Well, I get to go home to a house, to my husband, to my dogs, to all this stuff,’ where before it was like, man, gym, gym, gym, gym.”

PARIS, HER WAY

Even as Biles tries to make sure her sport isn’t her sole focus, she knows her performance in Paris will bring a bright spotlight.

She knows that no matter what the City of Light holds, it won’t be enough for some.

“It doesn’t matter if do it, they’ll still say like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you going to quite again?’ And, like, if I did, what are you going to do about it? Tweet me some more? I’ve already dealt with that for three years,” Biles said.

That is, perhaps, why in the years since Tokyo, Biles has shied away from publicly stating her goals, even often couching her Paris dreams by saying “if” she were to make the U.S. squad.

But after being named to Team USA at last month’s U.S. Olympic trials, Biles was clear on the mission.

“This is definitely our redemption tour. I feel like we all have more to give. Our Tokyo performances weren’t the best, we weren’t under the best circumstances either,” she said. “But I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove we’re better athletes, we’re more mature, we’re smarter, we’re more consistent.”

UPDATE:Simone Biles leaves an encouraging message for Jonathan Owens before traveling to Paris Games

With her third Games set to open in seven short days, Biles takes on her biggest, most difficult feat: erasing the memory of Tokyo.

It’s a deeply personal task, she says.

“I think it has to be for us because it can’t be for anybody else because that’s not why we do it,” said Biles. “We do it for ourselves, the love of the sport, the love of representing the U.S.”

And so, the last two years with its building back from the most basic of elements to Biles confidently executing her triple-twisting, double back flip, whatever they culminate in in Paris is for her alone.

The future Simone Biles, too.

“I think mostly it was [thinking about] in 10 years, whenever I look back, do I want to have any regrets? Do I want to be watching… Paris on the TV and be like, ‘Wow, if I would have just gone into the gym and just put a little effort in…’ Because I will always get to do whatever I want to do after my career is over,” said a reflective Biles. “But I won’t be able to do my career forever.”