When Simone Biles needed it most, the GOAT emerged and established a legend

August 2, 2024

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When Simone Biles needed it most, the GOAT emerged and established a legend

PARIS — Resplendent in blue, sparkling like the Nile on a spring evening, a powerful woman in complete command of her grace, strength and devotion, Simone Biles clutched the chain around her neck, her work for the night complete. The chain had not been chosen at random.

It was a goat. For the GOAT.

“Some people love it, some people hate it, so it’s the best of both worlds,” Biles said after coming from behind to win the women’s all-around gold medal here at the Bercy Arena. She became only the second woman to win two golds in the all-around at the Olympics, and the first to do so in non-consecutive Olympiads.

“I thought, OK, if it goes well, I’ll wear the goat necklace — I know people are going to love it,” Biles continued. “But at the end of the day, it’s crazy that I’m in the conversation of the greatest athletes of all time. Because I think I’m still just Simone from Spring, Texas, who likes to freak out.”

That hasn’t been the case for so long, and certainly not now. Not after Biles’ most public breakdown, in Tokyo in 2021, her mental health in tatters for a variety of reasons. Not after she publicly advocated for her recovery, and for the recovery of others who have suffered not only mental abuse, but sexual abuse. Not after she returned to the mat and reasserts herself as the best gymnast of her time, and perhaps the best ever.

Thursday’s gold medal gave her six Olympic gold medals, and nine total at the Summer Games. Only Larisa Latynina of the former Soviet Union, with nine, and Věra Čáslavská of the former Czechoslovakia, with seven, have more gold medals among gymnasts.

Simone Biles made a loud, GOAT-worthy statement Thursday night by winning the individual all-around gold at the Paris Olympics. (Stefan Matzke – sampics / Getty Images)

But Biles has risen to the top of the gymnastics pile. She is near the top of all the piles.

I’ve seen Tom Brady win the Super Bowl, and Tiger Woods and Steffi Graf win their respective US Opens, and Michael Jordan win NBA championships, and Rick Mears win the Indy 500s. And Biles was just as breathtaking as any of them when the moment demanded excellence and the absolute best of the best.

Greatness doesn’t ask nicely; it pushes itself to the front of the line, announces its arrival at a time of its own choosing, and produces prodigious forces of skill and will that leave no ambiguity. And those who know better than anyone what it takes to do what she makes look so easy are as impressed with Biles as the rest of us.

“Have you seen her safe?” Dominique Dawes asked over the phone.

“She does a Yurchenko double pike,” said Dawes, the four-time Olympic medalist and member of The beautiful seventhe U.S. women’s gymnastics team that defined the modern era of American gymnastics dominance with its collective star turn at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, when it won gold in the team event. And Dawes was the first American female gymnast to compete in three different Olympic Games. Biles is the second.

“I don’t think I’ve seen male gymnasts do that,” Dawes said. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m blind. But her Yurchenko. When she went through the turns and did the 2 1/2 in 2021, I think she decided in her head, ‘I’m not going to do that again. I’m not going to be in that situation again. I’m just going to do a double pike.’ And that’s spectacular, what she does. The amplitude, the control of her landing. And the fact that she’s smiling when she’s out there, it’s a testament to the fact that she’s enjoying the journey and she’s a great teammate.”

The speed Biles generates as she descends the springboard is something you can almost feel, half an arena away. It’s almost violent, like a defensive end coming off the edge. But then she converts that kinetic energy, that power, into something so elegant and graceful as she soars through the air, completely in control of her body as it spins.

Yes, you can see it on your laptop or phone. But it’s even more striking in real life. Because all eyes in Bercy were on her, just as they will be on LeBron James or Steph Curry next week, when the basketball medal rounds are held in this building. (Incidentally, Curry and Kevin Durant were among the many celebrities who were there to watch Biles cook on Thursday.)

And like all GOATs, Biles saved the best for last.

After an uncharacteristic misstep on the uneven bars—her worst event—Biles found herself in third place after the first two rotations, behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour. Like all great champions, Biles faced a formidable opponent in Andrade, the reigning world champion on the vault, who had her usual legion of Brazilian Olympic fans at her side, cheering her on every move, facing and hitting back. Biles was stressed. Her stress made teammate Suni Lee even more stressed.

“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca anymore, I’m tired,” Biles admitted. “She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, and it definitely put me on edge, and it brought out the best athlete in me.”

Biles was the first to step onto the balance beam to begin the third rotation.

And the GOAT became a GOAT.

Simone Biles trailed after two rotations on Thursday. A sparkling balance beam routine put her on the road to victory. (Markus Gilliar – GES Sportfoto / Getty Images)

Her balance beam routine put her back ahead of Andrade and Nemour, with her dismount (I won’t break it down into technicalities; who am I, Laurie Hernandez?) sending her into the night sky, only to bring her, gradually, back down to earth. As newspaper writer Emmet Watson said of Elgin Baylor, “He’s never really broken the laws of gravity, but he’s awfully slow at obeying them.”

(Just a moment. Much respect to Lee, the reigning all-around champion, who won her floor exercise and took the bronze medal, while Andrade took the silver medal. When Lee finished, the American fans in attendance erupted in genuine, loving applause, waving their American flags, a tribute to someone who is truly loved by the community. She is not anyone’s Salieri; she is a champion, and one of the toughest competitors to ever represent the United States.)

But it was Biles’ moment, as was her time.

She has five elements in the sport named after her, including the aforementioned Yurchenko double pike, now known as the Biles II in women’s play. And Biles has a sixth move that she has performed in practice and that would also bear her name if she were to try it in competition!

So Biles stands alongside Serena Williams as the greatest black woman in sports history. And if you don’t understand why it has taken so much more, and continues to take so much more, for African-American women to be great, or excel, or be more than legendary in an environment like this, there aren’t enough pixels to properly discuss that.

Explaining why your hair isn’t perfect while you’re flying through the air and running and sweating, and being asked/demanded to publicly and loudly advocate for mental health causes, or for survivors of sexual abuse, when it’s out of your comfort zone (or, because it’s nobody’s fucking business how she handles and copes with those things)… I mean, can you imagine the stress? The burden?

Dawes may be one of the few people who can appreciate the burden of black excellence in a historically white industry like gymnastics. Dawes opens four gymnastics academies in her native state of Maryland to give young people a safe place to pursue gymnastics for the love of it, not for the sake of collecting medals and money. In Dawes’ case, her strong faith helped her to go beyond the public spotlight and help other young athletes find balance in their lives.

“Simone is spectacular,” Dawes said. “What she does, particularly on floor and vault, is unheard of for a female gymnast. I’m just in awe of her talent, I’m in awe of her courage, and I’m in awe of the fact that she’s, which I think is amazing, very vocal about the culture changes that need to happen in gymnastics. For her, it’s not just about her athletic performance. It’s about changing the sport. And I think it’s amazing that she’s using her voice and using her platform for something that goes beyond her athletic performance.”

So if Simone Biles, when the cheers finally die down and her medals are put away, can find it in herself to use her platform to speak even louder and with greater power, to fundamentally change gymnastics, good for her. Great for her. And if she wants to move to a desert island with her husband and spend the next 20 years reading nothing but the sacred Jedi texts, good for her, again. Great for her. She has earned the right to write her future in her own championship handwriting, in ink.