Simone Biles’ wins brought relief; her competitors’ triumphs brought joy: “I wish I could celebrate myself like that.” – Exclusive
American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles’ three golden moments at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 brought her relief, not euphoria.
“There’s such high expectations on me that I’m supposed to win, so whenever I do win or get whatever medal that is, I feel relief off my shoulder like, ‘I did it. I’m done. Let’s move on to the next,’” Biles told Olympics.com correspondent Aly Raisman Tuesday (6 August) during an exclusive interview.
That’s what she did, going from team gold to all-around gold to vault gold in back-to-back-to-back finals.
Sure, she celebrated: raising one finger in triumph after the team final and running onto the floor U.S. flag in hand with bronze medallist Suni Lee in the all-around final.
But her true joy shown through in the victories of others, as Italy’s Alice D’Amato and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade claimed historic golds; when training partner Jordan Chiles captured floor exercise bronze.
“When it’s something for somebody else, I know and I see the hard work that they put it,” Biles said. “Because for me, since I’ve been living in my own body, I don’t feel it the same. I know I put the hours in and I know I put the work in, it’s like, ‘Okay, thank God that’s over.’
Though the 27-year-old now owns 11 Olympic medals, including seven golds, she knows there will be critics who point to missing the podium on the balance beam or taking silver on the floor.
“People will have to talk, have Twitter fingers, whatever,” said Biles.
She doesn’t care.
Biles sees those as moments to support her peers in a way she can’t applaud herself.
“Whenever I see somebody else accomplish it, I feel like that’s the excitement I get because I’ve seen the hours and I wish I could celebrate myself like that,” she said. “But [for myself], it’s just like, ‘Whew, thank God that’s done!’
“But for somebody else, I’m like, ‘Wooo! Let’s go!’”