Simone Biles

Simone Arianne Biles Owens (née Biles; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, and one of the greatest female athletes in history. With 11 Olympic medals, she is tied with Věra Čáslavská as the second-most decorated female Olympic gymnast behind Larisa Latynina, and has the most Olympic medals earned by a U.S. gymnast.

At the Olympic Games, Biles is a two-time gold medalist in the individual all-around (2016, 2024). She is also a two-time champion on vault (2016, 2024), the 2016 champion and 2024 silver medalist on floor exercise, and a two-time bronze medalist on balance beam (2016, 2020). Biles led the gold medal-winning U.S. teams in 2016, dubbed the "Final Five," and in 2024, dubbed the "Golden Girls". At the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition after the qualification round due to "the twisties", a temporary loss of air awareness while performing twisting elements. She won a silver medal with the U.S. team nicknamed the "Fighting Four".

Biles is the most-decorated gymnast of the World Championships, with 30 medals, all but seven gold. She is a six-time all-around champion (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2023), six-time floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2023), and four-time balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019, 2023), all record totals. She is also a two-time vault champion (2018–2019) and a member of a record five gold-medal-winning U.S. teams (2014–2015, 2018–2019, 2023). She is also a four-time silver medalist (2013–2014 and 2023 on vault, 2018 on uneven bars) and a three-time bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 2013 and 2018 on balance beam).

Domestically, Biles has won a record nine U.S. national all-around championships (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021, 2023–2024); in 2024, she became the oldest female gymnast to win the title. She is a seven-time champion on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise; a two-time uneven bars champion; and the only woman to win all five gold medals in a single championships twice (2018, 2024).

Biles is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the Olympics and the World Championships; she is the first since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously. She is the tenth woman and first American woman to win a World medal on every event, and the first woman since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympics or World Championships. Biles is the originator of the most difficult skill on women's vault, balance beam, and floor exercise; so far, she is the only gymnast to attempt them.

In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2023, she won her eighth U.S. Gymnastics title, breaking the 90-year-old record held by Alfred Jochim. Biles has won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year four times (2017, 2019, 2020, 2025) and Comeback of the Year once (2024).