Many assumed that Simone Biles would retire after her Paris “redemption tour” came to an end. But after winning her 10th Olympic medal in Saturday’s vault final, Biles said for the first time that the Los Angeles Games in 2028 could be in her future.
“Never say never,” Biles said. “The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know, but I am getting really old.”
The Olympics will be held in L.A. in 2028, the first domestic Summer Olympics since Atlanta 1996. If Biles makes it to that event, she will be 31.
After the “twisties” descended in Tokyo and forced her to withdraw from the majority of her events, Biles’ return to the Olympic stage seemed inevitable.
“I feel like we all have more to give and our Tokyo performances weren’t the best,” Biles said at the Olympic trials in Minneapolis. “We weren’t under the best circumstances, either, but I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes.”
But at 27, Biles was already transcending age barriers in a sport notorious for brief careers and early retirements. Her appearance in Paris makes her the oldest U.S. Olympic gymnast in 72 years.
There are few boxes left to check in terms of Olympic achievement for the gymnast widely considered to be the greatest of all time.
Biles became the first American to win the Olympic all-around gold medal more than once Thursday, joining Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union and Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia as repeat champions.
Both remain icons in a sport that has evolved considerably since they last competed in the 1960s.
Before Paris, Biles was already the most decorated gymnast in history from any country including world medals in the tally, with 37 world and Olympic medals combined. After winning gold in the team event Tuesday, she became the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games, surpassing Shannon Miller’s seven-medal haul.
At a press conference after receiving her vault medal Saturday, Biles was asked whether the world would ever see her dominate the event again.
She said it would “definitely” be the last sighting of her iconic namesake vault, the Yurchenko double pike, or “Biles II.”
“I mean, I kind of nailed that one,” Biles said.
It’s the most difficult vault in the women’s rulebook and the landing that clinched the gold was the best of her performances in Paris, earning a 15.700.
While she kept the door open for a return to the Olympics, Biles also acknowledged the physical and emotional toll of the Games.
“I meant the Olympics is such a draining process for the athletes,” she said Saturday. “And it’s multiple days of competition, so you definitely have to be on top of your mental as well as your physical. So as long as we’re doing that, then we’re good.”
Biles’ therapist has been seeing her remotely to “make sure she is mentally well” while in Paris despite a significant time change.
Though she’s been raking in the medals, her Olympic experience has not been entirely smooth sailing.
In a TikTok video filmed ahead of her Olympic all-around win Thursday, Biles said she’s been receiving so much attention from other athletes in the Olympic Village cafeteria that she is unable to eat there.
“A lot of people were asking me for photos, like nonstop, and whenever I sat down to eat, my anxiety was so bad that I was shaking and I couldn’t stop shaking,” she said in the video.
“I was so overwhelmed … I haven’t gone back to the cafeteria in like five days.”
When asked about her GOAT status after her all-around win, Biles said “it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes.”
She sported a necklace with a goat charm after winning Thursday’s gold, knowing “people will go crazy over it,” shouting out both supporters and dissenters of the assertion that she is the greatest gymnast of all time.
Biles has the chance to win two more gold medals in Paris. She’ll compete in the balance beam and floor exercise finals on Monday, the final day of gymnastics competition in Paris.
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