Simone Biles has stuck her landing into the title of “Most Decorated U.S. Gymnast in Olympic History.” After winning her 8th Olympic medal on Tuesday, July 30th she officially made history by surpassing the previous record holder, Shannon Miller. And although the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are not over until Sunday, August 11th, let’s take a moment to appreciate this major accomplishment.
Biles has had an amazing year so far not only breaking this record but releasing her Netflix documentary series, Simone Biles Rising. As it follows her life including her professional and personal life it delves into her struggles during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. In 2020 she withdrew herself to focus on her mental health after experiencing the dreaded and dangerous “twisties.” But that’s all in the past now as she continues to take this year’s Paris Olympics by storm even with a minor calf injury.
Biles is understandably receiving a ton of support and praise. Not only are her teammates backing her but so is previous record holder, Shannon Miller. Miller, who has held the record since the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with 7 medals had nothing but positive things to say. When speaking to CNN in a recent interview she stated, “I love what this team did and by Simone getting that eighth medal, she’s just inspiring so many young people, but also, all of us to go after our goals and to just build big goals.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
