Simone Biles is one of the stars of the Paris Olympic Games, perhaps the brightest one of all. She won the gold medal for the all-around gymnastics title Thursday with an array of performances that has left many of the sport's experts and an even greater number of the gymnast's fans to reaffirm her label as the women's gymnastics GOAT.
Biles regularly shouts out her teammates and her coaches, but she is aware that many consider her the greatest of all-time. She acknowledged that title prior to her stellar showing by wearing a necklace with a diamond-encrusted pendant of a goat.
She was asked what the necklace meant to her and she explained her motivation for wearing it.
“It's a little ode, a lot of people love it, so they always call me the GOAT. So I thought it would be special if I got one made. And the haters hate it, so I love it even more.
“It's just a special part of me that I have here. In the village I have a stuffed goat. It's a reminder that you can go out there and you can do it, you've done it before. So let's go.”
Biles led the US women's gymnasts to the team gold medal earlier in the Olympic competition before winning the individual gold medal. Teammate Suni Lee earned the bronze medal.
Biles has been able to reach new heights in her sport
Accepting the GOAT title is something that is based on Biles' spectacular accomplishments in her sport.
She has won 39 Olympic and world championship medals at this point, and she has the potential to add three more medals during the Paris Olympics. No gymnast has ever been able to accomplish a similar number of honors during their careers.
However, it's much more than the number of medals and trophies with Biles. Her ability to reach incredible heights on her leaps on the floor or her vaults have given her an edge on many of the great legends of the sports.
Women's gymnastics has been a top sport for U.S. Olympians since the legendary Mary Lou Retton took center stage at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and generations of gymnasts have followed her lead. Each generation seems to raise the competitive bar even higher, but it will be difficult for future gymnasts to match or top Biles' accomplishments.
Still, despite the GOAT acknowledgement, Biles regularly tries to downplay her success.
“At the end of the day, it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes,” she said Thursday, “because I just still think that I'm Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip.”
And she does it better than any other gymnast in the sport's history.
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