In the world of competitive gymnastics, one name looms larger than any other: Simone Biles.
She also holds a record-setting 25 world championship medals, of which 19 are gold.
One of the coaches noticed her ability to copy the moves with amazing accuracy, and told another coach.
Her parents decided to enroll her.
“It sucks when you reach your peak at 23, 24, you know?”
“Because it’s all downhill from there.”
Then came another move, which came to be known asthe Biles II.
AsPeopledescribed it, Biles' version of the Yurchenko Double Pike adds an additional flip.
There is, however, one thing that strikes fear into the heart of the celebrated athlete: bees.
That was apparent after the 2014 World Championships, immediately after Biles' routine had won the gold medal.
Biles subsequently spoke withTodayabout the bee, and admitted she probably could have handled it better.
“It was in the flowers,” said the then-17-year-old.
“I tried not to freak out, but I just freaked out.”
Pepperoni pizza," she said.
As a result, pizza remains more of a special-occasion treat than an everyday staple.
Biles is also a big fan of potatoes, “in any shape or form.”
According to Biles, she tends to eat intuitively.
“I do not track anything,” she added.
A CT scan diagnosed a kidney stone which Biles hilariously nicknamed the “Doha pearl.”
“Nothing like a late night ER visit less than 24 hrs before world championships.
This kidney stone can wait … doing it for my team!”
Bilestweeted, accompanying some photos of herself in a hospital bed.
In an essay she wrote forESPN, Adria describes her sister as “fearless.”
The sisters also look alike.
They’d ask for autographs and take pictures.
And many times they didn’t speak English so I couldn’t explain that I wasn’t her.
They’d just say, ‘Simone!
and finally I decided it was easier to just let them take a picture."
“Think of it as a superpower.”
Naturally, the Olympic gold medalist put her own unique spin on it.
“I didn’t know who she was,” Owens admitted.
As the two got to know each other better, they totally clicked.
“This was a match made in heaven,” Owens continued.
“There’s no better person for me.
She loves me, she’s so affectionate.
I just love that.
And it’s just intoxicating seeing how much work she puts into everything.”
“We’re both super competitive,” added Owens.
Regaining that confidence on the beam, Biles shared, “took awhile.”
Ever since, she said, she has come to have “this love-hate relationship with the beam.
I’ve always told myself, ‘If you hate beam, the beam will hate you.'”
By 2019, when Simone Biles was just 22, that training had also left her in constant pain.
“It starts when I wake up,” she told theDaily Mail.
Despite her youth, Biles described her body feeling “like it is maybe in its 30s or 40s.
Inside it is screaming and yelling at me.”
“Pain is just something I live with and that is pretty odd for my age, right?”
“It feels weird if I’m not in pain.”
Look at her now.’
No, the facts are literally on the paper."
“I really don’t know how I do it sometimes,” she revealed.
