Mental-health struggles and a case of "the twisties" — a phenomenon dreaded by gymnasts and divers alike that causes disorientation in the air — forced Biles to withdraw from a total of five medal events at the Tokyo Games. Should she choose to keep competing after the Classic and make a run to the Paris Olympics in 2024, however, the newly married superstar could vie for even more gymnastics history.
With her stunning comeback performance in her last event of the Tokyo Olympics — the balance-beam final — Biles earned a hard-fought bronze, tying Shannon Miller for most Olympic medals won by an American female gymnast with seven apiece. Another trip to the podium in Paris — either as an individual or with her USA Gymnastics teammates — would give the gymnastics legend sole possession of the record.
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And she'd be doing it as Team USA's oldest female gymnast in at least 40 years; Biles would be 27 years old by the time she'd head to France for her third games of her illustrious career.
Kathy Johnson Clarke — an American gymnast who was three years younger when she competed at the 1984 Olympics — told the Washington Post she felt "ancient" compared to her gymnastics counterparts at the time.
But if anyone in the sport can manage to do the unimaginable, it's Simone Biles: the gymnast who has become synonymous with surmounting the impossible.
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