Simone Biles won the all-around gymnastics title at the Paris Olympics, marking her second gold medal of the Games and her sixth overall, further cementing her legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.
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Biles, who won the all-around title at Rio 2016 and was the favorite at Tokyo 2020 before withdrawing, became the oldest winner of the event in 72 years.
She triumphed in front of a celebrity-studded crowd at the Bercy Arena. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade claimed silver, while defending champion Sunisa Lee took bronze.
To celebrate her historic achievement, Biles wore a sparkly goat necklace, a nod to her status as the GOAT (greatest of all time). “It’s a little ode… a lot of people love it. They always call me the GOAT, so I thought it would be really special if I got one made,” she said.
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“The haters hate it, but I like that even more. It’s just a special part of me that I have here. In the athletes’ village I have a stuffed goat. Just to get a reminder, like ‘You can go out there, you can do it. You’ve done it before. So let’s go’.”
At 27, Biles is the first gymnast to win non-consecutive all-around Olympic titles, showcasing her enduring excellence in a sport typically dominated by teenagers.
The past 12 Olympic all-around women’s champions were teenagers, with the last non-teen winner, Ludmilla Tourischeva, turning 20 just weeks before her victory in 1972.
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