A dumbbell weight. A single “#1” balloon tied to it, swaying in the wind for the whole neighborhood to see. That’s how Jean Velasquez, Jordan Chiles’ grandfather, celebrated her victories—quietly, from afar, yet with undeniable pride. He never sat in the stands, too afraid his nerves would shake hers, but he read every article, tracked every score, and recorded every meet to watch later. His love for her gymnastics journey was relentless. Now, nearly two years after his sudden passing, Chiles carries his words, pushing forward with the belief he instilled in her.

Jordan Chiles still remembers that day like it was yesterday. She was in New York, savoring a box of gourmet chocolates from Jacques Torres when her phone rang. The news hit like a punch to the gut—her grandfather, Jean Velasquez, was seriously ill. Without hesitation, she rushed to the hospital, hoping to see him, to hold his hand, to hear his voice one more time. But fate had other plans. The day before Thanksgiving, Jean Velasquez passed away suddenly. To this day, Chiles struggles to make sense of it. “The craziest thing is… I honestly couldn’t even tell you how he passed away,” she shared in a recent interview. “It was just- All of a sudden. I found out, we got to the hospital, he was in a coma, and then… it was time for him to go.”

The American Presenter Katie Nolan had brought it up with her on her podcast Casuals with Katie Nolan: “Your grandpa, Jean, rest in peace. Oh, not being able to go and watch you because he was afraid. He was so nervous. It would make you nervous. Cutest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.  Chiles’ face softened. “Yeah. My grandpa, he was literally the sweetest.” Too afraid his own nerves would shake hers, he never sat in the stands but he never missed a single meet and he had his own system. “Every time I came back from a competition, he’d say, ‘Maita, I haven’t watched it yet, but I heard you did good—’cause Google told me.’” She laughed, but it was the kind that comes with a little heartache. “I’d be like, ‘Yes, Grandpa, I did.’”

And now, she carries his words with her, quite literally! It’s etched on her skin. A simple phrase, written in a scratch font along the outside of her left forearm: “Where you are I have been, Where I am, You will be.”. Her grandfather, Gene Velasquez, said it often. It was his way of telling her that nothing in life! What did he say? No struggle, no challenge was insurmountable. He’d been through his own storms, and he wanted her to know that she could weather hers, too. When an interviewer on Forbes recently brought it up,  asking how much she relied on that saying to get her through, she didn’t hesitate.  “A lot,” she said. “Because it’s true.”

She thought about everything he had endured, things she’d never fully understand, things that shaped him into the man she looked up to. And it wasn’t just her—her older sister felt the same. “My grandpa… he went through a lot of things that we probably would could never go through at his age,” she said. “He was somebody that we all looked up to.”

She was always in awe of his strength—the quiet resilience he carried, the lessons he passed down without ever needing to say much. But grief doesn’t come with a manual.

Jordan Chiles Opens Up About Coping with Loss After Her Aunt and Grandfather’s Passing in 2023

Jordan Chiles always knew she wanted to make her family proud. But what happens when the people who believed in you the most are no longer there to see you shine? In 2023, Chiles spoke about the heartbreak of losing her aunt, Crystal Oliver, and grandfather, Jean Velasquez—two of her biggest supporters. “I don’t really know where in my healing process I am,” she admitted to Teen Vogue. “Some days I feel great, and then on days like making my second Olympics, I was so happy, and then I was sad that they weren’t there to witness it.”

Fast forward to Paris 2024, and Chiles has honored them in the most spectacular way possible—winning Olympic gold in the team event. Alongside Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Jade Carey, she helped Team USA secure their fourth Olympic team title.“They were both my biggest supporters, and they are my why,” Chiles said in 2023. “They wanted this for me, and I wanted to do it for them.”

Chiles has come a long way since nearly quitting gymnastics in 2018. She once doubted if the sport even wanted her. Now? She’s an Olympic champion. And while she still feels the loss of her aunt and grandfather, she knows they would be cheering the loudest.

“Some days I still feel the loss,” she reflected, “but I know they’d be proud.”