?Black Girl Magic?: Years After Facing Racism, Simone Biles Celebrates a Historic First at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships?2023

Simone Biles is the most far-reaching woman gymnast, and she has proved it again. With her 6th World title claim, she equaled the greatest gymnast of all time, Uchimura Kohei. Even though the retired 34-year-old man stands shoulder-to-shoulder, Biles’s overall medals beat him as well. As the US six-member roster stood strong at the podium, Biles and Shilese Jones looked strong, with a gold (58.399) and bronze (56.332), respectively. In fact, Rebeca Andrade, the prolific Brazilian force and 2022 World all-over champion, clinched a deserving silver with 56.766.

But apart from their athletic prowess, the top women shared another similar trait: they proudly owned their culture. Shedding light on some post-win ecstasies, Australian gymnast Heath Thorpe caught Biles for a candid questionnaire. The traps of bigotry didn’t leave Simone alone, no matter how celebrated a gymnast she is.

Simone Biles’ proud notes

Gymnastics Now took to their ‘X’ handle to post a video of the 26-year-old, all smiles after her win. They captioned the post as Simone Biles secured her 6th world all-around title tonight. Her smile, as wide as it can ever be, complimented the post-win spark in her eyes.

When asked to look back on her exceptional career wins, hurdles and progression, the gymnastics GOAT answered wisely. She said, “I don’t think so. I think everyday I try to think about it, especially in therapy, when we talk about it, and I think that’s when all the emotions come up… Tonight I think it was a good start and we had all black podium of girls..black girl magic.”

READ MORE: ?Portray Me as Inconsistent?: Shilese Jones Slams Haters After Team USA?s Historic Win at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023

She also added that anybody can achieve whatever they put their minds to. On a mission to motivate young girls and take them to success, Biles’s words count. Especially because she faced several setbacks herself when she started young.

Simone’s tragic past

The struggle of being a black gymnast was incomprehensible. She once said that being black in the white or Asian athletic world “was a struggle growing up because you don’t see many of your kind.” But gradually, she had supporters hop in to cheer for. In an interview once, Biles traced back to either 2013 or 2014, to share an unfavorable incident. Exactly on this Antwerp ground, Biles’ podium finished was not received well by some. However, her third place finish on the balance beam ignited controversy. To win yet another medal, Biles narrowly prevailed over Italians Vanessa Ferrari and Carlotta Ferlito in a tiebreaker. As a result, Ferrari and Ferlito were angry that they didn’t make the podium.? Hence, in a post-event interview, the latter resorted to disparaging Biles in a racial manner. She said, ‘Well maybe if we paint our skin black we’ll win too’. Even though she apologized to Biles later, the damage was already made.

Watch this story: ?With World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Days Away Shilese Jones Sends a Message of Contention

Returning to the same mat after a decade, she showed why she’s still the queen. With her 8th National title and 6th World title claim, Biles stands atop the world of gymnastics.