Once Riddled With Self-Doubt Despite Inspiring Simone Biles, 17-Year-Old US Gymnast Opens Up on Unlikely Connection With the Legend

Gymnastics queen Simone Biles stands as an icon and an inspiration to countless young female athletes around the globe. However, one of her admirers has now become Biles’ staunch competitor. Eight years ago, Biles posted a viral Vine video of a young girl executing a standing backflip with a full twist on her Twitter account. Biles expressed, saying, “I’m in awe! Someone help me find this cutie. I wanna meet her, so she could teach me a thing or two.” Little did she know that fate had more in store for this connection.

Fast forward to 2023, and Joscelyn Roberson, a young prodigy, has made waves in the gymnastics world. This accomplishment has come with its fair share of challenges and self-doubt. In 2022, she was 16 and had just finished her first year competing at a senior level, and she felt like a stranger to the world she was in. Roberson’s journey looks even more special now, as she revealed in her recent interview about the full-circle moment she experienced with Biles.

Joscelyn Roberson’s full circle moment with Simone Biles

In a recent interview with Olympics.com, Roberson stated while training alongside her childhood idol at the World Champions Centre, she resisted the urge to bring up that viral Vine video. However, fate intervened, and the video resurfaced. To her surprise, Biles exclaimed, “Oh, I remember this!” It was a heart-warming reunion, where mentor and mentee became peers.

Roberson finds herself now competing alongside Biles and other Olympic medalists like Jade Carey at the SAP arena during the 2023 Xfinity Gymnastics Championships.

She expressed the unreal feeling saying, “It?s so surreal because last quad, I was watching them and wanting to be like them, and then, now, I?m competing against them and getting to say hi to them and become friends with them”.

Like Biles, Roberson too faced the enigmatic challenge of ‘Twisties,’ a phenomenon where a gymnast loses control of their body while performing intricate manoeuvres. She has admitted how confiding in Biles helped her feel like she wasn’t alone in this challenge. A year before her stellar rise, she found herself on the side-lines, looking in. So how did this crazy connection from fan to teammate even begin?

How did their paths cross and how it changed Roberson’s life?

Her mother’s job relocation to Houston, Texas, brought her to the World Champions Center from Texarkana, her hometown. WCC is owned by Biles? parents and has become a powerhouse known for producing star athletes.

Roberson admitted that this was a move she initially dreaded. She candidly admitted her fear and reluctance, saying, “I was so scared”. Little did she know that this move would change her life forever.

Under the guidance of coach Laurent and Cecile Landi at the 2023 Xfinity U.S. Championships, she showcased her prowess and new found confidence with scores of 14.000 on vault, 13.300 on floor, and an impressive overall score of 28.500 on vault. Her talent shone brightly as she placed third in the all-around at the 2023 U.S. Classic with a score of 54.050. She has also clinched victories at the DTB Team Challenge and the Cairo World Cup. These accomplishments marked her ascent to the upper echelons of gymnastics.

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With the World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics approaching in Antwerp, Belgium, from 30 September to 8 October 2023, fans around the world hold their breath in anticipation. They hope to witness this young prodigy, Joscelyn Roberson, make her way to the Paris Olympics in 2024, standing shoulder to shoulder with her mentor and friend, Simone Biles.

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