On her way to winning the eighth US gymnastics championships last year, Simone Biles had defied an age bar. At 26, she became the oldest women’s champion, breaking a record held by Linda Metheny-Mulvihill, who won in 1971 at 24. This year, Biles took it further by clinching the ninth one. It seemed that even Simone herself relished the achievement as she had said after that, “I use the phrase, ‘aging like fine wine’.” Indeed, that so-called aged woman is standing tall among the Paris contenders despite being a mere 1.42 meters. Looking at that, former Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone Quinn had an ask for Simone, maybe for the sake of other competitors!

Quinn was a member of the team that won silver at the 2008 Olympics and is now the strategic lead for the U.S. women’s high-performance team. In a recent conversation with USA Today, she described a funny exchange with Biles: “We joke all the time, I’m like, ‘Can you be not as good at gymnastics?’ and she just laughs at me.” But just how good is Simone? The gymnast now possesses way more difficult skills, with more power, than she did in 2016.

Simone Biles has had a steep and upward trajectory, notwithstanding her hurdles and hiccups along the way. While the ascent has not been an easy one, she isn’t one to back down from any challenges hurled her way. Since then, she has won seven Olympic medals, including individual, team, vault, and floor titles at Rio in 2016. Alongside, she has 30 world medals under her belt, 23 of them gold, including individual all-around titles in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2023. Not to forget, she has five moves named after her. With all this, she is the most decorated gymnast of all time, regardless of gender. And Quinn testifies to that.

“I don’t know if there will ever be another gymnast who will ever come close to touching her caliber of achievements, difficulty, and just the impact she’s had on our sport. Icon? I don’t even know if that’s the right way to say it,” Quinn stated in the conversation. Indeed, Simone Biles is leading a pack of gymnasts who are bringing a change in the age-related perception in the gymnastics realm.

Globally, the average age of the medal winners in gymnastics has been following an upward trajectory. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, it was 20.6, the highest since 1968. The US has also caught up in the trend. From 2006 to 2019 editions of the nationals, only 7 percent of competitors were at least 20 years old. During the 2020-2022 period, it has risen to 17 percent. Simone has got Jordan Chiles (23), Jade Carey (24), Shilese Jones (21), and Sunisa Lee (21) on that path. And she stopped to acknowledge.

“Seeing what we’re doing and being more mature, physically and mentally, in the gym, it just gives [other gymnasts] all the hope in the world that you don’t have to peak at 16. Your time is still coming,” Simone had said. But then she knows her limitations well with increasing age, especially considering an Olympic year.

“An Olympic year is… absolutely stressful. On top of the dedication and time commitment you put in your daily training, you have all these little things to think of: injuries, illness… that could have you detour your route, and even if I feel smarter, stronger and wiser than for my two past Olympics, I am getting old and I have more to lose,” Simone had said in an interview with lemonde in February. Here comes Simone’s humility that keeps her grounded, never taking her away from the basics.

Crucial components of Simone Biles’ training regimen

Simone is brutally particular about her workouts. Although she does “have a glass of wine” or eat “a margarita from time to time”, she never skips her training. Her difficult routines look effortless because of the countless hours she spends in the gym. But that is just one side of the story. Let us not forget the twisties scare that Jeopardized her Tokyo run. Going through that, now mental conditioning also makes a significant part of her training. In fact, that might be more important than the physical aspect of the sport.

“I think we always knew she could be better. She’s the most talented athlete I’ve ever worked with. And so we just knew if she could get her mental game and her physical game, she would be close to unstoppable,” Cecile Landi said about Simone’s overall well-being. That is where Simone looks ahead of the game: her mind is where her body is. Her score of 119.750 at the 2024 nationals was way beyond that of the second in line, Skye Blakely (113.850). Taking this forward, Simone can once again take on age quite a few times in Paris. Let’s take a look.

Simone might become:

• The oldest women’s all-around Olympic gold medalist in 72 years. Soviet Union’s Maria Gorokhovskaya had won the gold medal in 1952 at age 30.
• The oldest American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. Aly Raisman currently has the record with two gold medals in 2016 at age 22.
• The oldest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in 60 years in gymnastics. Soviet Union’s Polina Astakhova won two gold medals in 1964 at age 27.

“It took a lot mentally and physically to trust my gymnastics again and most importantly trust myself. I think that was the hardest part after Tokyo — I didn’t trust myself to do gymnastics,” Simone had said, after her Nationals triumph. With that belief back, Simone is ready to raise the bar in Paris, age-wise and performance-wise.