What Simone Biles Understands About Greatness
In walking away from an Olympic event, the world’s best gymnast rejected the false dichotomy between personal well-being and professional excellence.
Central to Simone Biles’s appeal as an athlete, even to viewers only flimsily acquainted with the rules and rituals of her sport, is the clarity of her gift. You do not have to know the specs of the original “Biles,” a double layout with a half twist and blind landing that distinguishes her floor routine, to wonder over her straightened limbs blurring and her equilibrium compensating. By the same token, on those rare occasions when the 24-year-old four-time Olympic gold medalist falters, it is thuddingly obvious. Yesterday evening in Tokyo, attempting a two-and-a-half twist vault that she was withdrawing from the competition. “I love you guys, but you’re gonna be just fine.”
