Houston-raised Simone Biles has officially become the most decorated US gymnast in history – breaking the tie she’d had with “Magnificent Seven” star Shannon Miller – after leading the US women’s gymnastics team to another gold medal victory in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Biles as you all well know, received a tidal wave of criticism for her decision to step down from 2021 Tokyo Olympics competitions.
Her decision to not to compete in Tokyo Olympics resulted in an uproar here in America.
On one side, effusive praise for Biles as a champion for mental health and the well-being of athletes; on the other, vociferous jeers from sudden, uber-patriotic gymnastics fans.
Having been called every name under the sun, Biles’ latest victory is a response in and of itself. But Biles took to Instagram to really flex on the haters.
In a carousel post of images posing with her fellow Team USA women gymnasts, Biles wrote the caption:
“lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions❤️🥇🇺🇸”
The post, which has garnered nearly 2.5 million likes as of this article, was received with a flood of support from fellow Olympians including Michelle Kwan who wrote: “Four letter word for all the haters – G.O.A.T”
Biles’ husband, NFL player, Jonathan Owens wrote: “F AROUND AND FIND OUT”
This marks Biles’ total medal count to 38. Between world championships and the Olympics the 27-year-old has claimed 21 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze in world championship medals; 5 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze in Olympic medals.
Biles continues to be the American gymnast record holder for most Olympic gold medals.
To note, Biles is not technically the world’s most decorated Olympic medalist – that title is held by the Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina, who accumulated a total of 18 Olympic gold medals during her career. Biles is, however, the world’s most decorated gymnast – male or female – when added in her 27 world championship medals.