Aly Raisman congratulates "GOAT" Simone Biles on SI’s Sportsperson of the Year award

Aly Raisman expressed her admiration for her 2016 Rio Games teammate Simone Biles after the later received the SI Sportsperson of the Year Award. Biles was honored with the award for her 2024 Paris Olympics heroics.

Biles and Raisman were present at the red carpet for the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards held in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. At the 2024 Paris Games, Biles bagged three gold medals and one silver, bringing her total Olympic medal tally to 11.

Biles collected her second Olympic gold medal in the all-around event at the French capital by collecting 59.131 points and surpassing Rebeca Andrade and fellow teammate Suni Lee, who earned 57.932 and 56.465 points, respectively. Further, the American competed on all four apparatus and led the squad on the top place on the podium in the team event, defeating the Brazilian and Italian teams.

In the vault, she executed a flawless Yurchenko double pike and a Cheng to dominate the event. The legendary gymnast won her second Olympic medal in the floor event by finishing second to Andrade.

Her 2016 Olympic teammate Raisman, with whom she collected a gold medal in the team event, congratulated Biles for the recent honor, acknowledging her impressive achievements. Sharing a picture of the two together in an Instagram post, Raisman wrote:

"Congratulations to the goat @simonebiles for being @sportsillustrated 2024 sportsperson of the year. You deserve it 💕 in awe of your accomplishments on & off the floor. In your corner always. So cool to be able to see your journey up close."

Simone Biles acknowledges she is yet to come to terms with her achievements

Simone Biles of Team United States during the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Getty Images)

After receiving the SI Sportsperson of the Year Award, Simone Biles reflected on her achievements.

She stated that she is yet to fully grasp the extent of what she's accomplished so far. She highlighted that the magnitude of her success hasn’t fully hit her and that she hopes that it might possibly happen after she retires and looks back on her career.

"I don’t think the reality has set in of what I’ve exactly done in the sport,” Biles said. “I can see it, and I hear it from people, and I see a glimpse of it, but the full magnitude I don’t think I’ve realized just yet. I don’t think I’ll realize ’til maybe I retire and look back in a couple years like, Damn, she was good. Because I can see that, but I do it every day. So for me, it’s normal." (via si.com)

Following her Paris Olympic heroics, Simone Biles became the most decorated U.S Olympic gymnast.