Simone Biles makes her stance crystal clear on future in gymnastics after being told she is too 'old' to compete

Simone Biles recently shared her thoughts on common age-related perceptions in sports. Through her views, the 11-time Olympic medalist expressed confidence and determination in her abilities as an artistic gymnast.

Biles is widely known as one of the most talented gymnasts and has 30 World Championship medals. The legendary athlete discussed her thoughts on why she does not see age as a limitation for gymnastics. During her recent keynote at the HIMSS25 Global Health Conference and Exhibition, Biles mentioned:

“People say I’m old for gymnastics, but I feel like I’m just getting started.”

The 27-year-old created history as she became the oldest woman to clinch the all-around title in 72 years. This feat was last achieved by Maria Gorokhovskaya, who won the title at the age of 30 at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

The three-time Olympian secured five gymnastic skills, which are named after her, during her legendary career. She was the first gymnast to perform Biles 6.0 and Biles II 6.4 on vault, Biles H on balance beam, Biles G and Biles II J on floor exercise. For the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, Biles has kept her decision open and as for the Olympics, the gymnast mentioned "you just never know".

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When Simone Biles shared her experiences of being an elite athlete

Simone Biles at The Olympic Games-Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

Simone Biles has etched her name into history in both national and international competitions throughout her prestigious career. In 2024, she was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year and during the segment, she shared her viewpoints on being an elite athlete and the challenges and limitations she had faced around the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I wanted to be open and honest with my audience about exactly what I was going through. Because, as an elite athlete, everybody thinks that every moment that we have in athletics is great; it's the best, but we go through some lows too, and we deal with things just like everyone else might,” she shared. [0:30 onwards]

Biles continued:

“If I can share some insight of what's going on, maybe they'll understand, and maybe they'll even relate to it, and maybe it can help somebody out there. It was kind of nice for me because then it shows that we're all going through this together.”

Simone Biles reflected on the emotional and mental challenges she faced leading up to the Paris Olympics 2024, where she won three gold medals and one silver medal. She also highlighted her experience from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and mentioned that it was “a lot” and that she was able to make her comeback by going in therapy and learning to handle the pressure.