"Simone Biles shied away from talking about going to the Olympics" - When gymnast's mother spoke about aftermath of her dominance in 1st senior year

Simone Biles' mother Nelie Biles once opened up about the gymnast being shy about talking about the Olympics after her dominant first season as a senior in 2013. Biles made her Worlds debut in the same year, winning two gold medals and one bronze medal.

Biles started her junior career at the 2011 American Classic and though she performed impressively in the lead-up to the U.S. Championships, she fell short of making it to the national in her first attempt. The 27-year-old did make it to the team at the 2012 National Championships, also winning the gold medal in the vault competition before making her senior debut in the following year.

The Texas native made her debut at the American Classic before clinching her first national title at the 2013 National Gymnastics Championships. She qualified for the World Championships and won the women's all-around and floor exercise titles in Antwerp.

Following her massive success in her debut year, Biles shied away from talking about the Olympics, her mother Nelie Biles claimed during an interview with MadameNoire in 2016. She said,

"That year [2013] was just unbelievable because she pretty much was winning all the competitions that she competed in and that led to [the] Worlds and then she won her first Worlds that year. When she won for the first time, I never thought that winning the Olympics and making history was going to be something that would be in Simone's future.

"I knew that Simone's goal was to definitely make it to Olympics but we didn't talk about that because she shied away from talking about going to the Olympics but I knew that that was a long-term goal of Simone" [0:30].

Nelie Biles, who adopted Simone Biles when the latter was six years old, added that she was sure that the gymnast intended to compete at the Olympics. She also spoke of her feelings regarding the gymnast's "dream." She said,

"I was sure it was there and I would whatever it took to support her dream."

---

Simone Biles became the most decorated American Olympic gymnast in history at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Gymnastics during the Paris 2024 Olympics. - Simone Biles during her floor routine (Source: Getty)

While Simone Biles shied away from talking about going to the Olympics in her first senior year, according to her mother, the American has since competed at three editions and won a staggering 11 medals. Biles made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics and took home five medals.

She won gold in the team, all-around, floor exercise, and vault competitions, and a bronze medal in balance beam competitions.

Her second Olympic appearance came at the delayed Tokyo Games where she struggled with "twisties" and mental health issues and could only secure a silver and a bronze medal. However, Biles made a roaring comeback at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the most decorated American Olympic gymnast in history.

Simone Biles won gold medals in team, all-around, and vault competitions and a silver on the floor exercise to take her Olympic medal tally to eleven. She overtook Shanon Miller, who won 7 medals, to become the most decorated American gymnast and is tied with Věra Čáslavská for the second most Olympic medals by an international gymnast.