"We’re basically like sisters" - When Simone Biles reflected on Aly Raisman's heartfelt words following all around gold medal at Rio Olympics

Simone Biles once reflected on Aly Raisman's heartfelt words when they shared the podium during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Biles made her Olympics debut at the Rio edition, securing five medals.

She dominated the all-around event after scoring 62.198 points. Following Biles was her teammate Aly Raisman, and Russia's Aliya Mustafina, who posted 60.098 and 58.665 points, respectively.

In her autobiography Courage to Soar, published in November of 2016, Biles reflected on the emotional moment between her and Aly Raisman, who was selected as the captain of the women's gymnastics squad for the Rio Games.

The legendary gymnast acknowledged the unwavering support from Raisman and recalled the moment in her autobiography:

"Aly, Aimee, and I hugged each other ecstatically, tears of joy spilling out from our lower lids," Biles wrote. "Then Aly pushed me in the direction of the stage. 'Go! Go!' she said, 'Get up there!' In a daze, I went back out on the floor, waving at the applauding crowd."

Mentioning how it felt incomplete standing alone on the podium while receiving the gold medal, Biles revealed she wanted to celebrate it with Raisman and gestured for her to join too:

"But it didn’t feel right being up there without Aly, so I motioned for her to come up on stage with me. We had done the whole competition together, and now we would finish it together, joining our hands and lifting them high in a victory salute to the crowd. 'We’re basically like sisters,' Aly told me that night. 'We’ll have this moment forever.'”

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Simone Biles and Aly Raisman bagged the team event gold medal at 2016 Rio Games alongside other American gymnasts

Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Lauren Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman of the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Getty Images)

Simone Biles secured a gold medal alongside Gabby Douglas, Lauren Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman in the team event at the 2016 Rio Games. The American squad collected a total of 184.897 points to surpass the Russian and Chinese teams, who posted 176.688 and 176.003 points, respectively.

Along with the individual all-around gold and team, Biles also topped the vault and floor exercise events, surpassing Raisman in the latter event. The 27-year-old further collected a bronze medal in the balance beam event at the Rio Games.

She repeated her all-around victory at the 2024 Paris Games last year, alongside clinching gold medals in the team and vault events.