Simone Biles is heading back to the Olympics
Simone Biles is heading back to the Olympics. So are some of her friends.
The gymnastics superstar earned a third trip to her sport’s biggest stage by cruising to victory at the U.S. Olympic trials on Sunday night, posting a two-day all-around total of 117.225 to clinch the lone automatic spot on the five-woman team.
Three years removed from the Tokyo Olympics — where she pulled out of multiple finals to prioritize her safety and becoming a touchstone on the importance of mental health in the process — Biles returns to the games looking perhaps as good as ever at 27.
“Trusting the process and (my coaches), I knew I’d be back,” Biles said.
Biles isn’t going alone.
Reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera were named to the five-woman team later Sunday night. Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong are the alternates.
A trip to France has never really been in doubt for Biles since she returned from a two-year break last summer. All she’s done over the last 12 months is win a sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national championship — both records — while further cementing her status as the best-ever in her sport.
Biles will be a prohibitive favorite to bookend the Olympic gold she won in 2016, though there is plenty to work on before women’s qualifying on July 28.
