Why Simone Biles Is the Greatest Gymnast Who Ever Lived

The Numbers That Defy Comprehension

When athletes are called the greatest of all time, it is often a matter of debate — a careful weighing of eras, opponents, and circumstances. With Simone Biles, there is almost no debate left. Her 25 World Championship medals represent a number so far ahead of her nearest competitor that statisticians have struggled to find an adequate comparison. Add 7 Olympic medals — including 4 golds from the 2016 Rio Games alone — and you have an athlete whose achievements exist in their own separate category.

What makes these numbers even more remarkable is the sport in which she achieved them. Artistic gymnastics is uniquely unforgiving. Unlike sports where athletes can peak in their thirties, gymnasts typically retire before they turn 25. Biles has continued competing, and improving, well into an age when most of her peers have long moved on.

The Physics of the Biles

Simone Biles does not simply perform gymnastics — she has fundamentally expanded what the human body is understood to be capable of. She has four skills officially named after her by the International Gymnastics Federation, a distinction awarded only when an athlete is the first to successfully perform a move in international competition. These include a double layout with a half twist on floor, a double-double dismount on beam, and a Yurchenko double pike vault — a move so technically demanding that the FIG initially scored it conservatively out of concern that other gymnasts might attempt it without her extraordinary physical gifts.

Her biomechanical advantages are real and measurable. Biles generates exceptional power in her takeoffs, allowing her to stay airborne longer than her competitors and complete rotations that would be physically impossible for most athletes. But power alone does not explain her dominance. Her air awareness — the ability to know exactly where her body is in space at any moment during rapid rotation — is extraordinarily refined, developed through thousands of hours of training that began when she was six years old.

What She Did in Tokyo

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to the pandemic, produced one of the most significant moments in sports history — not because of a victory, but because of a withdrawal. Biles stepped back from most of her events citing the "twisties," a dangerous phenomenon in gymnastics where an athlete loses their sense of orientation mid-air. For a gymnast performing at her difficulty level, continuing with the twisties is not merely a performance risk; it is a genuine safety hazard.

Her decision to prioritize her mental and physical health over competition, at the biggest stage in sport, sparked a worldwide conversation about athlete wellbeing and the pressures placed on elite competitors. Then, at the 2023 World Championships, she returned and won five gold medals in a single week — the most dominant individual performance in the history of the sport at a single World Championships.

A Legacy Beyond Records

The numbers — 7 Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals — are ultimately just a shorthand for something harder to quantify. Biles has changed what coaches teach, what young gymnasts attempt, and what governing bodies are forced to score. Skills bear her name. Standards were raised because of her presence. Athletes in every discipline study her preparation, her competitive mindset, and her willingness to speak honestly about the psychological demands of elite sport.

Her legacy is not simply one of victory. It is a legacy of recalibration — of an athlete who arrived at the top of her sport and proceeded to move the ceiling higher than anyone thought possible.