The most decorated gymnast of all time previously s
Can a summer Olympic champion excel in a winter sport?
Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin certainly believes so, especially when it comes to the gymnastics GOAT, Simone Biles: “I think she’d be really good at slalom. But I’m pretty sure she could do everything!” she told Olympics.com during a media event organised by her sponsor Atomic in Altenmarkt, Austria.
“The explosiveness helps a lot in slalom. But she’s strong and she’s smart, you know, she can do it all!” the 28-year-old added.
In a recent video for Laureus, Biles picked several athletes from other sports and assigned them a gymnastics apparatus: “On beam, I would love to see Mikaela Shiffrin,” she said, “because honestly I think she’d be really good at it because she’s a beast in her sport and I think there are similarities in balance.”
Shiffrin replied on the social platform X with a smile and a playful remark (‘You have too much faith in me’) but admitted she appreciated being included in the list: “I think I would be terrible at it. But it’s amazing that Simone said she thought I’d be good!”
Biles designated her husband and NFL star Jonathan Owens for the vault, basketball legend LeBron James for the bars and tennis icon Serena Williams for floor.
aid she would love to see the skier on the balance beam.
Shiffrin and Biles have been supportive of each other throughout their careers.
This summer, Shiffrin applauded the return to competition of her fellow Olympic champion and congratulated her for becoming the most decorated gymnast in history during the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
Earlier this year, in a video posted by NBC, Biles joined a list of celebrities in congratulating Shiffrin for resetting the overall record for World Cup victories.
The pair also have also faced similar struggles with pressure and social media trolling.
During Beijing 2022, Biles – who just a few months earlier withdrew from several finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to prioritise her mental health – reached out to the skier to show her support: “I saw the experience that Mikaela went through and I had just gone through that, so I didn’t want her to feel alone,” the gymnast said.
