The Olympic year has just announced its beginning for the US gymnastics and the excitement is greater than anyone ever expected. Starting on the 23rd of February, the 2024 Winter Cup will kick off the domestic season and three names float visibly in the industry: Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, and Suni Lee. The three gymnastics icons have each won the Olympic all-around title, sparking speculations on the best for the path ahead.

Come Winter Cup later this week, Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas are set to leap ahead for the season with their participation. Now, with Simone Biles’ decision to stay back, an inevitable question about the former two racing ahead lingers around in the gymnastics industry.

Gabby Douglas’ determined path forward

It took Gabby Douglas seven years to focus on well-being and fetch the domain that brings along happiness for her. When she did, the Olympian ground through to the T to get back into form and ultimately make her way to the elite stages, eight years after her last step. “I didn’t want to end this sport how I did in 2016… Wanted to take a step back and work on my mental state,” she reveals. “I love gymnastics and love pushing myself… I never wanted to walk away on a bad day.” 

On the 24th of Feb, Gabby Douglas will be the oldest gymnast as she returns, trained in all four apparatuses. However, her performance on ‘uneven bars,’ the element that gave her the ‘flying squirrel’ tag, will be the one to look out for. As per the US Gymnastics website, the 2012 Olympic gold medal, is training under Nastia Liukin’s father and former coach, Valeri Liukin, who is an Olympic gold medalist himself.

With the required help, the gymnastics fame is back to conquer the element specifically weaker to the US Gymnastics: Uneven Bars. Douglas has repeatedly attained gold on the bars, inclusive of the Pacific Rim and Pan AM Championships. The industry enthusiasts thus speculate her to be a stronger contender for the team going into the Olympics in 2024., offering a tougher uphill battle to Suni Lee.

Suni Lee and the resilient mindset

The past year has been grueling and unkind for the 20-year-old gymnast, Suni Lee. Diagnosed with ‘an incurable kidney disease,’ Lee was obliged to stay off the elite mats and otherwise quite frequently. However, raising back up, the 2020 Olympic all-arounder is back for the Winter Cup with a list stretching further below. The kick off the comeback, Suni Lee will start at the Winter Cup getting her hands on the beam and the bars.

According to reports, Suni Lee is expecting to debut a new skill on bars. Following with the same, the Olympian is trying to get herself to the World Cup in Baku, 7-10 March. Participation there will allow Suni a chance to submit a new element to the gymnastics rule book. The skill known as full-twisting, layout Jaeger on the uneven bars will hold a chance to be named ‘The Lee’ if she were to execute it flawlessly.

“The whole reason we’re doing Winter Cup is so that we can go to Baku and get the skill named because Suni really wants to get that out of the way,” Coach Jess Graba states. Suni Lee reports to be working on the element for the past 2 years and feels ready as she heads into the next phase. If all were to fall in place, Olympic qualification doesn’t seem too far for Suni Lee. However, while the two have presented visible progress, Simone Biles seems to walk her own path of progress.

A possible threat to Simone Biles

Much like Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles has been on a break herself for 2 years following the 2020 Olympics. Though the 7-time Olympic medalist made a triumphant return, Biles seems to be taking it slow, including her withdrawal from the Winter Cup. However, that wouldn’t mean the most decorated gymnast has given up just yet.

During the national camp earlier this month, Simone Biles presented solid routines on various apparatuses. The Olympian reportedly started on Vault with Amanar that had earlier been a part of Biles’ twisties in the 2020 routine. Further along, the gymnast’s routine also included uneven bars execution and Biles I on the floor. While the icon has been well on a path of progress, her well-being-centric, slow-paced path on elite mats may immediately prove a setback, with Gabby Douglas and Suni Lee visibly moving ahead. But the future holds the truth of its own.

Gymnastics queen Simone Biles is known for sharing several heartwarming social media posts with her fans. The 4x Olympic gold medalist is hardly ever seen making a crisis call out of frustration. However, today is one of the rare days when the reigning all-around world champion had enough.

Simone Biles has been having quite a rough time on social media. Not long ago, she had to fend off rogue fans trying to bash her husband Jonathan Owens. The gymnastics champ could be seen venting her frustration online once again. This time, however, Biles turned to her loyal fans to ask for their assistance.

Simone Biles looking for petite stores

Simone Biles took to X and added a new angst-filled tweet. The tweet carried the caption, “IM SICK & TIRED OF NOTHING FITTING……… please send me petite stores to shop at.” It turns out that the gymnastics GOAT is experiencing a lot of trouble finding good garments of her size.

The petite body of Simone Biles has never been a hindrance in her career. In turn, it has led her to win 23 world championship gold medals. But, the apparel stores don’t seem to be making clothes to fit her size. This situation stands in complete contrast to the trendy and fitting designs she sports whenever she goes out to compete.

Simone Biles’ new home with husband Jonathan Owens is getting closer to completion!

On Saturday, the Olympic gold medalist 26, gave an update on the progress of the house she and husband Owens, 26, are having built in Texas, sharing photos and clips on her Instagram Story showing the exterior, kitchen and a huge walk-in closet.

An Instagram Story photo captioned “house updates,” showed the front of Biles’ new house with scaffolding set up and large boxes labeled “cultured stone” laid out on the ground in front.

“Stucco is happening 🤯👏🏾😍,” Biles added in the caption, referring to the cement mixture being applied to the exterior of the house.

The next snap showed the stone-laying process for an exterior wall, as one side of Biles’ house was pictured partially covered with the building materials.

“This stone is EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!” the athlete wrote in reaction to the walls in a second caption.

Biles also revealed her new kitchen in further footage, which showed a space with wooden cabinets installed and an unpainted ceiling and walls. As well as close-ups of the kitchen, the gymnast also posted a wider shot that appeared to show that the kitchen sits off a much larger space with high ceilings, possibly a dining room.

Finally, Biles showed off what is set to be her walk-in closet in her home in a clip of a large room with an open closet and plenty of storage, including drawers, shelves and areas that looked set to have clothes hung in them.

“I. AM. OBSESSED,” the sports champion said of her impending new room. “I’ll never run out of room for clothes,” she added.

Biles’ house update comes after celebrating the progress on her home build with a series of posts in December. At the time, Biles posted more construction photos of the beginnings of a laundry room with sliding glass doors and drywall at the construction site.

The project update came after she previously hinted at issues with the renovation on social media the month prior.

In November, Biles stated on her Instagram Story that a 30-minute trip to the house ended up being six hours. “I thought it was going to be a 30 minute thing bc I had no clue what I was walking into,” she explained in one video posted of the home’s high ceilings.

“Called my dad for backup yesterday bc I panicked! but I’ve made so much progress & I’m so proud of myself,” Biles continued. “Jonathan will deal with the end result oops……..I hope I did it decently & thought of all the things.”

Despite previous hiccups, Biles’ latest update appears to show that her and Owens’ new home is on its way to successful completion.

As the Paris Olympics 2024 is drawing near, the gymnasts want to make the most of the remaining 158 days. Having said so, one of the first big events of this year, the 2024 Winter Cup will be a kind of warm-up for them. Ahead of the US Olympic Trials and the Nationals, the gymnastic crackerjack Simone Biles is engrossed in her ‘dream house’ construction and strategic gymnastic training. But she dropped off from the upcoming Winter Cup.

Biles is not only training at the Houston World Champions Center for herself but also inspiring the young crowd to follow her steps. Following her, Jordan Chiles, the 26-year-old core compatriot, and a WCC trainee, has withdrawn from the February 24 event. Besides them, which other gymnasts have joined the pull-out list?

Gymnasts who followed Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles

As the push for the Paris Olympics begins, the US gymnasts are on a spree to upgrade their A-games. Aiming to make her third Olympic team and add more to her 7 Olympic medal purse, Biles is pitching up as the hot favorite. Though she has withdrawn from the February event, we can expect her at the US Nationals and Hydration Core Classic. Jordan Chiles, the 2023 Pan-Am Games all-around bronze medalist, is currently on her healing journey after speaking about a minor shoulder injury.

Moving on, Zoe Miller, the 2023 Pan-Am Games uneven bars gold medalist has also backed off in the wake of an injury. As the qualifier event of the US Gymnastics Championships, many would be vying for Winter Cup medals. But Chiles and Miller have no reason to worry after having secured spots already.

To join their tribe, Fred Richard, the history-maker of the men’s gymnastics team, has made headlines as an absentee from the Winter Cup list. He is also sitting out ‘due to minor injuries’, but will reappear in the next events. So, who do we root for then?

Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas are the comeback favorites

Olympian Gabby Douglas hasn’t hit the gymnastic mat since she walked home with the team gold in 2016. On the other hand, Suni Lee, who has been battling kidney issues, hasn’t been competing since the 2023 Nationals. But along with coach Jess Graba, she’s not only looking to bag medals but also preparing for her skill-naming (full-twisting, layout Jaeger on the uneven bars) ceremony in Baku at the next meet.

We have eyes on these two gymnastic phenoms this year, but also wish to witness big names like Yul Moldauer and Leanne Wong in action. If Lee manages to look past her health issues and go all in, she has a fair chance of nabbing her second Olympic all-around gold. But the 4x gold medalist Biles is also in no mood to be so generous.

Afaction of Simone Biles fans are continuing to take aim at her husband, Jonathan Owens, days after the NFL star sparked outrage by saying he had no idea who the gymnast was when she first met him.

Biles, who is the most decorated gymnast in history and widely considered the greatest of all time, is married to Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens. The pair started dating in 2020 after they met on the celebrity dating app Raya. They tied the knot in March of this year.

On a recent appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Owens revealed he had never paid attention to gymnastics, and when Biles made the first move on the dating app they were using, he had never heard of the four-time Olympic gold medalist before.

When host Ryan Clark asked Owens if he considered himself “the catch” in their relationship, Owens quickly responded: “I always say that the men are the catch.” He also said that he had been “afraid to commit.”
“Literally had been on the app for a couple of days, man, and it’s like she pops up and, I’m like ‘Let me see who this is.’ I had never really paid attention to gymnastics, so it piqued my curiosity,” Owens said during the interview.

“I go do my workout, and I come back and I had some likes on my Instagram. I still waited and then I come back to my phone, and then she messaged me on the app like, ‘Hey.'”

He added: “I didn’t know who she was at the time, but the first thing that I saw was that she just had a bunch of followers so in my mind, I’m like, ‘OK, she got to be good.'”

Explaining how he had never heard of Biles, Owens said that when she was collecting medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016, he didn’t have access to the networks that aired the games.

“When she won the Olympics, I was in college and we didn’t have NBC, we didn’t have Olympics channels and we’re in camp,” he said. “So I’m not paying attention to, I never would have had a moment to where I would have watched.”

The backlash came thick and fast for Owens in recent days, as fans compared their levels of fame, and others accused the football player of misogyny. And, it appears, the fans remain furious.

Biles took to Instagram on December 25 to share a trio of romantic photos that showed her celebrating Christmas Day with Owens. Wearing matching pajamas, the two were shown kissing in front of a white Christmas tree in one image, while another showed them sharing festive drinks.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS,” Biles wrote, to which Owens responded in the comments section: “First married Christmas,” along with two red heart emojis. Owens also shared similar photos on his Instagram account.

Taking aim at Owens over his recent comments, one Instagram user said: “Look, it’s the most decorated US gymnast in US Olympic history! And her… catch?”

“Merry Christmas to Simone Biles and Simone Biles’ husband who I never heard of until he married Simone Biles [because] NFL is only a thing in America but the whole world knows Olympians,” commented another.

“Not sure who that man is, but I do recognize the legendary Simone Biles!” another chimed in. “Merry Christmas to you girl!”

“Here is the most known and respected athlete in US… and there is her husband by her side,” commented another.

Simone Biles is yet to make a steady comeback in the Olympic year. However, in keeping her fans stuck to her everlasting ingenuity, the gymnastic starlet has showcased several exhibitions of her moves on the beam and floor this year. Even so, the usual yet majestic wizardry from Simone Biles has been increasing heat, leaving less room for doubting the prowess that once lit the floor in Antwerp, 11 years back.

After claiming the platform of the World Championship in Antwerp in 2013, she continued to take the superlative forms on every exercise in the century-old artistic gymnastics sports. In 2020, a mental block impeded her fairly running on the trot. But soon, after serving 2 years away from the sporting affair, the gymnastics dutch returned to the floor to continue things her way. So, in this Black History Month, here’s a look back to those happenings, recalling Simone Biles’ victories and setbacks.

Simone Biles’s shrewd memory let her remember the triumph

Last year, evading her constraints in the outer world and mental struggles, Simone Biles competed in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship. Despite this, she triumphed in Antwerp, securing four gold medals, including one for her all-around performance, reminiscent of her first win in 2013. In a recent Instagram post, the 4x Olympic gold medalist reflected on the significance of the 2013 victory. But before coming to that, in an astounding emotional rollercoaster, Simone Biles conceded the reason for returning to Antwerp through thick and thin. “Doing it for the little girl who fell in love with the sport!!!!!” was her choice of sentences to express the reason.

Eventually, Simone Biles had one of her moves named after her on the same platform. The vault exercise, known as the Yurchenko entry on-double piked backwards off, was renamed ‘Biles II’. With a difficulty level of 6.4, it became the fifth move named after the legend. The first move, ‘Biles’, was also named at the same venue in 2013. However, these unrivaled achievements looked bleak in front of the two-year hiatus that kept Simone Biles doubting her prowess.

The tale mixed setbacks once 

However, the battle-tested gymnast realized that her body and mind were not aligned. While attempting the Amanar vault, Simone gave up after completing only one and a half twists instead of the required two and a half. This led to her experiencing ‘Twisties’, a common issue for habitual athletes like her. Concerned about the impact on her performance, Simone made the difficult decision to withdraw from the Games. Discussing that situation, the Olympic champion conceded once, “I felt like a failure.” Even after that untimely move, Simone Biles wasn’t shy to discuss her situation at a later time, spreading awareness of mental health.

Her husband Jonathan Owens and the possible help from her loved ones had thoroughly helped her to register a comeback in 2023. So, once returning to the usual sporting affair, the 26-year-old conceded, “I’m fine. I’m twisting again. No worries. All is good.” After that, in Antwerp, she proved her supremacy by clinching the medals.