Simone Biles is one of the United States‘ top athletes, with more medals of any gymnast in the country’s history and widely regarded as one of the greatest in her field. She has claimed seven Olympic medals, but even those accolades do not guarantee her presence at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

The 27-year-old famously dropped out of the Tokyo Games last time around, citing mental health issues as the reason, which raised massive awareness of these kind of issues given her incredible feats of the past.

Now, as the Paris Games approach, some believe that she will either drop out altogether or pace herself through the competition.

Washington Post reporter Emily Giambalvo has claimed that Team USA Gymnastics Technical Lead Chellsie Memmel is considering dosing Biles’ appearances.

“Chellsie Memmel said she has talked with Cecile Landi, Simone Biles‘s coach, about the option for Biles to not compete all four events in the team final if they feel that’s what’s best for her. Decision is up to Biles but the option is available,” wrote Giambalvo on X.

What did Memmel recently say about Biles’ condition?

This claim comes just under two weeks since Memmel publicly stated that Team USA is going all out for gold and that Simone Biles would be at the heart of that.

“If she can put together her normal gymnastics, there is no doubt in my mind that she can be an Olympic all-around champion,” Memmel told TMJ4.

“Simone paced herself really well. You know, coming back. Starting with last year. Competing, doing amazing at World Championships. You know, she’s added in even a little bit more difficulty coming into the Olympics.”

“When we’re at competitions together? You know I try to check in, but also I try to leave things up to her. You know, she knows where she’s at.

“The coaches are with her day in, day out. You know, they know her best. They know her in the gym. But also knowing that if she needs to do this? Or if she needs to have a therapy session? That’s what we’re going to do.”

It’s June, and that means I cannot so much as walk at a leisurely pace to the mailbox without doing irreparable damage to any makeup I’m wearing. Even on a just-mascara-and-some-concealer kind of day, the slightest physical exertion means the mascara migrates and some concealer becomes none concealer. So after seeing Simone Biles kick an outrageous amount of ass at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships over the weekend with a glamorous makeup look that was as flawless on the podium as it was before she did her first flip, I need to know what kind of witchcraft her makeup artist is using.

Simone Biles’s engagement with her gymnastic love continued over thick and thin. Her growing days back in Houston or the dilemma in continuing with the gym facility at that time expressed the hardship the legendary sporting individual survived. So even after achieving a plethora of success in the gymnastic arena, Simone Biles has not erased those painful memories. In certain phases related to the American doyenne’s off-court livelihood, those impressions have presented themselves promptly. One can clearly see one such impression in her branding engagements.

Last year, Lambeau Field witnessed Simone Biles, being more than just hosting the NFL WAGs. Her other brand engagement as well, held her in more humanely, withering the off-rooted color.

Simone Biles aims to be more than a sporting mavin

Simone Biles didn’t attempt some superhuman tricks in her branding engagements. Rather, her daily deeds are displayed in most of such engagements. One such came off just after Biles appeared in Lambeau Field, shouting for her husband, Jonathan Owens. The brand, Nulo Pet Food, garnered hype as it framed the loving mother of Lilo and Rambo Biles pampering her pets. “As an athlete, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of fueling my body with the right nutrition, and I feel the same way when it comes to feeding my dogs @thebilesfrenchies”, Simone Biles added, promoting the brand on IG.

Apart from the pedigree, the 26-year-old American gymnast highlighted another affair where she promoted the selling of her name-marked GOAT mat. Eventually, it was the sponsor, SPIETH America, who came forward to elevate the shopping season. Even after taking a break from the gymnastic schedule at that point, the all-around champion found no chink in her popularity. Eventually, this popularity beheld Simone Biles once, when she had declined a lucrative offer to stand for her choice to empower women.

Choice of being more than just a promoter: the Athleta connection 

In 2021, Nike had faced its one foremost hiccup as Simone Biles had barred herself from staying in its sponsorship. The step had felt more intensive as previously another Olympic champion, Alyson Felix, had lambasted the brand for their outright dismantling stand on women’s issues. Felix had signed the agreement with Athleta after that. Meanwhile, Simone had taken almost a similar step by ignoring Nike for Athleta. The $2 billion brand owned by Gap had impressed the All-Around World Cup champion so much that she had conceded once, “they stand for everything that I stand for.”

That emphatic journey still continues. From releasing the Athleta Girl line collection to the green puffer jacket in Lambeau Field, the brand engagement panned out to be an empowering statement. Simone Biles’s special collection for the brand, “Because I Can” motivated the same stand. Her fans would like to see Simone Biles in many more such brand engagements in the coming days.

Amidst festive anticipation a year ago, Simone Biles’s family welcomed a special blessing: Baby Ronni Louise Biles. Her arrival brought boundless joy, quickly becoming her famous aunt’s favorite and lighting up everyone’s lives. Ronni is the daughter of Simone’s elder half-brother, Ron Biles Jr., and his wife, Sammi.

Unexpected Parenthood Realities

Recently, Sammi Biles took to Instagram to share a poignant narrative alongside a photo featuring a T-shirt stained with blood marks. The caption accompanying it reads, “on today’s episode of what happened in our household: the scary af sh*t no one prepares you for as a mom. your child running a low-grade fever last night and this morning then throws up blood. thank God she’s ok and we have gotten her checked out.”

Months ago, Simone Biles revealed her affection for babies when she met her newborn niece during Thanksgiving last year. On November 25, 2022 her brother Ron Biles and sister-in-law Sammi Biles welcomed their daughter, Ronni Louise Biles, officially making her the youngest family member. Simone took on a special role as an aunt, showering the baby with love and attention. She joyfully shared an endearing picture on her Instagram, expressing pride in being her “TT” and anticipation to spoil her. Since then, she spent considerable time with the baby, and several months ago, Ron entrusted Simone with the responsibility of positively influencing his daughter, a role she embraced with delight.

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens’ Humorous Family Planning Dilemma

Newlywed Simone Biles recently discussed her and husband Jonathan Owens’ future plans for starting a family. Amid her return to professional commitments following their May wedding, Biles shared insights into their family planning during a Q&A session on her Instagram page held on July 17. Among various queries about her career and personal life, one fan inquired about their desire for children and the preferred number.

Biles confirmed their interest in having kids, revealing a lighthearted disagreement between her and Owens regarding the ideal number. She humorously mentioned, “I would say 2 & Jonathan would say 3 is the perfect number. I don’t want to be outnumbered lol.

After the misery of cheering from the stands as her opponents took the medals she was there to win, Simone Biles’s Tokyo Olympics in 2021 ended on an unforgettable note of defiance. She had suffered throughout the competition with the twisties, a severe mental block that causes a gymnast to lose air awareness when twisting, but Biles returned on the final day and demonstrated her resilience by winning bronze on the balance beam. She described the medal as more meaningful than her countless golds.

For almost two years, it was unclear whether that would be her final as an elite gymnast. But she returned and on Sunday at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp the American will take part at a major competition for the first time since the Olympics, the next step in an already remarkable comeback that has added another layer to her story.

During her indefinite leave from the strict regimen and training hours, the 26-year-old took holidays, married her fiance, Jonathan Owens, and she lived. It would have been unsurprising and reasonable if, having won everything she could hope to win in such a gruelling sport that has taken her to hell and back, she decided it was time to move on.

For a long time, she was uncertain: “I’m still taking time for myself just to work on myself, mentally and physically,” she said last September.

Gossip tends to spread quickly outside gymnastics halls and major moves in the sport are usually preceded by ample rumours, yet when she did fully commit to a return, Biles somehow managed to keep her intentions quiet. In early July, her name appeared on the list for the US’s monthly team camp, the first signal of her intention to return. It was still hard to know what to expect for this year; gymnasts often ease their way back in after long layoffs, initially competing routines with lower difficulty. Not Biles. A few days later, she won the all-around competition at that camp by three and a half points.

Since then, things have returned to normal at warp speed. In her first competition back, the US Classic in early August, Biles won the event by five points. A few weeks later, she won a record eighth all-around title at the national championships. Even after an uncharacteristically nervous, error-strewn day during the world team selection camp, she won again to book her place at the world championships. Biles has recorded the three highest all-around scores of the year and she returns as clearly the best in the world.

The philosophy behind the comeback has been as striking as her immediate success. Biles believed one of the numerous reasons for the emergence of her twisties was the pressure imposed on her by others, including US Gymnastics, before Tokyo.

Goal-setting is a central part of gymnastics, with athletes constantly aiming to peak in time for the Olympics, but Biles has addressed the pressure by staying in the moment and focusing on her work. Even as her training ramped up and singular skills morphed into full routines, she made no explicit plan to compete this year until, suddenly, she was ready.

“A couple of weeks before classics, we were like: ‘OK, we need a leo[tard], because we’re competing,’” she said after the US selection camp. “And I think that’s how the year has gone. ‘OK, you’ve been selected for worlds camp;’ ‘You’re going to worlds now.’ I really don’t think it was set in stone how far I was going to go this year. So I think it’s a surprise and a shock to all of us.”

Working through the twisties and regaining her skills of old has been a difficult process that is far from complete. She is still not competing her most difficult twisting skills, including her eponymous triple-double on floor. But in some ways, she is even better. It is a reflection of her staggering talent that instead of her usual Amanar vault, which contains two and a half twists, Biles has again taken on the most difficult women’s vault of all, the Yurchenko double pike.

While Biles introduced it effectively in 2021, even before her bout of twisties it was not clear if she would risk competing in the vault in Tokyo. As she returned this year, it seemed reasonable to assume the vault would not resurface until 2024, if ever.

It is not only back, but it has been her main vault since that first national team camp in July. She has completed it consistently throughout the summer, doing so with sublime execution. If she lands it in Antwerp, the skill will be her fifth eponymous element.

Ten years ago, Biles emerged for her world championship debut in Antwerp as a 16-year-old. Having arrived in the city thinking she would finish somewhere among the top six, she tore through the competition, winning two golds and four medals in total. At 26, she returns to the same arena seeking her sixth world all-around title having established such incredible longevity in a career that has lasted 10 years and, thankfully, still counting.

In 2013, Antwerp also marked the debut world championships for Max Whitlock, now Great Britain’s greatest gymnast. After taking a break following his Olympic gold on pommel horse in Tokyo, this event is also the venue for his comeback. On Saturday, he returned to major competition with a strong 15.233 on pommel horse that should be enough for a place in the event final next Saturday.

It makes no sense to stop a pinwheel from spinning and pull out a single-colored vane for examination, just to see how it works. It makes even less sense to talk about Simone Biles’s gymnastics in terms of her “skill.” That’s there, yes, but it’s the stick to the twirl. When Biles overcomes physics in the air, it’s not a mere matter of technique. Something more phenomenal takes over in order for her to meet gravity with such dalliance. Call it harmony.