Simone Biles and Michael Phelps
Simone Biles won the all-around title at a competition on Saturday of 49 outstanding senior gymnasts in Hartford, Connecticut. She posted the highest score of all competitors in the floor exercises and vault and the second highest score in the balance beam and uneven bars. Her all-around score of 59.500 was almost two points higher than that of runner-up Shilese Jones. In a dazzling display that featured some new aspects of her routines that increased her scoring potential on several apparatuses, Biles served notice that she is ready for the Paris Olympics in two months.
Biles’ career has been spectacular. She has won a record-setting 37 world and Olympic medals. Moreover, her complex, innovative routines have both challenged the boundaries of her sport and made gymnastics more popular.
If Biles makes the 2024 U.S. Olympics team, she could set numerous records. She would become the fourth American woman to make three Olympic gymnastics squads. If she earns a medal at Paris, she will surpass Shannon Miller to become the most decorated American Olympic gymnast in history. Biles and Miller currently have seven medals. Two gold medals would give Biles the most for any American gymnast. This would make the twenty-seven-year-old the oldest American to win an Olympic medal in women’s gymnastics in 76 years. She could also become only the third woman to win the all-around gold medal twice. By winning five medals, she could jump into second place among women gymnasts with twelve, trailing only the great Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina. Biles would need five gold medals to break the record for the most gold medals won by an American woman in any Olympic sport currently held by swimmer Jenny Thompson, who has eight, although Katie Ledecky, who also has four gold medals, will likely also be competing in Paris.
If Biles achieves all or even some of these milestones, she will go down as one of the greatest Olympians in history. Some will want to anoint her as the greatest Olympian of all time. However, her exploits would still fall far short of those of Michael Phelps who has won 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold. For an account of Phelps accomplishments and life, see my The Greatest of All-Time: Fifteen Fantastic Athletes (2024).