Simone Biles may be done competing in the Olympics for good.
The most decorated gymnast in history detailed her journey from the twisties to Olympic gold in an interview with Sports Illustrated published Thursday, in which they named her 2024 Sportsperson of the Year. Her legendary rebound from the Tokyo Olympics and record-breaking viewership while competing in Paris earned her the title.
When asked about if she would consider returning for the 2028 games in Los Angeles, the “greatest of all time” said it would feel “greedy.”
“Because I’ve accomplished so much, there’s almost nothing left to do, rather than to just be snobby and to try again and for what? I’m at a point in my career where I’m humble enough to know when to be done,” the seven-time Olympic gold medalist said.
Biles also said that there are different sacrifices she would have to make if she returned for her fourth Olympic games. The Olympian would be 31 years old in 2028. She said she now has to consider her timeline of starting a family with her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens.
“Those are the consequences. But that’s also your decision to decide. What sacrifices would be made if I go back now? When you’re younger, it’s like, prom, college. Now it’s like, starting a family, being away from my husband,” she added. “What’s really worth it?”
Simone Biles is SI’s 2024 Sportsperson of the Year ⭐ https://t.co/Fm4hAkpY45 pic.twitter.com/JYyp8OKG6V
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 2, 2025
Following the Paris Olympic Games, Biles set out on her 32-show “Gold Over America Tour.” Since sharing her talents across the nation, the 27-year-old still cannot quite wrap her head around her impact and her legacy.
When Biles was a child, she said she believed her ceiling as a Black gymnast was a college scholarship. After Gabby Douglas won Olympic gold in 2012, Biles reimagined what was possible. This year, seven of the 15 women at the U.S. Olympic Trials were Black, and Biles now has five skills that are named after her.
The gymnast also released a four-part Netflix docuseries that followed her preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“I don’t think the reality has set in of what I’ve exactly done in the sport,” she said. “I can see it, and I hear it from people, and I see a glimpse of it, but the full magnitude I don’t think I’ve realized just yet. I don’t think I’ll realize till maybe I retire and look back in a couple years like, ‘Damn, she was good.’ Because I can see that, but I do it every day. So for me, it’s normal.”
The 2028 L.A. Olympics will be the first time the Summer Olympics will be held in the U.S. since 1996 in Atlanta. If Biles were to compete in the 2028 Games, she would be the only American gymnast to ever qualify for four Olympics at 31 years old.
