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Simone Biles Considering Return to 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles: ‘Never Say Never’
Another Olympics appearance isn’t out of the question for Simone Biles. After nailing her Yurchenko double pike and winning the gold medal for vault on Saturday, August 3, the professional athlete addressed her future with competitive gymnastics.
“Is this my last? Definitely Yurchenko double pike,” Simone, 27, admitted, referencing the extremely difficult move that was named after her when she became the first to land it at an international competition in 2023. “I mean, I kinda nailed that one.”
However, regarding a return to the Olympics in 2028, Simone said “never say never,” adding, ”The next Olympics is at home [Los Angeles]. So, you just never know. But I am getting really old.”
At 27, Simone is the oldest competitor on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team by several years. Her teammates – Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera – are 24, 23, 21 and 16, respectively. With an average age of 22.2, the ladies made up the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team to win gold after they took home the top honor during the team competition on July 30. They nicknamed themselves the “golden girls” following the victory.
After the team win, Simone went on to win gold in the all-around competition, with Suni, 21, taking bronze. The Ohio native also won gold in vault, followed by Jade, 24, taking home the bronze. On Sunday, August 4, Suni also won bronze in the uneven bars. She and Simone will compete again on the balance beam on Monday, August 5, while Simone and Jordan, 23, will take on floor exercise later that day.
The 2024 Olympics were quite a comeback for Simone, as she struggled with her mental health during the 2020 Games in Tokyo. Simone won a silver medal with her teammates, but then withdrew from several rounds of competition, only returning for balance beam, where she performed a watered-down version of her routine and won a bronze medal. The Olympian revealed that she was struggling with the “twisties” – a gymnastics mental block – during the competition.
In October 2023, Simone won gold at the world championship and a fan wrote via X, “Remember like five months ago we didn’t think Simone would ever compete again,” to which Simone replied, “real talk I didn’t think so either.”
Suni has also had quite an incredible comeback, as she was diagnosed with two forms of incurable kidney disease in 2023. After working with doctors to get the correct medications, the former college athlete got approval in January to train for the Olympics.
“I’m getting a lot stronger,” Suni said in April, adding that she was doing “really good” in terms of her health. “I’ve been able to train a lot more, and I am just so happy, because I really didn’t think I would be here. To be here is quite incredible.”
In an interview ahead of the Olympics, she added, “There were so many times when I thought about quitting and just giving up because I was so sick. But once I had those people around me who lifted me up and supported me and just made sure that I was good, I knew that this is something I wanted.”
