Decorated gymnast Simone Biles took to the popular Call Her Daddy podcast this week to open up about her experience at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, revealing she thought she was going to be "banned from America" for her performance.

After Biles botched her vault routine due to a bout of the "twisties," she withdrew from the team final as well as the all-around final in order to focus on her mental health. She later reentered the competition to win bronze in the individual balance beam final.

In her interview with podcast host Alex Cooper, Biles admitted to feeling like she let the entire country down by failing her vault attempt.

"As soon as I landed I was like 'Oh, America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now,'" she recalled thinking. "I was like, ‘Holy s---, what are they gonna say about me?'"

"I thought I was going to be banned from America," she continued. "That’s what they tell you: Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back."

Widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles has hinted at a desire to join her third Olympic team in Paris, though her participation won't be confirmed until after the gymnastics trials in late June. She holds over 30 medals from the Olympic Games and World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined, and if qualified, would be a sure favorite heading into this summer’s games.

Simone Biles has been named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the third time.

She’s just the sixth athlete to win the award three times, having previously won the honor in 2016 and 2019. The accolade caps off what has been a year of triumphant return for Biles, who made her comeback in competitive gymnastics in late July. It was her first competition in two years. By the end of August, she was a national champion. By October, she was a world champion.

Biles returned doing moves that nobody else has done. And she won a sixth all-around title at the World Gymnastics Championships to become the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport. Her 34 Olympic or world championship medals surpassed the previous record of 33 set by Belarusian men’s gymnast Vitaly Scherbo.

Biles told the AP that her approach to getting back was taking it one day at a time. And she’s approaching gymnastics differently – it’s no longer the end of the world if she has a bad day.

“Whenever I was 19, it was the end of the world if I had bad days,” she said. “Now I’m like, ’It’s OK, it’s just gymnastics and I’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll get it started again.’”

Biles has admitted that she didn’t think she would ever compete again. It wasn’t until the spring that her coach Cecile Landi suggested that she get back to competing at a high level.

“I didn’t know what I was expecting,” Biles continued, crediting the people she has surrounded herself with for believing in her even when she was still trying to. “People were like, ‘No, we’ve seen you in training, this is what was supposed to happen.’”

She also got married this year to the Green Bay Packers’ Jonathan Owens, which she says was her best moment of 2023.

“At the end of the day I did worlds and all that stuff, but I did get married, I got to support him,” she said. “It’s just like, it’s kind of nice that gymnastics isn’t the main revolving piece.”

Alex Morgan is the most marketable athlete in women’s sports in 2023.

The U.S. women’s national team star also stands as the third-most marketable athlete in the world behind Lionel Messi and LeBron James, according to SportsPro’s new ranking, which assesses athletes’ personal brand and reach.

Fellow USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe (No. 5) joins Morgan in the top five. Skier Mikaela Shiffrin (No. 6) and gymnast Simone Biles (No. 8) also rank in the top 10. From the world of tennis, newly-minted US Open champion Coco Gauff sits at No. 12 and Naomi Osaka at No. 14.

LSU star Angel Reese (No. 19) is the lone women’s basketball player on the list. She catapulted to stardom after leading the Tigers to their first national title in program history in 2023.

In total, 23 women are included among SportsPro’s top 50 most marketable athletes for 2023. In the World Cup year, Morgan and Rapinoe both jumped up the list, with the former up from eighth place and the latter up from 27th.

Serena Williams, who has since retired, dropped off the list, while Osaka and Australian soccer star Sam Kerr dropped out of the top 10.

This year’s list “underlines the growing commercial influence and value of women’s sport,” according to SportsPro. For the first time, qualitative research was included with quantitative marketability measurements to help determine the final rankings.

“This year’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes list follows the most comprehensive assessment of athlete marketability we’ve ever undertaken in the 14-year history of SportsPro’s annual ranking,” said Michael Long, editorial director at SportsPro.

Simone Biles’ history-making World Championships almost didn’t happen.

After winning her sixth all-around title at 2023 Worlds this past weekend, Biles is now the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport with 37 international medals. She wrapped up the competition in Belgium with two gold medals on Sunday, bringing her gold medal total to 23 at the World Championships and 29 overall.

But if you ask Biles, she wasn’t sure if she’d be competing even just a few months ago. When one social media user tweeted, “remember like five months ago we didn’t think Simone would ever compete again,” Biles replied that she “didn’t think so either.”

The 26-year-old expanded on that thought process Sunday, saying she was also surprised at how far she’s come in less than a year.

“I’m proud that my coaches, that I have them pushing me each and every step of the way, as well as my teammates because they’re really what kept me going throughout those hard days, coming back in the gym and not sure if I was going to do it again,” Biles said. “So I’m very shocked at the outcome, I’m very proud. I’m happy with the work that we’ve put in to get here.”

Biles isn’t ready to confirm she has her sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympics. She had to withdraw from several events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after suffering from the “twisties,” which causes gymnasts to lose track of where they are in the air.

Biles has said that a return to the Olympic stage is among her goals, but the four-time Olympic gold medalist also knows that a lot could happen between now and next summer.

“I still think there are so many more meets before that next year, so we’re going to focus on those first and see how far we get,” she said. “Because again I didn’t think I’d be at Worlds, I didn’t think I’d be at Classics, and ended up just fine. So we’ll see.”

The 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are here, and Simone Biles has won a sixth all-around title.

Two days after Biles and Team USA won gold in the team competition, the 26-year-old became the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport. With her individual gold medal, she has won 34 Olympic or world championship medals in her career, surpassing the previous record of 33 set by Belarusian men’s gymnast Vitaly Scherbo.

Already, Biles had etched her name in the record books by landing the Yurchenko double pike in the qualifying session. She is the first gymnast to do so in international competition, so the move will now be named the “Biles II.” And with the team win Wednesday, she became the only gymnast ever to be a part of five gold-medal winning teams at worlds.

On Friday, she added to her success in Antwerp, Belgium, winning her 21st gold medal at the world championships, and her 27th overall.

The U.S. women have won gold in the team competition in seven consecutive world championships, an all-time record. Shilese Jones, Leanne Wong, Skye Blakely and Joscelyn Roberson competed alongside Biles, accumulating a score of 167.729 points and beating out second-place Brazil (165.530).

Biles also is qualified to compete in all four event finals on Saturday and Sunday.

2023 World Gymnastics Championships: How to watch

  • Wednesday, Oct. 4 – Women’s Team Final
    • 1:30 p.m. ET on Peacock
  • Friday, Oct. 6 – Women’s All-Around Final*
    • 1:30 p.m. ET on Peacock
  • Saturday, Oct. 7 – Apparatus Finals, Day 1
    • 8 a.m. ET on Peacock
  •  Sunday, Oct. 8 – Apparatus Finals, Day 2
    • 8 a.m. ET on Peacock; 2 p.m. ET highlights on CNBC

*Note: The women’s all-around final also will be re-aired at noon Saturday, Oct. 14, on NBC.

Simone Biles continues to make history, making a record sixth world championships roster for the U.S. gymnastics team.

The 26-year-old earned an all-around total of 55.7000 at the selection camp, which put her ahead of Shilese Jones and Sky Blakely for the top spot on the roster. She becomes the only U.S. woman to qualify for six world championship teams. Admittedly, though, her performance to make the team was not her best.

“I feel like everybody was nervous [Tuesday] — not just me,” Biles told reporters Wednesday. “And I don’t know why. But it was just rough. So today was a lot better.”

Biles is joined by three gold medal winners from the 2022 world championships – Jones, Blakely and Leanne Wong. Additionally, 17-year-old Joscelyn Robertson was named to the roster.

The event marks a return to Antwerp, Belgium, for Biles, who won the first of her five all-around titles there at just 16 years old. In an Instagram story post following her qualification, she wrote, “Back to where it all started, see you soon Belgium.”

It’s been a decade, but Biles will return to Antwerp – this time looking to become the most decorated gymnast in history.

Currently, Biles has 32 combined Olympic and world championship medals – 25 of which have come at the world championships. She’s currently tied with Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union, who retired in 1966, for the most medals ever at the two events, but Biles could break that tie with a medal at worlds.

The next major event after the 2023 world championships will be 2024 Paris Olympics, and Biles wants to compete for the U.S. at another Summer Games. But she’s taking it one step at a time, and that now includes a trip to the world championships.

“Everything we’re doing leading up to this next Games, or whatever, is very intentional,” she said earlier this month. “I think I have to take care of myself a little bit more and listen to my body and making sure I’m making time for the important things in my life, rather than before it was just like go, go, go and then making time after.

“This time around, it’s being intentional, going to therapy, making sure everything is aligned so I can do the best in the gym and be like, a good wife, good daughter, good friend — all the good things.”

Simone Biles has her sights set on the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The seven-time Olympic medal winner, who returned to competition in August, told the “Today” show that the 2024 Olympics in Paris is “the path I would love to go.”

Following the U.S. Classic and U.S. Championships in August, Biles remained mum about the upcoming Summer Games. But she spoke with “Today” host Hoda Kotb about her goals, which include Paris.

“If I had $5 in my hand and I was going to Vegas and I’m like, ‘I’m going to bet on whether Simone will go to the Olympics or not,'” Kotb asked, “where would I put my five bucks, the yay or the nay?”

Biles responded: “I wouldn’t mind if you put it in the yay section.”

The five-time world all-around champion is likely to compete at this year’s world championships after taking home the all-around title at the U.S. competition. Still, she’s remaining down to earth amid her return to gymnastics.

“I think we have to be a little bit more cautious about how we do things. So everything that we’re doing leading up to this next Games or whatever is very intentional,” Biles said. “We’ve kind of been playing it on the down low this time, making sure mentally and physically are both intact. So I think it’ll be different, but it’ll be good.”

Biles made headlines at the Tokyo Olympics when she had to withdraw from several events due to the “twisties,” which causes gymnasts to lose track of where they are in the air. Her absence sparked discussions about athletes’ physical and mental health, and Biles wants to continue to prioritize both as she approaches a potential third Olympic appearance.

“I think I have to take care of myself a little bit more and listen to my body and making sure that I’m making time for the important things in my life rather than before,” Biles said. “It was just like, go, go, go, and, then, making time after.

“This time around, it’s like being intentional, going to therapy, making sure everything is aligned so that I can do the best in the gym and be, like, a good wife, a good daughter, a good friend, all the good things.”

And while Biles’ return to the sport has looked easy, it hasn’t always been, she admitted.

“There were times when I would come in the gym and I’d be like, ‘You know what? No, I don’t think this is going to work,'” she said. “And then I was like, ‘No, I’m going to give it another day. I’m going to give it another day.’ So I think just showing up and putting that work and that effort in really, really came to play.

“So as long as I showed up for another day and kept putting that work in, then [any doubts] kind of went down and dwindled. So, right now, I’m feeling really good. I think I still sometimes doubt myself, but I’m still doing my therapy and making sure everything’s aligned well.”

Simone Biles’ return to gymnastics has made it seem like she never even left at all.

On Sunday, the 26-year-old won her unprecedented eighth U.S. all-around gymnastics title. She capped it off with what coach Laurent Landi called “the best floor routine I’ve ever seen her do.”

“Every time I come out here, I feel like I’m in a fever dream,” Biles said of the meet, her first major competition since her return. “I feel like nothing’s real. I knew I did a good floor routine, but as soon as I got off and saw the score, I was like, ‘Damn, I need to see that routine.’ Because I wasn’t sure.”

Through it all, Biles has made gymnastics look easy. She landed another Yurchenko double pike on Friday, continuing her reign as the only woman ever to so much as attempt it in competition. She earned a 9.8 execution score.

“It’s not normal. She is not normal,” Landi said.

And Biles is doing this all at the age of 26. In gymnastics terms, she is redefining what the sport can look like. Most gymnasts at 26 aren’t competing at their best, like Biles is.

She’s approaching the sport with a different mindset, choosing not to share her goals and instead to “be at peace” while taking it “one thing at a time.”

“I like to keep (my goals) personal, just so that I know what I’m aiming for,” Biles said. “I think it’s better that way. I’m trying to move a little bit differently this year than I have in the past. I think it’s working so far, so I’m going to keep it secretive.”

That peace will take her to the world championships next month, where she’ll attempt to add to her 25 world championship medals – 18 of which are gold. But for Biles, she’s just happy to be back in the thick of competition.

“I just didn’t think I was going to be back here competing,” she said. “I’m in the moment. But it doesn’t feel real for some reason. I just, seriously, can’t believe I’m out here competing again. I’m proud of myself for that.”

Simone Biles is officially back.

At the Core Hydration Classics in suburban Chicago on Saturday night, she looked as comfortable as she ever has on the mat. Competing in her first gymnastics event since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles easily won the all-around title as well as the gold for vault, beam and floor. On the uneven bars, often considered her weakest event, she took second.

Between events, the four-time Olympic gold medalist danced with her teammates and did a synchronized celebration with Jordan Chiles to celebrate her vault. According to Biles, though, looks were deceiving.

“I thought I was going to s–t bricks! I was very nervous. So at least if it looked like I was having fun, that’s good. But I think after every routine, it got a little bit easier. And usually my power events, vault and floor, before I go in, I’m like, ‘OK, I know I’m gonna make these,'” Biles said.

“I think this was the complete opposite in trainings. I’ve been making all my bar sets, all my beam sets. So that’s kind of a complete 180 for me. So to get out there on floor and vault, I was like, ‘Ooh, how’s this gonna go?’ I’ve been making them, but not as confident. So getting back in that groove and just having fun and remembering that I’m here for myself.”

Finding confidence is a big part of the Classics. Biles wasn’t the only gymnast who used this event to find a way back to the floor before the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Suni Lee, Chiles and Jade Carey — all Olympic medalists who have moved on to NCAA competition — competed to rediscover some comfort at the elite level again. Leanne Wong, an alternate for the 2021 Olympics, has been competing at the college level, as well. She took second at Classics, as she vies for a spot on the United States’ 2024 Olympic team.

What happens next?

Gymnasts will head to San Jose for the U.S. Championships at the end of August. That event will not only include the gymnasts who posted qualifying scores from Classics. Shilese Jones, who helped the U.S. team win gold at the World Championships in 2022 while also taking silver in the all-around and uneven bars, will be competing at the U.S. Championships because of her accomplishments at Worlds.

What does this mean for Paris?

Technically, the Classics the year before the Olympics don’t mean anything when it comes to choosing who will compete for the U.S. in Paris. However, since it’s a qualifier for the U.S. Championships, it’s not an event gymnasts take lightly. It’s a chance for them to get judged on their routines and figure out what needs to be tweaked as they move forward in the Olympic cycle. If the Olympics are the peak of a mountain range, think of the Classics as the foothills.

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Joscelyn Roberson placed third in the all-around at the U.S. Classic on Saturday. (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

Beyond the established names, who else should we look out for?

For gymnasts who have already won Olympic medals, the Classics were about finding their footing again and building confidence heading into the U.S. Championships and team selection camp for Worlds. For other gymnasts, this competition was about establishing themselves as a real threat to make the World Championship team and, eventually, the Olympic team.

Here are three American gymnasts to watch.

Joscelyn Roberson

When you see Roberson compete, Shawn Johnson’s powerful tumbling and vaults will come to mind. Roberson trains at the same gym as Biles and Chiles, and holds her own with Olympic teammates. She took third in the all-around on Saturday, and tied for second on floor, tied for third on beam and placed second on vault. Earlier this year, Roberson won medals at multiple international events. She’s committed to Arkansas for 2025, so she will continue to train with an eye on the Olympics.

Skye Blakeley

At just 18, Blakeley has an impressive resume. She was part of the gold-medal winning 2022 World Championships team, and she’s won medals at the Pan-American Championships. On Saturday, she tied for second on bars and third on beam. Though she’s committed to Florida, she is holding off on college to focus on Olympic training.

Kaliya Lincoln

The LSU-bound gymnast showed she has the talent to compete with the best the U.S. has to offer. On floor exercise and vault, Lincoln can fly while still keeping perfect form in the air. With extra training at LSU and WOGA, her home gym in Texas, Lincoln has the skills to make a run at the Olympic team.

Maggie Hendricks is a contributing writer for Just Women’s Sports. She also covers women’s sports for Bally Sports. Follow her on Twitter @maggiehendricks.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — When Simone Biles was introduced to the crowd at the beginning of the Core Hydration Classic on Saturday night, she ran out, waved to the crowd, and then paused, looking around the floor exercise mat for some guidance. She wasn’t sure where she was supposed to stand as the rest of the competitors were announced. A fellow gymnast waved her over, Biles laughed, and she headed to the edge of the mat.

It was the last time she didn’t look at home on the gymnastics floor. Biles scored a 59.100 to win her first all-around competition since the 2021 Olympic Trials. Starting on the uneven bars, Biles scored a 14.000. Just before her dismount, Biles lost her form and had to muscle back into position before doing her full-twisting double back.

The break on bars was the biggest mistake Biles had on Saturday night. On balance beam and floor exercise, she was steady and aggressive, just as the four-time Olympic gold medalist has always been. For vault, Biles showed she was just as capable of doing the high-flying Yurchenko double pike as she was in 2021. Though she landed off-center, she scored a massive 15.400 thanks to the vault’s difficulty.

The sold-out NOW Arena in suburban Chicago erupted in cheers for every move Biles made, whether it was warming up a vault or dancing with her friend and teammate Jordan Chiles. They chanted her name as she spoke with the media, and stayed well after the meet was over to show their appreciation.

“I think what shocks me the most is, everyone’s so supportive, like in the crowd, all of the girls, all of the signs, like after everything that transpired in Tokyo, and obviously, you know, they ‘at me’ in all those tweets and stuff, so I get a lot of that stuff. But the amount of outpouring love and support that I had on Twitter, on Instagram, and in the arena was just really shocking,” she said.

“And surprising to me that they still have so much belief in me, they still love me, and it just makes my heart warm, because it’s nice to come out here and have all that support, especially in a time like this where I was, like really nervous to compete again. But everyone, I can’t ask for more.”

The Classics were Biles’ first competition back since she pulled out of the Olympic team competition with “twisties,” a type of mental block gymnasts sometimes deal with that prevents them from knowing where they are in the air.

Since then, she’s spoken out on the importance of mental health for athletes. In her personal life, Biles married Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens. She returned to training in 2022. According to her coach Cecille Landi, Biles stepped up her training after the wedding this spring.

“I had dinner with her, and it was this year and she told me she really wanted to get a chance to do it. After that, I would say after the wedding. Once everything was over, then we saw a shift in her training and commitment to being back,” Landi said on Friday.

Competing at the Classics was Biles’ first step back on the road to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

With her win Saturday, she qualified for the U.S. championships in San Jose at the end of August. Then, the country’s top gymnasts will take part in a selection camp to decide who will represent the United States at the world championships in Antwerp in October. She joked when asked whether she’s thinking about her plans for the Olympics.

“Right now, I think I should just embrace what happened today. Be happy for me, for my teammates. We’ll go into championships in a couple of weeks and work on those tweaks that we had today, but I’m in a really good spot and who knows? I’m not gonna think so far ahead,” Biles said.

“It’s just like when you get married, they ask you when you’re having a baby. You come to Classics, and they’re asking you about the Olympics. I think we’re just trying to take it one step at a time.”

Biles wasn’t the only star to make a big step back to competition at Classics. Sunisa Lee, the 2021 Olympic All-Around champion, did the vault and beam. After Lee finished on the beam, her first event back at the elite level since dealing with a kidney condition, she hugged her trainer and sobbed. She said on Friday that her biggest goal was to qualify for the U.S. championships, and she did just that with a 14.500 on beam and a 13.500 on vault.

“I think it went really well tonight. I’m super proud of myself for pushing. There were times when thought I wouldn’t be able to do this, but I definitely got over the fear and the doubt. I thought, I’m just going to put myself on the floor, let myself have fun. I think that’s exactly what I did,” Lee said after the meet.

Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles, 2021 Olympians, already qualified for the U.S. championships because they were on the 2022 world championship team that won gold. Still, they competed at Classics to help prepare them for the elite season. Since the Olympics, both have been competing at the college level, with Carey at Oregon State and Chiles at UCLA. Carey scored a 13.900 on beam, and Chiles scored a 13.900 on bars and 12.800 on beam.

Maggie Hendricks is a contributing writer for Just Women’s Sports. She also covers women’s sports for Bally Sports. Follow her on Twitter @maggiehendricks.