Simone Biles Dazzles Vogue’s August 2020 Issue

Simone Biles discusses the postponed Olympics, the importance of Black Lives Matter, and her ongoing strength and courage against abuse. 

The four-time Olympic gold medalist sat down with Vogue Magazine to talk about her thoughts on all that has been happening the past few months. Not only about the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games being postponed to July 2021 due to the pandemic, but of former team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual assault case in 2016.

Nassar’s case perpetuated Biles to address her own experiences with abuse. After her friend and former member of the national team, Maggie Nichols, shared her story to the news back in January 2018, Biles felt the need to speak up. “I felt like I knew, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself, that it had happened,” she said. “Because I felt like, not that you’re supposed to be perfect, but I just felt like that’s what America wanted me to be—was perfect. Because every time an American wins the Olympics, you’re like America’s sweetheart. So it’s like, How could this happen to America’s sweetheart? That’s how I felt—like I was letting other people down by this.”

Her full statement was released on January 15, 2018, amongst praise and upliftment from the press and teammates. Her moment also perpetuated a need to protect girls and women in gymnastics. “We can’t feel comfortable promoting our sport if we fear that something might happen like this again because they’re not doing their part,” she added. “And the hardest part for us is we’ve always done our part. We’ve always represented the U.S. to the best of our ability, and all the time, most of the time, every time I’ve represented, come back with gold medals. It’s like: We’ve done our part. Come on.”

Biles also spoke about her initial anger and frustration towards the Olympics being postponed. “I felt kind of torn and broken,” she replied. “Obviously it was the right decision, but to have it finalized—in a way, you feel defeated because you’ve worked so hard.” However, she used the power of the internet to carve out a new routine for herself and stay in shape for her body and mind. She even participated in the Handstand Challenge, showing off her body strength.

The athlete additionally expressed her thoughts on the rising awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement after the tragic deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. “We need justice for the Black community,” she replied. “With the peaceful protests it’s the start of change, but it’s sad that it took all of this for people to listen,” she said. “Racism and injustice have existed for years with the Black community. How many times has this happened before we had cell phones?”

Check out Biles’ behind the scenes video on her skincare and post-competition routine with Vogue above. It’s amazing and inspiring that Simone Biles has kept her head high above adversity.