Getty Gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final.
After hinting at retirement following her historic win in the all-around final, Simone Biles left the door open for one final run at home after her gold medal win in the vault final.
“Never say never,” Biles said, per NBC. “The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know, but I am getting really old.”
Biles will be 31 when Los Angeles hosts the next Olympics in 2028.
Despite being the oldest gymnast in this year’s Olympics, Biles showed she is still at the peak of her career.
She once again defeated her Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade with an average score of 15.300 points from her two vaults.
Biles earlier beat Andrade in the all-around final to become the oldest all-around champion since 1952. She also became the first American to win more than once in the Olympic all-around final, joining Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union and Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia as repeat champions.
Following her all-around final win, she made interesting comments that sparked retirement speculation.
“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more,” Biles said, via Gymnastics Now. “I’m tired. Like, she’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close.”
She sounded like she was ready to hand the reins to the next generation of gymnasts.
“It’s good. I’m gonna hand it to her now – she can have the rest.”
Biles, widely considered the greatest American gymnast, now has 10 Olympic medals (7 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronzes) since debuting in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Simone Biles Defends Husband From Critics
Biles hit back at her husband Jonathan Owen’s bashers on social media after the NFL safety posted a photo of them together while wearing her Olympic gold medal.
“Crazy thing is, I put my medal on every single one of my family members and took pictures. So don’t ever make assumptions,” Biles commented under TikToker Kiera Breaugh’s video criticizing the Chicago Bears player.
“Like y’all are so [expletive] miserable. Leave us alone.”
Owens received criticisms from the comment section of his post and the whole thing blew up when Breaugh posted a TikTok video commentary about his post.
“Take her medal off!” Breaugh said in her video commentary. “After all of the— take her medal off! Was it you, Mr. Simone Biles, who was flying through the air yesterday? Was it you who spun like a top 30 times in the air and landed without stumbling? No.”
Owens is in Paris to support his wife. He was often shown on TV seated beside Biles’ parents while taking notes of her scores.
Kevin Durant Calls Simone Biles ‘GOAT’
Biles’ magnificent comeback in Paris after taking a hiatus in the Tokyo Olympics to take care of her mental health had sparked GOAT conversations.
NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who is vying for a record-breaking fourth gold medal with Team USA in basketball, declared Biles as the greatest gymnast.
“Goat Biles,” Durant tweeted shortly after Biles’ all-around final win.
A minute later, Durant followed it up with the perfect description of Biles if she was a basketball player.
“I really believe Goat Biles can catch a lob and finish. #bounce,” Durant tweeted.
Biles embraced the GOAT conversation by rocking a goat necklace after her historic win.
The GOAT @Simone_Biles won the Gold at #Paris2024 wearing head-to-toe products by @Shopify merchants.
Her iced-out GOAT 🐐 necklace was designed by Shopify merchant Janet Heller and GK Elite designed all of the USA gymnastic teams leotards.
Love to see our merchants on the…
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Simone Biles Leaves Door Open for 2028 LA Olympics With 3-Word Comment