Simone Biles was ready to break records in Paris.
The Olympian—who was already the most decorated American gymnast before the 2024 Games—became the second oldest woman to become a two-time Olympic all-around champion, joining Maria Gorokhovskaya, who achieved this in 1952 at 30 years old.
Her total score of 59.131 was just over a point ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade at 57.932, one of the closest calls Biles has ever endured at a major international event. But it was enough for the 27-year-old to win her second gold of the Paris Olympics and her sixth Olympic gold medal overall.
The past 12 Olympic all-around women’s champions were teenagers. The last non-teen winner, Ludmilla Tourischeva, had turned 20 only a few weeks before she won in 1972.
Biles entered her final event at the 2024 Olympics having won gold in vault, all-around, and the team final in Paris. By winning silver in floor for her 11th career Olympic medal, she tied Czechoslovakia’s Vera Caslavska for the second-most by a female gymnast in Olympic history. The record is held by Larisa Latynina, who earned 18 for the Soviet Union between 1956 and 1964.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest artistic gymnasts, Biles has a legendary record in artistic gymnastics events. Among the records she aimed to obtain before heading to Paris were becoming the oldest American to win an Olympic medal in women’s gymnastics, the oldest American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics, and the oldest woman overall to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics.
And the unparalleled athlete secured those records.
Biles is the oldest American woman to win an Olympic medal in women’s gymnastics in 76 years. Previously, three members of the 1948 U.S. bronze-medal winning team were between the ages of 27 and 29.
With a single gold in Paris, Biles became the oldest American woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. Aly Raisman previously held this record, with two gold medals in 2016 at age 22.
Lastly, Biles became the oldest women’s gymnast in the world to win gold since the Soviet Union’s Polina Astakhova did so in 1964 at age 27.
Biles continuing to break records and make history is a testament to the gymnast who has been championing mental health for herself and others after her difficult Tokyo Olympics withdrawal in 2020.
At the time, she suffered what are known in the world of gymnastics as “twisties,” where the athlete experiences a disconnect between mind and body while airborne, potentially causing serious injuries.
