Simone Biles will undoubtedly leave a legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. But when she was asked how she wanted to be remembered, her answer was simple.
“Someone who loved the sport, had fun doing it, and just was authentically herself,” she told Hoda Kotb on NBC’s “Today” Tuesday.
Biles won silver at the floor exercise, her final event of the Paris Olympics, on Monday. It brought her total medal tally to four; she won gold in the team, vault and all-around competitions. That’s a total of 11 career Olympic medals now, seven of which are gold.
She told Kotb she burst into tears when she got back to the Olympic Village on Monday.
“I think I was just so full of emotion and I finally released all of that. I was so proud, happy and bittersweet that the journey’s over. It’s so crazy, it happened so quick. My third Olympics!” Biles said.
While her Paris Olympics may be a wrap, Biles isn’t ready to retire, and she’s still not ruling out an appearance in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“You know, you never say never. The next Olympics is on home turf. I’m just going to relax and see where life takes me,” she said.
Elsewhere during the chat, Biles assured Kotb that she’s “resting up as much as possible” after the “Today” co-anchor noted that the athlete was wearing a boot on her leg.
Biles tweaked her calf during the Olympic qualifiers last month and had it taped during competitions.
“It’s just precautionary,” she said, adding, “We have tour in a couple weeks, so I’m just going to rest and heal.”
The gymnast has successfully capped off what she called her redemption tour in Paris after she dropped out of the Tokyo Olympics and took two years off to focus on her mental health.
