Simone Biles is an inspiration, whether competing or ‘pushing mental health to the forefront’

Simone Biles is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women across the country who have made a significant impact. The annual program is a continuation of Women of the Century, a 2020 project that commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

As a child, Simone Biles put pen to paper to track her goals, dreams and aspirations. It’s a practice she’s continued, right up to last year’s Olympic Games. Write it down. Visualize it. Manifest it.

Biles, 25, the most accomplished gymnast of all time, soared to acclaim not just because of her physical strength and athleticism. When she withdrew from some events during the Tokyo Olympics because of mental health struggles, she faced ridicule and judgment from those who haven’t walked in her shoes.

Instead of retreating, Biles took those shoes, which carry a 4-foot, 8-inch frame, to send an enormous message to women around the world: It’s OK to be vulnerable. It’s OK to feel emotionally exhausted. It’s OK to put yourself first.

“Honestly, last year was a crazy year,” she said. “But I think pushing mental health to the forefront was a huge thing. I honestly didn’t realize in that moment the impact that it would have. A couple months later, I have acknowledged everything that has happened. But it still blows my mind to know that it wasn’t spoken about before as much as it is now, and we’re not open about it and people don’t perceive it the same way as an injury. So I’m happy that we had that conversation and we can now talk about it.” 

Biles acknowledges the social media vitriol was difficult, but she knows she helped a woman in Kansas, a woman in Michigan, a woman in Florida, a woman in California and a woman in New York – along with untold others. Lifting up those who feel connected to her as a gymnast has been gratifying; elevating those who needed a voice – a roar of a champion – has been life-changing.

“Besides online, I’ve actually had a lot of people in person tell me how much I’ve done,” she said. “And they thank me for my efforts because before that, they only ever said, ‘Congratulations and thank you for gymnastics.’ But now with mental health being a huge topic that we talk about basically on the daily now, they’re always telling me, ‘Thank you so much. You’ve done so much for me and my family, my friends. Now I’m going to go get help.’ So it really does mean a lot to me that a lot of people are now trying to get the help that they not only deserve but that they need.”

Biles, who has taken a year off from the mat and balance beam, walks into the World Champions Centre outside Houston, greeting the toddlers and girls who aspire to be like her. She chats with staff, coaches and parents. She hugs the budding competitors and cheers them on. Biles serves as coach, mentor and sister.

Biles, who is engaged to Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens, also needs some personal time. She wants to plan her wedding. She wants to be a better daughter, friend and sibling. She looks forward to Sunday dinners with her family. She remains a gymnast, an Olympian and a fierce competitor. Young, strong and focused, Biles continues to write down those goals, dreams and aspirations. The list is endless.

“Technically, if you would ask anybody in the U.S. that looks at an American gymnast, I’m probably already aged out, but I really feel like leading up to Tokyo, I was hitting my prime,” she said. “Truly, I thought in 2016, at 19 years old, I had peaked. And whenever I came back to the sport, I was like, there’s no way I’m going to get even better than I was because somebody told me that was the best I was going to get. You just have to push out those negative views and just keep pushing. I want to see how much I’m capable of, how talented I can be. And that’s why I came back, just to not have any regrets if I look back in 10 years. So now I can really say I have no regrets, but maybe I might push it a little bit more to see.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I feel like I have a lot, and I feel like it varies between in the sports world or in my own personal world. But I feel like my biggest role model would be my mom. I hope to be half the person she is. She’s very strong-minded, opinionated. She stands on her own. She’s a great businesswoman. And I just think it’s really important for me to acknowledge that because of everything she’s done, not only done for me but the rest of my siblings. That’s what a mom should do.

 But I feel like she’s really gone above and beyond to put us all first and for us to be able to do what we love. For me, that’s gymnastics, that’s speaking out in the world, and making me a better woman as well.

Besides our voices, we’re just always pushing the envelope forward, and I think that’s really important, not only for us to realize as women but for kids to see that women can do anything men can do. But overall, I just think our voices are really important.

I think it comes from inside, or at least that’s what I truly believe. But I feel like every woman has something special to give to the world and to provide. And as long as we open up and we do that, then we’re doing the best at our role.

Within sports and without, it’s always thinking of the positive. I feel like since I was a little kid, I always saw the glass half full, not half empty. And that’s what’s always kept me going, even on those really hard days to push forward.

I always had a goal list that my mom made me write down of short-term and long-term goals. And that always made me remember why I did what I was doing in the moment.

I think it would be believing in yourself, and no matter what you do, you stand on your own. For me, I’ve always been very outspoken, and I’ve always tried to stay true to myself between either fame, gymnastics, awards, whatever that is. But I’ve always firmly believed in standing on my own. And if I ever put my mind to something, then going after that, not changing who I am, having courage to speak up, speak out, even if you’re the only one doing that. Because it can be very daunting, especially with social media nowadays.

I would say find your passion because once you find a passion, that’s when everything falls into place. Whether that’s schoolwork, athletics, whatever it is, make sure you have something outside your realm that makes you happy, makes you keep going, and that’s your passion.

I do want to be a mom one day. I think kids would be amazing. I think it’s one of the most amazing feelings in the world, what I’ve heard, but I do get that it becomes a job, and it’s hard. And I do work a lot, but I don’t think that will be a problem because I can take some time off. One day in the near future.

National columnist/deputy opinion editor Suzette Hackney is a member of USA TODAY’S Editorial Board. Contact her at shackney@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @suzyscribe

Published
10:12 am UTC Mar. 28, 2022
Updated
10:12 am UTC Mar. 28, 2022