Simone Bidding for Olympics History
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Simone Biles is aware of the pressure. She welcomes it. Look no further than the sequined goat she's nicknamed "Goldie" that finds its way onto her competition leotard.
The symbol -- a play on the acronym for greatest of all-time -- is both a nod to her hard-earned status as the most talented gymnast (and maybe athlete) on the planet and the outsized expectations she faces, both internally and externally.
It's a delicate dance, one that will take center stage when the 24-year-old American steps in front of the world in Tokyo. All she has to do is somehow one-up her staggering performance in Rio de Janeiro, when she won five medals (including four gold) and entered the rarified air of Olympic royalty reserved for the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Nadia Comaneci.
Yes, it's a lot. Then again, whatever bar is set for her by others pales in comparison to the bar Biles sets for herself. It's why she found herself in tears at the U.S. Olympic Trials, when an off night in the finals left her frustrated and angry.
"I feel like anything rather than my best will tick me off," Biles said.
It's that drive that led Biles to return to the gym after a year off following her remarkable success in Brazil. New coaches Laurent and Cecille Landi helped her put together a plan that didn't ask her to simply regain the skills that made her the best in the world, but build upon them.
She's unveiled a series of boundary-pushing elements over the last four years, and her latest -- the Yurchenko double-pike vault -- will become the latest to bear her name.
Yes, Biles is well aware of her influence.
"When somebody is striving for perfection and doing her skills, it pushes other athletes to know that it's possible and that they can do it, too," Biles said. "So, I feel like I would say we have reached a point where gymnastics is getting more difficult and more difficult and a little bit more dangerous."
TALENT OVERLOAD
The Americans are heavily favored to win their third straight Olympic title. Sunisa Lee, who actually outscored Biles in the all-around during the second day at Olympic Trials, is a revelation on uneven bars. Jordan Chiles steadiness in 2021 turned her from a fringe Olympic candidate to a gymnast who may come back to the States with multiple medals.
There's so much wiggle room, national team coordinator Tom Forster admitted he actually potentially sacrificed a few tenths of a point by choosing Grace McCallum to fill out the four-woman team instead of Skinner.
"We're so, so fortunate that our athletes are so strong that I don't think it's going to come down to tenths of a point in Tokyo," Forster said.
THE MEN
In the men's competition, Russia, China and potentially host Japan figure to be in a fight for the top of the podium. Russian Nikita Nagornyy leads the field in the men's all around. There has been a changing of the guard of sorts among the American men, who are trying to get back to the podium for the first time since the 2014 world championships. Brody Malone supplanted six-time national champion and two-time Olympian Sam Mikulak as the program's standard-bearer after winning the U.S. championships.