Biles, Simone Arianne, 1997–, American gymnast, b. Columbus, Ohio. Known for her consistency and the high degree of difficulty of her routines, she was the first gymnast to win three consecutive world all-around titles (2013–15). At the 2016 Olympic Games, she won gold medals in vault, floor exercise, individual all-around, and the team competition as well as bronze on the balance beam, becoming the first American woman to win four gold medals in gymnastics at a single Olympics. She has since won two more world all-around titles (2018–19), for a women's record of five, and overall has 25 total medals in world competitions (19 gold, three silver, three bronze), setting a record for most world medals and gold medals by any gymnast. Biles, like numerous other U.S. women gymnasts, stated (2018) that she was a victim of sexual assault by Larry Nassar, a former U.S. national gymnastics team doctor who was convicted of sexually abusing female athletes.
See her memoir (2016, written with M. Burford).
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