USA’s woman gymnast Simone Biles rewrote the history books when she achieved the glorious feat of winning four gold medals in gymnastics in a single Olympics Games. The American capped off her very first Olympic Games by winning her fourth gold medal at Rio 2016 with a show-stopping performance in the floor exercise event.
It meant that Biles completed her participation at the Rio Olympic Games by winning a record-equalling four gold medals and one bronze medal.
The young gymnast won her fourth gold medal with a score of 15.966 in floor routine which was not matched by anyone except compatriot Aly Raisman who scored 15.500 points to finish second. No other athlete managed to pull off a score of over 15 except for the two Americans.
This meant that Biles equalled the record of four other female athletes who have previously won four gold medals at a single Games.
Hungary’s Agnes Keleti and Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina had achieved the feat for the very first time in 1956, which was followed by Vera Caslavska from Czechoslovakia in 1968 and then by Romania's Ekaterina Szabo in 1984.
This feat achieved by the American gymnast is as staggering as her age is – Biles is only 19 years old.
World Championships and Olympics medal tally
She has the gymnastics’ world at her feet at such a young and tender age. What is even more surprising is that the 19-year old has won a total of 14 medals in the World Championships of gymnastics with 10 of those being gold medals. The gymnast is the reigning world champion in her sport for three consecutive years now.
Biles won her first ever World championship gold medal in 2013 when she was only 16 years old. She could have even participated at the 2012 London Olympics but she was considered too young to qualify at 15 years of age.
However, at the Rio Olympics, Biles participated in a total of six different gymnastics’ competitions where she won medals in five of them. The only event where the American faltered was in the women’s uneven bars where she finished at the 14th spot in the qualification round with a score of 15.00. But winning five medals in a competitive sport such as gymnastics, where the level of competition is high, is a surreal achievement for the teenager.
That was the reaction the gymnast also had, “It's very crazy. To think what I've done. It's been an amazing experience and I don't think I could be more proud of myself. Your first Olympics you walk away with five medals, that's not tough at all. Especially four being gold, that's just unheard of. I'm very proud."
Could go on to become the greatest women’s gymnast
Many people are calling her the greatest ever female gymnast at the age of just 19. Biles started her career in 2013 and became the first black gymnast to win the all-around title at the World Championships in her debut year. Her dominance in the sport has been such that the 19-year-old is since undefeated in all-around competitions.
The consistency of the gymnast is such that within 3 years of making her debut in the sport, she has surpassed Shannon Miller as the most decorated US gymnast with 17 medals in Olympics and world competitions combined; whereas, Miller, could only win 16 medals in her 10-year long career for USA. This shows how huge an achievement it is from the 19-year old. What this also means is that at just 19, the gymnast has at least four more years of competition in her.
When asked about her chances of making it to the next Olympic Games, the gymnast answered, “How old am I now? 19. That’s bearable because Aly’s 22 and we all see what she does at this age, it’s possible.” Biles could easily compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and continue her reign of being Olympics gymnastic champion.
If she can pull this off in the future, there is no doubt that we will be witnessing the career of the greatest ever female gymnast, and possibly athlete, to have ever participated at the Olympic Games.
