"Good first assignment" - When Simone Biles opened up on Martha Karolyi's inspiring words after her first competition appearance for national team

Simone Biles once opened up about Martha Karolyi's inspiring words, following a stumble at her first appearance for the national team. Biles competed in her first meet for the national team at the 2013 American Cup held in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Biles competed in the all-around event and collected a remarkable score of 15.733 and 14.800 in the vault and uneven bars events. However, while executing a series of skills on the balance beam, she tumbled and came crashing down on the side.

Biles once reflected on the unfortunate event in her autobiography, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, stating she was horrified by coach Karolyi's reaction to the fall.

"I remember standing there thinking, You just fell off the beam on national TV. Your first assignment. You’re doomed, Simone. And the next thought: What is Martha going to say to you after the meet? Oh my gosh, you’re going to be in so much trouble. At first, that’s all I could think about—how mad Martha was going to be, how disappointed."

To her surprise, coach Karolyi expressed her pride in Biles, admiring her confidence.

"And you know what? After the meet, Martha wasn’t angry at all. In fact, she said she was proud of me! 'You’ve just got to work on that beam routine till you’re really confident in it, but overall, you did really well. Katelyn came first and you came second. It was a good first assignment.'"

At the 2013 American Cup, Simone Biles clinched a silver medal in the all-around event after posting 57.666 points.

Simone Biles once opened up about the moment she made the national team for the first time

Simone Biles attends the Friends Of The Children 30th Anniversary Gala in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Getty Images)

Simone Biles once opened up on the moment she first made it to the national team. She competed at the 2012 Visa National Championships in St. Louis. She settled in third place in the all-around event after collecting 115.600 points to follow Lexie Priessman and Madison Desch, who posted 116.400 and 115.850 points, respectively.

The podium finish marked her qualification for the U.S. women's junior national team, about which she mentioned in her autobiography.

"That evening at Nationals, standing on the podium next to all-around gold medalist Lexie Priessman and silver medalist Madison Desch, I could hardly believe that my dream was coming true. Later, after the arena’s Jumbotron screen lit up with the names of the 2012 women’s junior national team, I was smiling so hard that the muscles in my face actually ached."

She added:

"All the other girls had been on the national team the previous year; I was the only newbie in the mix."

In the same event, Biles also topped the vault event and settled in sixth place.