Lester Holt Interviews Simone Biles

Simone, congratulations.

Thank you.

The last several years have been all about our expectations, what we thought you would do, what we thought the team would do. What were your expectations coming here?

My expectations or at least the team’s expectation was to go out there and win gold for Team USA, and we did just that. And after that, my expectation was go to all-around, see if you can place top three, see what happens. And then after that, everything else was a cherry on top. So Vault, gold. Floor, silver. I’m not mad.

Are you proud of yourself?

Yes. I’m very proud of myself for how I held it together all of those competition days, all throughout those routines. It’s very rigorous for however many days we compete in a row. So I’m very proud of my performances.

And you’ve been all about self-care.

Yes.

Did it work?

Yes. No, most definitely. I’ve been seeing my therapist a lot while I’ve been here in Paris, so I owe a lot to her.

I don’t mean to make you do my job, but if you had to write the headlines of these games telling your story, what would it be?

I would say my success is defined by what I make it.

I like that.

Yeah.

I like that. I might use that.

Okay. Good.

You also inspired a lot of people along the way. Have you ever sat back and really thought about what you have contributed to this sport?

I think the impact that I’ve made, I definitely see, because I see all of those little girls cheering for me, supporting me on Instagram, on TikTok, all of the outlets. So I do understand the impact that I’ve made. But to fully understand the depth of it, I think it’ll take one day whenever I retire, and then I look back at the career and everything that I’ve done to evolve the sport.

I mean, we’ve seen celebrities in the stands. We’ve seen young gymnasts looking up at you. It’s been quite a ride. I mean, it’s a lot of pressure on you, I would think. How have you dealt with it?

Yes. It’s a lot of pressure, but pressure is privilege. So I’m just super excited to represent the United States every time I get the opportunity.

There have been so many moments. One that struck me was watching three Black athletes together on the podium. When that was happening, did you recognize the significance of it?

Oh, absolutely. And I don’t think we got to recognize it enough because the award ceremony happened so fast. They’re trying to break down the set and move in the next event that’s going to be there. But we all recognized it and we were really excited about it.

Yeah. I’m not going to ask you what’s next. [inaudible 00:02:26]. But I do want to ask you, how much gas is in the tank?

As much as you fill it up. So you still need things to fuel you, so moving forward, that’s what I’m going to do. And it’s going to be starting in tour in September.

Is there a let-down after an Olympics? And I could ask that of any athlete, [inaudible 00:02:43] a high-performing athlete like yourself. Are you going to wake up in a couple of days and go, “Wow, it’s over?”

Yeah. I actually did that last night. As soon as we got back to the village, I just started bawling my eyes out and I called my mom, and I couldn’t believe it was over. And Jordan was there with me and she was like, “I knew this was going to happen because you work your whole entire lives for moments like this. And then whenever it’s over, you almost can’t believe it.” It happened so fast.

Reflect, if you can, on the team and what they accomplished-

Oh, my gosh.

… where you guys are, collectively, your headspace.

Yeah. I think we were in a really good position. We all came together to win that team gold. And then after that, individually, we all brought some hardware home. So I think we were a very successful team and it’s one I’ll cherish for the rest of my lives.

As I mentioned, you’ve delved in a lot of self-care, you have the experience of what happened in Tokyo. Were there still moments of jitter coming here?

Yes, definitely. Before Team Final, I was a little bit nervous, but as soon as we finished Vault, I think it was a breath of fresh air for everybody. We were all like, “Okay, we know Simone was most nervous for that. Let’s get that out of the way.” And then after that, it was a breeze. It was really just trying to have fun after.

And when you look at the arc of your career, which games were most significant to you?

I think they all played a different special part in my career. I think Tokyo taught me a lot about who I am, what I stand for, and how to take care of myself mentally and physically. And then Paris was just a lot of fun and Rio established who I was and who I wanted to be and do with the rest of my career.

And Paris has been pretty good to you?

Yeah. It’s been so much fun.

You had a chance to sit there with your family, your parents, a couple of days ago. Obviously, nobody gets here alone, to this level of the competition.

Absolutely.

But have you reflected on how much they have sacrificed?

Oh, my gosh. My parents, since they put me in gymnastics, they’ve sacrificed time, effort, money. But all else, it’s all been love and support so I’m so happy to have such a supportive family and then that they can come with me to support in person.

What do you want right now most of, now that you’re done competing? I mean, tell-

Now that I’m done competing, some rest.

Just some rest?

A good night’s sleep without an alarm.

What do you want people to not talk to you about? And I’m not just talking reporters, I mean family. What do you want to be like, “Let’s not do that right now”?

Yeah. I think that’s always what’s next because we work our whole entire lives for these moments, and then they’re like, “What’s next?” And it’s like, I just got off the medal stand. I’m going into media, and I haven’t even had a time to really relish in this moment and be grateful for the position that I’m in. So I think that’s the only thing that’s hard. It’s because some of us worked 20+ years to be on the medal stand representing our country, and then everybody wants to know what’s next, and I’m like, “Nothing.”

Well, whose story has excited you or inspired you the most across all disciplines here at the Olympics?

Oh, my goodness.

I mean, we obviously had great success in the pool.

Yeah, absolutely. I still think gymnastics is such a tough sport. So Rebecca Andrade, she’s had three ACL tears so to see her come back and then win a gold medal. As well as Suni, she has some kidney stuff. So I think it’s just phenomenal to see these athletes out there.

Did you get to go see anything else while you’re here?

No. We were so busy competing. But now I’m here, so maybe I’ll get to go to an event and support.

You’ve got a few moments. It can be at beach volleyball.

Yes, I know.

It’s still going on. It’s been a tremendous… Do you get to bond at all with other American athletes?

Yes. In our housing unit, they’re always down there resting and supporting all the other sports. So we were actually down there watching the men compete and stuff like that. So we do get to banter. But other than that, honestly, I try to stay in my room as much as possible because it just overwhelms me a little bit.

Yeah. You seem to be in a very, very good space.

Yeah. Thank you.

And we don’t know each other well, but you seem to be in a very-

Thank you.

… good space right now.

Yes, I am.

Thank you for talking to us.

Of course.

Appreciate it and enjoy the moment and do whatever you want.

Thank you. Thank you.

[inaudible 00:06:59].

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