Simone Biles shared a pair of Olympic-worthy selfies on Sunday (Aug. 8). The Bronze-winning gymnast posed on her silver-colored patio while basking underneath a golden summer sky, pulling off a hat trick – while looking fierce, to boot. Since Simone, 24, had those colors – gold, silver, and bronze – locked down, she added a burst of pink, yellow, and orange with her tie-dye bikini. Judging by her bright smile and playful expression, Simone was happy to be home after making her country proud at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “Sweet like candy,” she captioned the post.
One person who would agree with that assessment is her boyfriend, Jonathan Owens. After Simone competed in the balance beam event on Aug. 3, returning to the Tokyo Olympics after pulling out of most of the events due to a mental health issue, Jonathan posted a message about how words “can’t explain how proud I am of you right now.” Jonathan was able to give that message to Simone personally days later, when she joined the Houston Texans safety on Aug. 6. “Open practice aka bring your girlfriend to work day,” she captioned the photo of her snuggling up to her man.
Simone reflected on her time at the Tokyo Olympics in an Aug. 3 post. “[Not] at all how I imagined or dreamed my second Olympics would go but blessed to represent the USA,” she began. “I’ll forever cherish this unique Olympic experience. Thanks [to] everyone for the endless love and support. I’m truly grateful.” She also noted that “leaving Tokyo with 2 more Olympic medals” – her bronze for the beam and the silver medal that Team USA won in the artistic team all-around event – isn’t “too shabby!” In total, she’s a seven-time Olympic medalist, tying her with Shannon Miller as the most decorated American in the history of Olympic gymnastics, per Yahoo.
“I think I have to relish and take this Olympics in and kind of recognize what I’ve done with my career,” she told Today‘s Hoda Kotb on Aug. 4. “Because after 2016, I didn’t get to do that.” Simone said she’s “keeping the door open” for a possible return in 2024 but noted that there “are a lot of things I need to work on internally and mentally.”
“I’m happy I was able to get back out there and do one more routine. It just felt really amazing,” she said at the end of that interview with Kotb. “I’m proud of myself for the way I pushed through. I wasn’t expecting to walk away with a medal or anything. I just wanted to go out there and do it for myself, and I did.”