Simone Biles celebrates after winning the all-around competition at the Core Hydration Classic. Stacy Revere/Getty Images CNN —
Simone Biles is familiar with making history. At 26 years of age, she’s already one of the sport’s greats.
STUTTGART, GERMANY – OCTOBER 13: Simone Biles of USA competes on Balance Beam during the Apparatus Finals on Day 10 of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at Hanns Martin Schleyer Hall on October 13, 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Watching Simone Biles this weekend will show how women's gymnastics has changed
Biles will have an opportunity to add to her ever-extending list of accolades at the US Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California, over the next three days.
The 26-year-old could become the only gymnast – man or woman – to win eight US all-around titles. Her seven titles are tied with Alfred Jochim.
Biles returned to action earlier this month after an almost two-year hiatus, winning in triumphant fashion at the Core Hydration Classic.
Biles will take to the floor on Friday in the balance beam and the floor exercise before taking on the vault and uneven bars on Sunday.
Day one of the senior women competition begins at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. ET/1 a.m. UK time) on Friday with day two of the event starting at 3.30 p.m. PST (6.30 p.m. ET/11.30 p.m. UK time) on Sunday.
Coverage of the US Gymnastics Championships will be domestically broadcast on NBC and Peacock while international viewers can watch the event on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel.
Simone Biles competes in the floor exercise during the World Championships in 2019. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Biles talks with her grandfather, Ron, as she trains in Houston in August 2013. Biles grew up in Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston. Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images Biles competes on the balance beam during the US National Gymnastics Championships in August 2013. She won gold in the individual all-around. Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images Biles poses after winning a gold medal at the 2013 World Championships. She finished first in the individual all-around. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Biles dodges a bee flying near her during the medal ceremony at the 2014 World Championships. She successfully defended her title in the individual all-around. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Biles, left, poses at home with her grandparents Ron and Nellie, who adopted her and her younger sister Adria, right. Leslye Davis/The New York Times/Redux Biles practices in Houston in January 2016. Leslye Davis/The New York Times/Redux Pictures Biles, right, and fellow gymnast Gabby Douglas stand during the opening ceremony of the 2016 US Olympic Trials. Both made the team. Douglas was the Olympic all-around champion in 2012. Donald Miralle/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images Biles celebrates with her teammates after the US Olympic Trials in 2016. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Biles competes on the balance beam at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She won gold in the individual all-around and the team all-around. She also added two more golds and a bronze. Damir Sagolj/Reuters Biles competes on the uneven bars at the 2016 Olympics. Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters From left, US gymnasts Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas celebrate after winning gold in the team all-around at the 2016 Olympics. David Ramos/Getty Images Biles celebrates with the gold medal she earned for her individual all-around title at the 2016 Olympics. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Biles has her legs held by host Jimmy Fallon as she plays a game called Hungry Hungry Humans on “The Tonight Show” in August 2016. Also playing were actor Donald Glover and some of Biles’ teammates. Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/Getty Images Biles poses with swimming legend Michael Phelps, Raisman and actress Olivia Munn during a recording of the show “Lip Sync Battle: All Stars Live” in September 2016. Trae Patton/Handout/Spike TV/Getty Images First lady Michelle Obama rests her elbow on Biles’ head as President Barack Obama speaks at the White House in September 2016. The Obamas were hosting an event for US Olympians. Alex Wong/Getty Images Biles takes a photo with a young fan in Houston in September 2016. Bob Levey/Getty Images Biles competes in “Dancing with the Stars” with Sasha Farber in 2017. They would finish in fourth place. Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images Biles speaks after receiving the ESPY Award for best female athlete in 2017. Image Group LA/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Biles performs with the Houston Texans cheerleaders in December 2017. Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Biles competes on the uneven bars during the 2018 World Championships. She won gold in the individual all-around. Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images Biles soars through the air while competing on the uneven bars at the World Championships in 2019. Again, she won gold in the individual all-around. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Biles celebrates after winning the balance beam final at the 2019 World Championships. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images During the GK US Classic in May 2021, Biles became the first woman in history to land a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition. Emilee Chinn/Getty Images Biles lands awkwardly while competing in the team all-around at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. Biles stumbled on the vault landing and then pulled out of the competition over mental-health concerns. Natacha Pisarenko/AP Biles is congratulated by coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi after they realized Biles would win an Olympic bronze medal in the balance beam final in July 2021. Biles had pulled out of several events earlier in Tokyo, citing mental health concerns. Specifically, she said she had “the twisties,” a mental block in gymnastics in which competitors lose track of their positioning midair. Her bronze medal tied her with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals ever won by an American gymnast. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images From left, Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman are sworn in to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2021. They sharply criticized how FBI agents handled the sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor now serving a long prison sentence. Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP/Getty Images President Joe Biden awards Biles with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2022. Biles, 25, became the youngest person ever to receive the award. “When she stands on the podium,we see what she is: absolute courage to turn personal pain into a greater purpose, to stand and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,” Biden said. Alex Wong/Getty Images Biles appears on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” in September 2022. On the right is US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Terence Patrick/CBS/Getty Images Biles competes in the uneven bars at the Core Hydration Classic in August 2023. It was her first competitive event since 2021, and she won the all-around. Stacy Revere/Getty Images Biles reacts during the awards ceremony after her triumphant return to competition in August 2023. Jon Durr/USA Today Network/Reuters
In pictures: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
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Biles’ return to competitive gymnastics at the Core Hydration Classic was the seven-time Olympic medalist’s first outing since pulling out of several events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
She withdrew from the women’s team final after suffering from what is known as the “twisties” – a mental block that causes gymnasts to lose track of their position in midair.
Biles opted not to compete in four individual finals at the Tokyo Games, but she did return to compete in the balance beam, winning bronze after using a modified dismount in her routine.
Biles competes in the floor exercise during the Core Hydration Classic. Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Asked about why she decided to return, Biles replied: “I always kind of knew as soon as everything that happened in Tokyo. So this time, I’m doing it for me. I worked a lot on myself, and I believe in myself a little bit more, just coming back out here and starting the first steps again.”
The Core Hydration Classic was the final opportunity for athletes to qualify for the national championships. The world gymnastics championships are then scheduled to take place between September 30 and October 8 in Antwerp, Belgium.
Biles is the most decorated gymnast in US history, winning 32 medals across the Olympics and the world championships.
Among her medal haul are four golds at the Olympic Games and 19 golds at the world championships – the most by any gymnast in history.
Biles’ experiences have seen her become her a celebrated advocate for mental health.
Even in the months after the Olympics, she said she was still “scared to do gymnastics,” but recently said on Instagram that she is “twisting again. No worries. All is good.”