Photo Credit:Julian Finney/Getty Images
Simone Biles vividly recalls her thoughts during the 2024 Paris Olympic Summer Games.
On Wednesday, August 7, NBC Olympics & Paralympics’ X account (formerly Twitter) posted a video of the 27-year-old, the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast, watching herself perform a final vault routine at Bercy Arena.
As she watched, Biles narrated, "At that moment, I was thinking, ‘Don’t trip, don’t trip, good hurdle.’” Her excitement built as she continued, “I kind of slipped on the table here, so I was like, ‘Pull, pull, pull — but not too hard.’”
The video then showed Biles executing multiple backflips before sticking the landing. “And once I landed, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it!’” she said, reflecting on her achievement. Biles won three gold medals and one silver during the Games, bringing her career total to 11 Olympic medals.
She reminisced about this history-making moment, laughing as she remembered her celebratory claps after the vault.
In a recent TikTok GRWM video, Biles mentioned that the vaults were what made her "most nervous," despite several moves being named after her. The Yurchenko double pike, known as "Biles II," is one such technique she successfully performed to earn her second Olympic gold on the apparatus.
Biles and her teammate Jordan Chiles were also recently praised by former First Lady Michelle Obama for bowing to Rebeca Andrade during the medal ceremony for the women's floor gymnastics final on Monday, August 5.
"I’m still not over this beautiful moment of sisterhood and sportsmanship! You can just feel the love shining through these ladies. Congrats Rebeca, Jordan, and Simone! ,” Obama, 60, wrote in a repost of the image.
This marked the first time an all-Black group of gymnasts stood on the podium after the women’s floor final.
