Gymnastics

Simone Biles acknowledged the Larry Nassar scandal and its subsequent fallout was weighing heavily on her as she prepared to compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

"If you looked at everything I've gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team," the four-time Olympic gold medalist said to Camonghne Felix of The Cut.

"I should have quit way before Tokyo, when Larry Nassar was in the media for two years. It was too much. But I was not going to let him take something I've worked for since I was six years old. I wasn't going to let him take that joy away from me."

More than 150 women and girls testified that Nassar sexually abused them while he worked as a team doctor for Michigan State and USA Gymnastics. Biles said in January 2018 she was "one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar."

The buildup to the 2021 Olympics created a perfect storm for the 24-year-old.

In addition to the strain the Nassar scandal placed on her, she had to shoulder the burden of being the most dominant gymnast in the world and one of the most prominent faces for Team USA. Perfection was the expectation.

In a telling interview with the New York Times' Juliet Macur prior to the Summer Games, Biles said one of the happiest moments of her gymnastics career was "honestly, probably my time off." She also explained how her years of competition had exacted a significant toll on her physically.

Biles also made it clear she didn't see herself as an ambassador for USA Gymnastics after what she had been through.

"I’m going to go out there and represent the USA, represent World Champions Centre, and represent Black and brown girls over the world," she said. "At the end of the day, I’m not representing USA Gymnastics."

Although Biles made the trip to Tokyo, she temporarily withdrew from the Olympics to focus on her mental health. She later explained she had the "twisties," an issue in which a gymnast is experiencing a mental block that prevents them from properly timing a move.

Biles still won bronze in the balance beam and helped the United States earn silver in the team event.

Simone Biles simultaneously put on a fashion show and gave herself a workout at the Met Gala on Monday night.

The seven-time Olympic medalist selected a gown that weighs 98 pounds for her ensemble:

According to the New York Times' Jessica Testa, the gown included "more than 17,000 feet of Swarovski glass crystal chains and nearly 200 feet of tulle." It also required around 6,650 person-hours to complete.

It was certainly a piece befitting the current queen of women's gymnastics, though it may not be Biles' best design choice this year. That title arguably continues to reside with the bedazzled goat leotard she sported at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

Talk about making an entrance.

Former UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis unleashed a floor routine at the Met Gala on Monday night that included flips on the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Michelle Ruiz of Vogue noted she was accompanied by Brooklyn United Marching Band and said "I feel like Superwoman."

Ruiz also pointed out Dennis is "best known for her groundbreaking Beyonce and Black Lives Matter-themed floor routines while a student at UCLA."

Her career highlights at UCLA include a 2019 First-Team All-American recognition on bars, a 2018 NCAA team championship and seven All-Pac-12 honors.

Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Sunisa "Suni" Lee, WWE wrestler Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and NBA guard Iman Shumpert were announced Wednesday as part of the newest Dancing with the Stars cast.

Season 30 of DWTS is scheduled to premiere Sept. 20 on ABC.

Lee won the gold medal in the women's all-around gymnastic competition at the 2021 Summer Games. She also captured silver with her U.S. teammates in the team competition and bronze in the uneven bars.

The 18-year-old Minnesota native is set to join the Auburn University gymnastics team, and she told Justin Lee of the Opelika-Auburn News she had to check the Dancing with the Stars dates to make sure she wouldn't miss her first Iron Bowl when the Tigers battle rival Alabama on Nov. 27.

"The last show is on the 22nd. I had to make sure," she said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Phew.'"

Lee added it's a unique chance following the Olympics, and appearing on the popular show will give her even greater visibility to build her personal brand during his college years given the new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules.

"I'm so excited," the Hmong American said. "It's really cool that I get this opportunity. Not many people, even celebrities, get to do this. It's really cool that I get to be a part of something like this, especially after coming off the Olympics, and multiple Olympians have done this in the past, too. I'm like following behind their footsteps a little bit."

The Miz, 40, has long used the moniker "The A-Lister" as part of his with his showy, egotistical gimmick, which has been accompanied by several acting roles and a reality show, Miz & Mrs, alongside his wife and former WWE Superstar Maryse Mizanin.

Now he'll get an opportunity to take the gimmick mainstream on DWTS.

"The next title I'm after? The Mirror Ball Trophy!" The Miz told WWE's official website.

Shumpert is currently a free agent after 10 NBA seasons with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets. The 31-year-old guard has averaged 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds across 461 career games.

The 6'5" Georgia Tech product won an NBA title with the Cavs in 2016.

Simone Biles enlisted the help of NBC's Today to give a surprise gift to Suni Lee's father Wednesday. 

Per Scott Stump of Today.com, the gymnast was inspired to get John Lee a new wheelchair after seeing her teammate Suni present him with her Olympic gold medal on the morning show last month.

"Hi, Mr. Lee, it's Simone. I love your daughter, Suni, so much and I know how much she loves you," Biles said in a video message. "You have done so much for her, so I reached out to my friends at the Today show to see if we could do something special for you. Hope you like it."

John Lee was paralyzed from the waist down in 2019 after falling off a ladder while helping a friend trim a tree.

The accident occurred days before Suni was scheduled to take part in the USA Gymnastics National Championships. She remained in the competition, winning gold in the uneven bars, silver in the individual all-around and bronze in the floor exercise.

Lee won three medals at the Tokyo Games: gold in the individual all-around, silver in the team final and bronze in the uneven bars. The 18-year-old joined Biles, Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas as American women to win the all-around gold.

USA Gymnastics has reached a settlement agreement with the survivors of Larry Nassar as well as those sexually abused by others in power at the organization. According to USA Today's Nancy Armour, the $425 million proposal still requires full approval from survivors and creditors.

The agreement was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Tuesday.

“After extensive discussions, this plan has been jointly proposed by USA Gymnastics and the Committee, and it is supported by many of the involved insurers,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement. “We anticipate that this plan will be confirmed later this year and greatly appreciate all parties’ efforts to get to this point.”

The offer is nearly double the $215 million USA Gymnastics presented in January 2020, however, Armour noted it's unclear just how much each survivor would see from that sum. The agreement would also be subject to additional debts the company incurred when filing for bankruptcy in 2018. Accepting the offer would end litigation against USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Bela and Martha Karolyi.

The initial offer faced immense criticism because of its relatively low total and the ability of the USOPC to be released from lawsuits with minimal financial responsibility. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robyn Moberly was among those who knocked the proposal saying the third parties should be held more financially liable. 

"It isn't news to anybody on this phone call, nor is it news to me, that the U.S. Olympic Committee needs to be an active participant, and I mean beyond just throwing in their insurance coverage in this,"  Moberly said on a February 2020 call, according to Armour.

Nassar survivors previously agreed to a $500 million settlement with Michigan State University in 2018. 

The former team doctor for the U.S Women's National Gymnastics team was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography and tampering with evidence, 40 to 175 years in the state of Michigan for sexual assault of minors and an additional 40 to 125 years in prison for sexual assault. He was imprisoned in 2018 without parole.  

U.S. Olympics gymnastics star Simone Biles said she was bitten by a dog this week and had to receive a tetanus shot. 

In an Instagram story post on Friday, Biles shared photos of a wound on her finger and recounted the incident. 

"I've grown up my whole life with german shepherds and never got bit," Biles wrote (h/t Gabrielle Chung of People Magazine). "This dog at the farm just said not today."

The 24-year-old didn't appear too concerned by the injury in the video and followed up with posts showing her back in leotards and hanging out with friends. A native of Spring, Texas, just outside Houston, Biles is back home after competing in the Tokyo Olympics where she claimed a bronze medal on the balance beam and a silver in the all-around team event. 

The latter became a defining moment in Biles' career as she withdrew from competition after experiencing the "twisties," allowing her teammates to step in and help ensure the United States reached the podium while she focused on her mental health. 

"I say put mental health first," Biles said afterwards. "Because if you don't, then you're not going to enjoy your sport and you're not going to succeed as much as you want to. So it's OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself, because it shows how strong of a competitor and person that you really are—rather than just battle through it."

Gone are the days when women were an afterthought at the Olympics. 

In Tokyo, they're actually doing better than men. According to The Representation Project's "Respect Her Game" report (h/t Lindsay Gibbs), women got nearly 60 percent of prime-time NBC Olympics coverage in Tokyo, an astronomical figure in comparison to the oft-quoted four percent of media coverage devoted to women's sports during the rest of the quadrennium. And for Team USA, women are beating their male counterparts in the medal count.

These victories are no doubt a result of an increase in investment in gender parity at the Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics were likely the most balanced ever in terms of opportunities for women. The IOC patted itself on the back in a recent press release touting the "innovation and greater gender diversity" that the 18 mixed events were bringing to the Games. And they have a point—mixed events like the 4x400-meter relay in track were well received in Tokyo and bring attention to women athletes. 

Mixed events, though, do nothing to fix the disparity in medal opportunities that still exists in 2021. Women still compete for 27 fewer Olympic medals than men, or nine fewer events, according to USA Today. The gap is more egregious when one considers that for Olympic athletes, medals often mean money. And the worst offender, gymnastics, could learn a lot from track and swimming, the other two sports that take up much of the spotlight during the Olympics.

"Women were the weaker sex and because men were stronger people, they could last the distance." That was the thinking back when Olympic swimmer Debbie Meyer competed in the 1960s, she told The New York Times. As of this year, swimming is no longer part of the medal disparity problem—in Tokyo, men and women finally had the same opportunities with the addition of the 1500-meter freestyle, after initially achieving equity in the number of events in 1996. 

But it was a long time coming, and track and field still has yet to get there. Women still don't have the same number of events in track, as they don't compete in the 50-kilometer walk. But track and field has made a lot of progress over the past few decades, finally adding the women's marathon in 1984, triple jump in 1996 and pole vault in 2000. It last added a women's event in 2008 with the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Equity will likely be achieved at the next Olympics, where the IOC opted to not hold the men's 50-kilometer walk in order to create gender parity. Needless to say, creating equal opportunities by eliminating men's events is an odd choice, though the IOC also stated that a mixed event will be added.

Women's gymnastics, however, is the least equitable of the three. There, men have two more event finals than women, or six more medals, and it's been that way since 1960. At those Olympics, it seems, the format was set in stone, and it's unclear why, or why women stopped competing on the still rings at all. Speculation abounds that it was because of archaic notions of what a woman's body was meant to do compared to a man's. 

While women do compete in men's events at the local level, the format stuck for elite competitions, and at this point, it would be very difficult to change it. Each event requires a specific skill level—a balance beam specialist can't learn still rings in the same way, for example, that a 400-meter runner can train for the 200-meter dash. 

Still, dramatic changes have been made to the sport in the past. The uneven bars started moving further apart in the 1970s to make space for more complex skills. Compulsory rounds were eliminated after 1996. And in 2006, the scoring system was completely overhauled in an effort to reward difficulty. Plus, gymnasts who are adept on one apparatus are already compelled to improve on others in order to become more competitive at the elite level—that's nothing new.

But in terms of the level of opportunity for all gymnasts, the sport has actually moved backwards. For this quadrennium, the International Gymnastics Federation kept the same number of events but removed three medals per gender by reducing the team size to four. The five-person team will thankfully return in 2024, but it was one step backwards, one step forwards. 

Where should the extra medals come from? Rather than eliminate men's events, as the IOC did with track and field, equity could be achieved by adding two more medal opportunities for women, as happened with swimming in Tokyo. Events like rings, parallel bars or pommel horse could be added as individual events and allowed to gradually increase in popularity before they're added to the team final.

Another possibility, though one that wouldn't solve the parity problem, is adding a mixed event. Track and swimming have both shown that mixed events can be successful, and it would be a good addition to gymnastics, rewarding countries that have more balanced programs. Mixed events already exist in gymnastics, but they're contested at smaller, lesser-known meets than World Championships or World Cups, and an event like this would likely need to be added to the World Championships in order to be considered for the Olympics.

For a sport that's been set in its ways for more than half a century, it's wishful thinking. But for all the ground women have gained in the past 60 years, it's odd that medal parity still isn't there. Swimming and track have achieved it, and for gymnastics, maybe it's time to switch things up a bit.

Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens, who is dating Simone Biles, said he was "sick" when she had to withdraw from multiple Olympic events to focus on her mental health. 

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Owens opened up about what he knew of the situation with Biles:

I was sick for her, just because I can see her face, I kind of know her facial expressions, I can kind of read her lips and kind of know what was going on and kind of what she was telling her coach. I kind of already knew what was going on beforehand so I was just really hoping she was going to get over it and be able to go out there and perform. So I was sick to my stomach because she wasn't able to go out there.

Biles was scheduled to compete in six finals at the Tokyo Games, including the team final and five individual events. 

After struggling during the first rotation in the team final, Biles announced she was withdrawing from the event because of the emotional stress she was feeling. 

"Physically, I feel good. I'm in shape," Biles told Hoda Kotb on NBC's TODAY show (h/t Elisha Fieldstadt of NBC News). "Emotionally, it varies on the time and moment. Coming to the Olympics and being head star isn't an easy feat."  

Biles eventually pulled out of the finals for the individual all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor routine. The 24-year-old posted a video on Instagram last week of her in practice attempting to do a routine on the uneven bars, but she was unable to land properly:

Biles was able to return for the balance beam final on Tuesday. She won bronze in the event, marking her second consecutive Olympic medal on the balance beam.

It was also her seventh career Olympic medal, tying Shannon Miller for the most all-time by a United States female gymnast. 

Owens and Biles went public with their relationship in August 2020. He is entering his third season with the Texans after going undrafted out of Missouri Western in 2018.