Two weeks ago, most of us had no idea who Simone Biles was. That’s how quickly an Olympic hero can become a household name, and Biles has already reached those heights.
With four gold medals and one bronze at the Rio Olympics, Biles is already one of the most accomplished U.S. Olympians of all time. She must not feel like it, however, as she was recently asked for her thoughts on posing alongside Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky for the cover of Sports Illustrated.
This week’s @SInow cover: The stars of a Red Hot American Summer! https://t.co/84wNGCoxLS pic.twitter.com/GpUnxdYPjM
— SI Olympics (@si_olympics) August 16, 2016
Asked about posing with Phelps and Ledecky, @Simone_Biles said she was "little bit nervous … b/c felt I didn’t belong there." Umm, you do.
— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) August 16, 2016
You can understand Biles feeling like she isn’t in Phelps’ class. No one is, as the greatest swimmer in history has won 23 gold medals and 28 medals overall. But Ledecky and Biles are in almost identical positions. Ledecky has five gold medals — just one more than Biles. Both women are 19.
If Biles returns to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she could go down as arguably the greatest U.S. gymnast of all time. Heck, she even won one of her golds after this happened. Biles isn’t as far behind Phelps as she thinks.
