Who Is Simone Biles? Biography, Age, Olympic Medals, Family and Latest News
Simone Biles is an American artistic gymnast who is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. She has won 11 Olympic medals, the most of any U.S. gymnast, and more than 30 World Championship medals, according to multiple published profiles. She also became one of the most influential athletes in the world through her openness about mental health and her testimony about abuse in USA Gymnastics. At 29, she has stepped back from full-time competition and is focused on advocacy, family, speaking and public appearances, though a medical scare in June 2026 drew widespread concern.
Table of Contents
- Who Is Simone Biles? Biography, Age, Olympic Medals, Family and Latest News
- Who Is Simone Biles?
- How Old Is Simone Biles?
- Where Is Simone Biles From?
- Early Life and Education
- How Did Simone Biles Start Her Career?
- Career and Major Achievements
- Advocacy and Public Voice
- Awards and Recognition
- Personal Life and Family
- What Is Simone Biles Doing Now?
- Net Worth
- Legacy and Influence
Who Is Simone Biles?
Simone Arianne Biles Owens competes as Simone Biles. Her skill set, which combines unusual power with precise technique, has resulted in several moves being named after her. Britannica-style accounts and sports outlets describe her as the most decorated gymnast in history, and the CBS Sports report on her 2023 World Championships all-around title described her as having reached a new historic benchmark with 34 combined Olympic and world medals at that point.
How Old Is Simone Biles?
She was born on March 14, 1997, which makes her 29 years old as of October 2026.
Where Is Simone Biles From?
She was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Spring, Texas, outside Houston. She is American. Her early childhood was difficult, as her biological mother struggled with addiction, and she and her siblings spent time in foster care. She was later adopted by her maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his wife, Nellie, whom she calls her parents. Please confirm the details of her early family history and her siblings’ names against an authorized biography before publishing.
Early Life and Education
Biles took up gymnastics as a child, reportedly after a daycare field trip to a gym. She was homeschooled so that she could train full time. One low-quality net worth page lists a business administration degree from the University of People, and Biles also earned a UCLA scholarship before turning professional, but I could not verify either from a reliable source, so education details need confirmation.
How Did Simone Biles Start Her Career?
She joined the U.S. junior national team around 2012, according to one profile, and moved up to the senior ranks in 2013. At her first world championships that year in Antwerp, Belgium, she won the all-around title, the start of a streak of global dominance. Her coach, Aimee Boorman, guided her early rise, and she later trained at her family’s gym, the World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas.
Career and Major Achievements
Rio 2016. She won four gold medals and one bronze at the Rio Olympics, and was a central figure on the American team.
Tokyo 2020. At the Games held in 2021, she withdrew from several finals after experiencing the “twisties,” a mental block that causes gymnasts to lose their sense of where they are in the air. She went on to win a team silver and a bronze on the balance beam. Her decision to prioritize her mental health became a global conversation.
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Return and 2023. After two years away from competition, she returned in 2023 and won her sixth all-around world title in Antwerp, making her the most decorated gymnast in world championship history at the time.
Paris 2024. At the Paris Olympics, she won a team gold, the all-around gold and a vault gold, plus a silver on floor, bringing her career total to 11 Olympic medals: seven golds, two silvers and two bronzes. She is tied with Věra Čáslavská as the second-most decorated female Olympic gymnast, behind Larisa Latynina, according to a profile on a wage data site. Check this count against official Olympic records before publishing.
Advocacy and Public Voice
Biles was among the gymnasts who said they were abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar, and she testified publicly about the failures of the sport’s governing bodies. President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022, according to Blavity. She has also been a visible advocate for mental health care for athletes.
Awards and Recognition
Her honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom and multiple world and Olympic titles. A full list should be verified with USA Gymnastics, the International Gymnastics Federation and the International Olympic Committee, since I could not confirm each award in the sources I found.
Personal Life and Family
She married Jonathan Owens, a safety in the National Football League, in 2023. Arab News reported their marriage in April of that year, when he played for the Houston Texans, and his current team is the Indianapolis Colts. Biles often shares photos and news of the relationship on social media. Public reports I found do not confirm that she has children, and pregnancy rumors on some sites were debunked as unfounded.
What Is Simone Biles Doing Now?
2026 has been an unusually public year for her. She attended the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February, where she also supported figure skater Ilia Malinin, and she was named an ambassador for Laureus Sport for Good, taking part in programs including visits to community sports projects in Milan and attending the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid on April 20. She was announced as a speaker at the Forbes 3050 Summit in Abu Dhabi in March, and she appeared at the ESPY Awards in New York on July 15.
In early June, she said she had “almost died” during a medical emergency, which she described as one of the scariest experiences of her life. In late July, she shared a hospital photo with her husband following a procedure on July 22. She has not publicly detailed the diagnosis in the sources I found, so this article does not speculate. For the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, no competitive decision has been confirmed.
Net Worth
There is no verified financial disclosure. Estimates vary widely by site: Celebrity Net Worth listed about $16 million as of April 2024, while several 2025 aggregators cite about $25 million. Forbes has estimated her off-field earnings at about $11 million in 2024, with very little from competition. Treat any figure as an unverified estimate.
Legacy and Influence
Biles changed gymnastics by raising its technical difficulty and by changing how athletes talk about pressure, rest and safety. Her willingness to step back at Tokyo and then return stronger helped normalize mental health care in elite sport, and her account of surviving abuse added to the push for reform in the governing bodies. She is widely seen as one of the defining athletes of her era.
