EXCLUSIVE: Simone Biles Declared Most Dominant Athlete in Men and Women Gymnastics by Ohio Star

We’ve spoken to Olympians, national champions, and rising stars across sports. However, only a few interviews are packed with so many punch lines and information as our exclusive interview with Kameron Nelson. The 2025 NCAA All-American vault champion and bronze medalist on floor, Nelson, is no stranger to greatness. A veteran of the NCAA men’s artistic gymnastics circuit, he’s spent over a decade perfecting his craft. But when we caught up with him for an EssentiallySports Exclusive Interview, his words didn’t focus on his own medals or milestones. Instead, he offered a powerful declaration that goes far beyond the mats. But what exactly did he say? 

“She [Simone Biles] is the most dominant athlete that I know…” Period! Well, we weren’t expecting hesitation, and Nelson gave us none. In our Exclusive Interview, the Ohio State gymnast, when asked to name the most dominant gymnast of all time, regardless of gender, his answer was swift: Simone Biles. What followed was that he placed Biles right up there with icons like LeBron James. “I wouldn’t say anyone’s quite reached that level yet… not like Simone Biles who’s completely dominated almost everything she does,” Nelson said.

Nelson emphasized on Simone Biles’ consistency, her talent, her longevity in a sport not known for it, her dominance across apparatuses, and her ability to perform skills never before attempted. The 2025 Big Ten Vault Champion also called attention to something far more difficult to quantify: her mental toughness. Well, we all remember Biles’ withdrawal from multiple events at the 2021 Olympics due to the “twisties” and psychological stress. And was that her weakness?

Well, a big no! Rather, that decision became a part of her legacy and opened the door for conversation around mental health, not just in gymnastics but across different sports! Nelson, with a big smile, further added to in our EssentiallySports Exclusive Interview,   “She is the most dominant—almost the most dominant athlete I know, other than like LeBron James who’s just known for being LeBron James and stuff like that…” Let that sink in. Simone Biles, an athlete who first exploded onto the global stage at age 16, is being spoken of in the same breath as LeBron, and for good reason. 

Where Simone Biles, at 27 was the oldest American gymnast to compete at the Paris Olympics since 1950s, while LeBron James, at 39 became the first American basketball player to represnt the red, white, and blue, in the Paris olympics across three different decades. And interestingly, both cemented history by wining a buynch of medals. While USA’s men’s basketball team under LeBron’s leadership won gold, Simone went on to win three gold, including one team gold and a silver.

Nelson, the 2025 Winter Cup vault silver medalist and 2024 Winter Cup vault champion, has seen his share of ups and downs in gymnastics, said he sees in Biles a model of everything the sport aspires to be. As someone who has trained and competed through the rigors of NCAA gymnastics to become the first gymnast in the world to compete two triple backs in a single floor routine this year, Kameron Nelson appreciates not only Simone’s technical execution but the fact that she shows up, time and again! However, Nelson in our EssentiallySports Exclusive Interview named someone who might have given a close fight to Biles…

He admitted there are greats in men’s gymnastics, naming Kohei Uchimura as a standout. He stated, “I would say Uchimura is the the most close equivalent male gymnast to her”. Surely, with Uchimura being mentioned, let’s look at how he fared against Simone Biles.

Can we compare Simone Biles and Kohei Uchimura?

In a sport that constantly demands perfection, Simone Biles and Kohei Uchimura didn’t just meet expectations. They rewrote them. With 41 World and Olympic medals (more than any gymnast in history), Biles revolutionized the sport with explosive difficulty, introducing eponymous skills like the Biles on floor and beam. Her five all-around national titles and 2024 Olympic comeback gold stand as proof of her enduring dominance.

Whereas Uchimura, on the other hand, brought artistry to the forefront. With two Olympic all-around titles and an unprecedented six straight world all-around crowns (2009–2015), he became a symbol of flawless execution. “Beauty in movement is my only goal,” he said. And for nearly a decade, no one came close as he stuck to his goal.

What connects them isn’t just success. Rather, it’s consistency under pressure. Kohei Uchimura was undefeated in major all-around competitions for eight years, while Biles has won the all-around title every time she’s competed at Worlds or Olympics since 2013, except when she withdrew in 2021. Their performances were not mere victories but benchmarks that forced the sport to evolve.

While they never competed in a similar timeline, and do not belong to the same continent. But both continued to be unstoppable forces, reshaping their sport in ways many still can’t imagine. As Nadia Comăneci put it, “Uchimura is the greatest of all time…not a single [flaw].” And in Biles’ case, the medals, skills, and defiant comebacks suggest she might just share that title, through a very different, equally brilliant path. Thus, their endless list of accolades doesn’t leave an ounce of doubt as to why Kameron Nelson named them as the greatest in our EssentiallySports Exclusive Interview!