Simone Biles knows firsthand how a gymnastics tie can separate two athletes who finish on the same score. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Biles and Suni Lee both scored 13.100 in the women’s balance beam final, yet Biles finished fifth while Lee was sixth. Two years later, with Biles still weighing a possible return for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, she has made it clear there is one part of that system she would change.

During an interview with HELLO! on September 11, Biles was asked if there was a gymnastics rule that did not make sense to her and that she would like to change. Her answer was simple: “If it’s a tie, both people get the medal.” The comment comes after Biles and Lee experienced the tie-breaking system in Paris, where Biles was placed ahead because her execution score was 7.200 compared to Lee’s 6.900.

Under Olympic rules, execution scores are considered first when gymnasts finish with the same total. If they are still tied, difficulty scores can be used to separate them. If neither score breaks the tie, the gymnasts share the same classification. And this is what is bothering Biles.

That question is not new to Olympic gymnastics. Until 1997, tied gymnasts were eligible for the same medals, and two athletes who were tied for gold could both become champions. However, following the 1996 Atlanta Games, the International Olympic Committee decided that judged sports would require tiebreakers, and gymnastics adopted one the following year.

The problems with this system were particularly evident at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Nastia Liukin and China’s He Kexin finished the uneven bars final with the same score of 16.725. Their difficulty scores were also identical at 7.700, as were their execution scores at 9.025. Yet the identical scores could not produce two champions under the tie-breaking procedure being used at the time.

After further comparisons of the judges’ deductions were made, He Kexin was awarded gold, and Liukin received silver. The Washington Post described the process as an “obscure tiebreaker.”

The system did not remain unchanged. Gymnastics revised its tie-breaking rules in 2012, once again allowing shared medals in some situations when athletes could not be separated.

But why is the question of gymnastics rules still on Biles’ mind when her own future at the Olympics remains uncertain?

Biles’ LA 2028 decision goes beyond her physical ability

As Biles continues to weigh a possible return for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, she has recently been looking to another sporting legend for advice. At the 2026 US Open, Biles revealed that she wants to reach out to Serena Williams to discuss what it is like to return to competition after stepping away. Williams’ own comeback has given Biles another athlete’s experience to consider as she decides whether she wants to take on another Olympic cycle.

The timing is notable because Biles still has not committed to LA 2028. Earlier this year, she described her chances of competing at the Games as “50-50,” making it clear that a return remains possible but is far from certain. She has also stressed that while her coaches could get her physically ready, the mental side of another Olympic campaign would be a much bigger consideration.

At the same time, Biles has continued to give fans glimpses of what she can still do inside the gym. In September, she returned to the World Champions Centre in Houston and shared videos of herself doing flips, joking that she was “playing around to see if I’ve still got it.” 

Biles is now 29; if she were to compete in the 2028 Olympics, she would be 31. But it’s not just a question of age. Paris 2024 has shown how challenging an Olympic season can be for her at her level. She had to manage the physical strain of competing across multiple events. Although she left Paris with four medals, including three golds and one silver, the Games also included a fall on beam and a difficult final stretch that showed how much the sport continues to ask of her.