It’s March 14 and yes, Simone Biles is turning 29. Even she can’t believe it. “I’ll be 29 tomorrow. I swear I was just 19,” Biles put up on her Instagram story. And honestly, we feel the same.

From a little girl in Texas with big dreams to a global superstar, she has inspired millions over her decade-long career. To mark this journey that’s outgrown normal benchmarks, here are 29 wild facts about the woman who continues to defy gravity.

1. Simone Biles’ early life changed forever through adoption

At the age of 6, Simone Biles and her sister were adopted out of foster care by their maternal grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles. Biles’ shared that her biological mother Shanon Biles struggled with alcohol and d–gs and could not take care of the two girls. Instead, the girls found a loving home in Texas with their grandparents.

2. Biles’ unexpected introduction to gymnastics

Simone Biles was first introduced to gymnastics at a daycare field trip to “Gymnastix,” a studio in Houston, Texas. While other children were rolling and whirling, young Simone began to follow them. The speed at which she picked it up impressed coaches, and one of them asked, “Have you ever done it?” A few weeks later, the gym mailed a letter home to her family urging them to make her take up gymnastics.

3. Simone Biles faced age restrictions at the Olympics

The Olympics timeline has been cruel to Simone Biles. She turned 15 in 2012, making her ineligible to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics due to age restrictions. To qualify as a gymnast, you have to be at least 16 years old during the Olympics, unlike an earlier era as up until 1981, gymnasts could be as young as 14.

4. Biles was the shortest Olympian in Rio

At the 2016 Rio Games which was her first Olympics, Simone Biles attained a unique record. She was the shortest member of the U.S women’s gymnastics team and the shortest Olympian at Rio, at 4  feet 8 inches tall. But she ended up dominating by winning five medals.

5. Biles was a double World Champ at 16

At 16, Biles made senior international debut on the world stage at the World Gymnastics Championships in Belgium. There she won the all-around title, becoming the first African American woman to do so. She also won another gold in floor exercise, a silver on the vault and a bronze on balance beam.

6. Biles’ sister shares her love for gymnastics

Often called Simone Biles’ lookalike, her younger sister Adria Biles also took up gymnastics and trained alongside Simone for many years. She started gymnastics at about 9 and got to Level 9 just below the status of elite in the U.S. before leaving the sport in 2016, the same year Simone first entered the Olympics.

7. Simone Biles’ first-of-its-kind record

Simone Biles became the first woman to win three consecutive World all around titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015, a streak no other female gymnast had done before.

8. Biles’ loyalty to her coach was unmatched

Simone Biles trained with Aimee Boorman from a very young age. In fact, she had the same coach since she was 8 to when she was roughly 19. They worked together for around 11 years before parting ways after the 2016 Games when Boorman took a position in Florida.

9. First woman to land a Yurchenko double pike

Simone made history at the 2021 U.S Classic when she became the first female gymnast to land the Yurchenko double pike vault during competition. Later this vault was officially named the Biles II in recognition of her achievement. A notoriously tricky move, its the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics with a 6.4 difficulty score.

10. Simone Biles was homeschooled

Simone switched from traditional school to homeschooling around age 14 so she could give more time to rigorous gymnastics training while keeping up with her studies.

11. She has received USA’s highest civilian honor

In 2022, Simone Biles received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Joe Biden awarded it to her at a White House ceremony recognizing her not just as an outstanding athlete but also as a advocate for mental health and safety. And at 25 she became the youngest person ever to receive this honor.

12. Her favorite treat meal

Simone has shared in interviews that pepperoni pizza is her go to treat after meets. Her rule: “It doesn’t even matter if I don’t win a self-gold, after every meet I have pizza. Pepperoni pizza.”

13. Biles has spoken about having ADHD

Biles turned her ADHD into her superpower. She was diagnosed with it as a child, when she faced challenges in school and in her early gymnastics training. But with her support system, her family and coaches, she chose to shift her perspective. She responded publicly on social media, saying she has ADHD and has taken medicine for it since she was a kid and that there’s nothing to be ashamed of in being open about it.

14. Gymnastics skills are named after her

In gymnastics, a skill gets named after an athlete when they are the first to successfully land it at a major international competition. Simone Biles has several such moves across different events. On floor exercise, she has the Biles and the Biles II. On the balance beam, there is the Biles, a double‑twisting double backflip dismount. On vault, she has the Biles, a Yurchenko with a half turn into two twists, and the Biles II, the Yurchenko double pike.

15. The legend’s own line of leotards

Simone Biles does have her own line of leotards that she herself assisted in designing alongside a major gymnastics equipment company GK Elite. In 2015 she entered into a partnership where the company would sell a collection of leotards bearing her name, and subsequently collaborated directly with GK Elite on a line of signature, customizable collection based on her preferences and ideas.

16. Simone Biles has published her autobiography

“Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance” is the official autobiography of Simone Biles, which was published soon after her record-breaking performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. It was also co-authored with journalist Michelle Burford and was a New York Times bestseller on the Young Adult list in early 2017.

17. She hasn’t watched many classic movies

When Simone Biles made a casual TikTok video in late October 2025, she surprised fans by saying that she didn’t watch many movies while growing up. The Olympic champion revealed that she had never seen several classic films that many people assume everyone has watched, including “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Notebook,” “The Sandlot,” and “Forrest Gump.”

18. She never did laundry until she moved out

While sharing some fun facts, Biles revealed, “This one is going to piss a lot of people off…” She went on to say that she never did her own laundry until she moved out and didn’t know how to use a dishwasher either. “I had a house cleaner my whole life. Sue me!”

19. Nursing was her first career choice

Before gymnastics took over her life, Simone Biles wanted to be a nurse or study pediatrics inspired in part by her family. Her mother, Nellie Biles worked in nursing and even co‑owned multiple nursing homes in Texas. Simone once said, what she might have done if gymnastics hadn’t worked out “A NICU nurse, because I love babies. I’ve wanted to be a nurse all my life.”

20. She’s only had two relationships

Before she met her husband, Jonathan Owens, Simone was in one other serious relationship. After that breakup and during the early months of the COVID 19 pandemic, Simone met Jonathan Owens through the dating app Raya in March 2020. Her husband he is second relationship ever.

21. Biles has had plastic surgery procedures

She has undergone three surgeries, including breast augmentation, lower blepharoplasty, and earlobe repair.

22. She taught herself to do backflips long before gymnastics

Even prior to joining a gym, Simone Biles had a natural talent to flip. When she was a little girl in Texas, she used to learn to do backflips on the mailbox of her family and on the swings in the backyard and land onto the grass just for fun.

23. Biles’ podium freak incident was because of a bee

Simone Biles had an unwanted guest at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Nanjing, China, in the medal ceremony upon winning the all-around championship. A bee flew out of the flower bouquet she was holding and Simone reacted just like many of us would: she jumped off the podium, threw down the flowers and hurried away to avoid it.

24. She’s an all‑around sports fan

Simone Biles has been seen cheering up her husband, NFL safety, Jonathan Owens, when he plays his games. Owens started his career in the 2018 season as an undrafted free agent and has played on the Houston Texans, Green Bay packers and subsequently with the Chicago Bears. Her support shows that beyond gymnastics and the NFL. She even enjoys following basketball.

25. She’s the G.O.A.T.

Simone Biles has sported a bedazzled goat design on her leotards. The idea came from critics joking about her putting a goat on her uniform, so she and her design team went with it. She has even pulled off a goat necklace at the 2024 Paris Olympics

26. Simone Biles has her own custom Twitter emoji

Simone became the first female athlete and first Olympian to get her own Twitter emoji, a goat wearing a leotard and a gold medal that appears when people use hashtags like #SimoneBiles or #Simone on Twitter. The goat refers to her nickname “G.O.A.T.”, a label she leaned into with goat designs on her leotards and that her fans helped name Goldie.

27. She took the viral handstand challenge

When actor Tom Holland’s viral handstand challenge was trending in April 2020, Simone didn’t just do a handstand; she removed her sweatpants using only her feet while holding a perfect handstand.

28. Simone Biles competed despite a painful kidney stone

During the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Simone Biles was hospitalized the night before the competition at the emergency department because of stomach pain that was later diagnosed as a kidney stone. The following morning, she left the hospital early because she knew the U.S team was waiting on her.

Despite still dealing with the stone which she later nicknamed the “Doha Pearl,” she qualified in first place in all‑around, vault, beam and floor, and second on uneven bars and then went on to post the highest individual scores on vault, beam, and floor in the team final helping the U.S. win gold.

29. Jonathan Owens, didn’t know who she was when they started dating

Simone Biles met NFL safety Jonathan Owens on the dating app Raya in August 2020. In interviews, Owens admitted that when they first matched, he didn’t recognize her or know who she was as a world famous gymnast. He told hosts and interviewers that “never really watched gymnastics before I first started talking to her.”

The list of Biles’ fun facts could go on and on. However, these were the top 29!

Happy birthday Simone Biles.