So spectacular is Simone Biles in gymnastics that you would think she was born just to entertain the world with her skills on the mat. We all know it like gospel that Simone has 7 Olympic gold medals. 3 of them came in Paris in the vault, all-around (AA), and team events. The all-around win cemented her legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts of the USA in the history of the sports. But she knows she was flirting with the line between greatness and unfulfilled dreams at the Paris Olympics, all because of one event. In case she has forgotten about that, she just got an unintended reminder from her niece.
For Simone, being an all-around champion doesn’t mean she likes all the events equally. In fact, the Olympian has her favorites and likings – and you would be surprised that she doesn’t exactly like uneven bars. However, we cannot say that for every gymnast in the Biles family. Simone’s niece, or Baby Biles as we call her, has taken a rather natural liking towards swinging from the bars. You are probably wondering how we know that. Why don’t we get to know it together?
In an Instagram story shared on March 3, Simone’s niece, Ronni Biles, was seen playing on a baby trampoline. However, instead of jumping, Ronni rather took hold of the trampoline handle and used it like a bar to swing across it. In the little clip that we saw, little Biles, who is still just 2 years old, looked super happy as she transformed the trampoline into a gymnastics equipment. At this age, she has already started flexing her bars skills, hasn’t she? It seems like it will be Ronni’s favorite event. And while Ronni means the world to Simone, every swing her niece takes on a bar will be an unsettling reminder of the Olympian’s deficiency or the lack of attention she gives to the bars event.
Winning a Gold in AA at the Paris Olympics was such an important statement for Simone. It showcased her over-encompassing dominance in gymnastics. But if you watched the all-around finals, you know how close she was to not getting the gold. In the uneven bars rotation, where she eventually finished ninth and qualified for the finals only as a reserve, she characteristically made a mistake while transitioning from the upper bar to the lower bar.
Biles’ mistake left her 0.267 behind 1st-placed Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, with the balance beam and the Floor exercise to go. The American’s superiority on the Beam and Floor eventually prevailed, and Biles became the AA queen. But still, what if she couldn’t recover on another day? Instead of fulfilling the dream, it could have been a story of unrealized hope. The gymnastics sensation was visibly distraught and annoyed with herself after the bars botch-up.
But we know who ain’t botching up her transitions – Gymnast Baby Biles. Don’t let your aunt clip your wings, Ronni. Simone will just have to live with you being just cute and fabulous, not to mention the youngest elite member of World Champions Centre (WCC), the gym owned by Simone’s parents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, where Olympians like Jordan Chiles, Simone, etc. train.
Ronni has got her aunt’s gymnast genes no doubt, being touted as a natural by her mother, Simone’s sister-in-law. While the 27-year-old Olympian has been crushing it across the globe, little Ronni has been mimicking her aunt back home, sporting matching mini-leotards with Simone’s. Not only does she look cute, but she also looks the part of an elite gymnast.
And as far as uneven bars event is concerned, if Baby Biles needs expert advice, she can always go to her aunt’s Olympian teammate. A medal winner is always a safe bet, won’t you agree?
