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In this op-ed, associate editor Aiyana Ishmael unpacks the misogynoir surrounding Simone Biles’s Sportsperson the Year Win.
On January 2, Sports Illustrated announced Simone Biles as their 2024 Sportsperson of the Year, and it should be no surprise. It’s undeniable that Biles was the leading player in athletics last year. While the Olympic Games only occur every four years, Biles’s dominance in gymnastics is unparalleled no matter the season. But of course, the haters came out.
On social media, many people undermined Biles’s win, particularly claiming that WNBA star Caitlin Clark should’ve taken the spot. Some even tried to diminish Biles’s success, stating that they “don’t even know what she did in 2024.” That’s purposefully being obtuse: Around 5 billion people — 84% of the potential global audience — followed the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, according to the International Olympic Committee. This alone proves that all eyes were on Biles and Team USA to bring back as many medals as possible during the Paris Olympics.
And Biles did just that. In total, Biles has 11 Olympic medals, including 7 gold, . After the Games, she now holds the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Beyond the Olympics, Biles has 30 total World Championship medals, including 23 gold, which makes her the gymnast with the most World Championship medals in history. This record-breaking season all comes after her 2021 Tokyo Olympics performance, where she withdrew following a “twisties” incident. Biles decided to prioritize her mental health over competing at the highest level. Her withdrawal sparked important conversations about athlete’s mental health and the pressures of elite competition. Her performance in Tokyo and Paris not only demonstrated her extraordinary physical capabilities, but also her strength in facing your struggles head-on.
Biles is the 2024 Sportsperson of the year, and dismissing Biles’s athletic dominance feels packed with misogynoir, especially when fans bring Clark into the discourse. In the last year, since her arrival into the WNBA, many sports fans have used Caitlin Clark as their racist leverage as to why Black women athletes are less deserving of recognition. (Clark has denounced this sentiment, advocating for uplifting Black women in her sport.)
We see this clearly in how basketball fans discuss Angel Reese. Reese also entered the WNBA alongside Clark as the number seven pick, playing for the Chicago Sky. From the moment the two faced off in college, the internet pitted them against each other, making microaggressive and sometimes outright racist remarks about everything Reese does — from how she talks, dresses, and acts on the court. Most of the time, placing Clark on a pedestal brings her more vitriol too, only creating larger issues for the athletes and disturbing their camaraderie on the court. Clark herself had to speak out about racism from her fans. “People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable,” she said in a post-game interview. So, to once again see (mostly) men on the internet stating that Clark should have won the Sports Illustrated award over Biles is a telling sign that their allegiance to accurate recognition has less to do with stats and more to do with their disdain for Black women getting their flowers.
But here’s the thing: Even though the conversation around Biles is, as usual, rooted in misogynoir, the entire discourse is a win for women’s sports. The last time a singular woman won the honor was 2019, when the magazine honored Megan Rapinoe (2020 featured multiple athletes, a mix of women and men). So, for the argument this year to even be between Biles and Clark without a mention of a man at all is a win that women’s sports deserve. Yes, it’s an unfortunately low bar, but it’s what we’re working with. That’s thanks to the incredible transformation in women’s sports last year, one in which multiple breakout stars (Clark and Reese among the forefront) drew more attention and respect than ever before.
Caitlin Clark has had a rookie season of dreams, even taking home the Time Athlete of the Year award. In her first professional season, she scored 769 points, made 337 assists, and 122 3-pointers — all stats that broke many of the standing rookie records. Her powerhouse force has been a key pillar in the narrative change in sports this year and what will surely happen in all the years to follow. But, of course, she didn’t do this in a vacuum. She stands on the shoulders of athletes like Biles, Serena Williams, Wilma Rudolph, Billie Jean King, Sue Bird, Jackie Joyner-Kersee — the list goes on. Racism and misogyny are still glaring issues that these athletes face, but more and more people are beginning to realize that women’s sports are just as e
