Simone Biles took to X (formerly Twitter) with a request for people to stop asking athletes a specific question during their moment of victory.
In a post shared with her 1.9 million followers, Biles, 27, wrote: “You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics,” She then followed up the initial post with an addendum, adding context to her request. “Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for,” she said.
So far at the Paris Summer Olympics, the Team USA gymnast has won three gold medals, adding to her tally of now 10 medals—seven golds, two bronze, and one silver. With the Paris Games not yet complete, Biles has already begun fielding questions about her future.
At a press conference on Saturday, Biles was asked if this was “the last time we’re going to see [her] vault in competition.” In response, she said that it will be her last Yurchenko double pike—the vault that won her gold—but as for the competition in general: “Never say never.”
“The next Olympics is at home [L.A.], so you just never know. But, I am getting really old,” Biles said, laughing.
Biles’ social media plea comes just days after gold-medal winning U.S. swimmer Simone Manuel asked for a change in coverage—arguing on X that it’s insensitive to have interviews and photography of athletes after disappointing performances.
“I can attest to the fact that the moment is already traumatic and the capture of it is even more grueling,” Manuel wrote. “I hope we can give athletes more grace because they’re human first!”
The post on Aug. 2 is reiterating something she said during the Tokyo Olympics, saying to “trust [her]” that the athletes gave their all.
Throughout the excitement and fanfare of the Olympics this year, it has not been without its heartbreak for athletes.
On Aug. 2, after Caeleb Dressel missed the podium in the 50-m freestyle and finished fifth in his 100-m butterfly semi-final heat—failing to qualify for the final— the cameras were quick to capture his disappointment. Elsewhere, after gold-medal favorite Sha’Carri Richardson was disqualified, she declined to speak to the press about the disappointment, perhaps in an effort to protect herself from prying eyes.
Biles has long been an advocate for protecting the mental health of athletes—especially after her withdrawal from the Tokyo Games after she had the “twisties.” When Team USA Gymnastics announced Biles’ withdrawal, the organization said: “Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being.”
Since then, Biles has been a symbol for many on how mental health and athletic performance and do not need to be mutually exclusive.
