Simone Biles enjoyed a triumphant return to the Olympic stage in Paris with three gold medals
But even in an era defined by her almost inconceivable success, Biles could be cursing her luck that she didn’t add to her glory this summer.
Biles is already the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history – claiming three golds and a silver in Paris to take her career total to 11 medals – seven of those gold.
However new footage has emerged from a camera crew following Biles for a new Netflix series called “Simone Biles Rising” which points to the possibility of a fourth gold for the 27-year-old – save for a mix-up in the appeal process.
Biles eventually won silver in the women’s floor event, falling just short of Brazilian gold medalist Rebeca Andrade’s winning score.
But the newly released video shows Biles asking her Team USA coaches if an inquiry on her behalf had been submitted to the panel of judges present.
Cecile Landi – one of the coaches – initially responds by saying “he said he did,” in reference to her husband and co-coach Laurent submitting the inquiry.
Yet moments later, the video shows Landi continuing to say “they didn’t send it,” thereby ending Biles’ hopes of a last-gasp helping hand.
Biles – widely considered the greatest female gymnast of all time – responded to the video with grace, writing on her private Twitter/X account.
upsetting how it wasn’t processed but I’m not mad at the results.
“BUT JUSTICE FOR JORDAN ya hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The video centres around Biles’ teammate Chiles who initially came 5th in the floor event before a successful inquiry from Team USA saw her upgraded to bronze.
However, Chiles was later stripped of her medal by CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) with the inquiry deemed to have been submitted too late.
Athletes have up to one minute to submit an official inquiry following their scoring and while the video appears to show Team USA coach Landi enquire on Chiles’ behalf before the minute mark.
The judges’ apparent trouble hearing the request cost them valuable seconds and the inquiry was ruled to have come in tardy.
Chiles was forced to mail her bronze medal back to the authorities in charge of the competition where it was then re-allocated to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
Chiles’ attorneys submitted a formal appeal against CAS’ ruling on Monday, and however the saga plays out, it’s evident just how much bigger the night could have been for not just Chiles, but her legendary teammate Biles as well.
Biles meanwhile has returned to the US and spent much of the last few weeks cheering on husband Jonathan Owens who has starred for the Chicago Bears in the early weeks of the NFL season.
Having been supported by her husband in Paris, where he was allowed to travel having been given time off by his team, Biles watched on in Week 1 as Owens scored a defensive touchdown.
His scoop and score helped the Bears to an unlikely 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans
