Athletes: Simone Biles

Image 1. Simone Biles competes on the uneven bars at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Aug.17, 2018, in Boston,Massachusetts. AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Simone Biles is a champion gymnast. She was born March 14, 1997, in Columbus,Ohio, and was raised by her grandparents, Ron and Nellie, along with her sisterafter their mother's struggle with substance abuse.

Ron and Nellie officially adopted the two girls, and Biles calls her supportivegrandmother "Mom." About Nellie, Biles told CNN, "She encourages me andnever lets me feel down about something for too long."

Biles discovered her abilities at an early age. According to the official USAGymnastics website, the now 4-foot-8 performer visited a gymnastics center on afield trip with her day care group and caught the attention of the coach aftercopying the gymnasts. "The gym sent home a letter requesting that I jointumbling or gymnastics," Biles said. Very soon, Biles was on her way todeveloping those natural gifts.

By Biography.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.14.19 Word Count 952 Level 1140L

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Simone Biles began competing in 2007. By 2011, she had cemented her standingat the junior elite level. That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balancebeam events and finished third in the all-around at the American Classic. Shefollowed with an impressive series of showings in 2012, winning the vault and theall-around events at competitions across the country.

Biles soon emerged as a force to bereckoned with at the senior elite level,bursting into the spotlight as the all-aroundwinner at the 2013 U.S. P&GChampionships. An all-around title honors agymnast's abilities in all gymnastics events.Also that year, she delivered a historicshowing at the World Championships bybecoming the first female African-Americanathlete to win gold in the all-around. Shetold reporters that her victory likely served as an example to other younggymnasts. "I think it inspires a lot of the little girls out there to go in the gym andtrain harder," she said.

Biles continued to build on her successes in 2014, again taking the U.S. and worldtitles in the all-around competition and winning gold medals at the Secret U.S.Classic that same year. She often executed what has become her signature vaultmove, a double-flip with a half-twist. Biles gets much higher than other gymnastsin order to complete two flips.

In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third world all-around title in arow, giving her a record 10 gold medals at the international competition. Shewent back to training in 2016 and was considered one of the country's topOlympic hopefuls. She earned a spot on the 2016 Olympic team with animpressive performance in July, joining fellow gymnasts Laurie Hernandez, AlyRaisman, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian.

On Aug. 9, 2016, Biles led the U.S. women's gymnastics team to gold. She earnedan impressive 15.933 score in the vault, a 15.3 on balance beam, and 15.8 for acrowd-pleasing floor routine in which she performed "the Biles," her signaturefloor move, which is two back somersaults and a half twist. The powerhousegymnast shared the victory with Raisman, Douglas, Hernandez and Kocian, a

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team which calls themselves "The Final Five." Raisman explained that thenickname refers to the fact that it was coach Marta Karolyi's last Olympics. Itwould also be the last Olympics with a five-girl team.

The Final Five are the third American women's gymnastic team to win gold,following team victories in 1996 and 2012. After taking the team gold, Bilestweeted "dreams DO come true" and a photo of the U.S. team on the medalpodium.

Biles continued to dominate the Olympic competition, winning the women'sindividual all-around gold medal. What made Biles' victory truly historical wasthat she achieved a 2.1 margin of victory over Raisman, who won silver. The leadwas larger than any gymnast from 1980 to 2012 combined. She also became thefirst woman in two decades to win back-to-back Olympic all-around and worldtitles.

She went on to win gold again in thewomen's individual vault competition with ascore of 15.966, but faltered in theindividual balance beam event. In a rarestumble, Biles fought to maintain herbalance, scoring 14.733, which earned herthe bronze medal. "The rest of the routinewas still pretty good," Biles said, accordingto USA Today, "so I can't be too disappointedin myself."

Biles continued her Olympic run in theindividual floor exercise, taking the gold in abrilliant performance including "The Biles."With a score of 15.966, Biles earned herfourth gold medal in Rio. Biles joined onlythree other gymnasts who have won fourgold medals in a single Olympic Games.

With 19 Olympic and World Championshipmedals, Biles made history as the most decorated American gymnast ever.

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After taking much of 2017 off, Biles returned to intensive training and reclaimedher place at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she swept all four events at theU.S. Gymnastics Championships to win the competition by a whopping 6.55points, becoming the first woman to claim five national all-around titles.

At the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Biles earned her fourth worldall-around title, setting a new record for most women's World All-Around titles.She also became the first defending Olympic women's all-around champion toearn a world all-around title since 1974. Biles became the first U.S. gymnast towin a medal on every event at a single World Championships.

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Quiz

1 Which option would Simone Biles MOST LIKELY agree with?

1. It is possible to accomplish one's goals with hard work anddedication.

2. It is essential to achieve perfection in one's performances.

Which sentence from the article supports your response?

(A) Option 1; "The gym sent home a letter requesting that I join tumbling orgymnastics," Biles said.

(B) Option 2; "I think it inspires a lot of the little girls out there to go in the gym andtrain harder," she said.

(C) Option 1; After taking the team gold, Biles tweeted "dreams DO come true" anda photo of the U.S. team on the medal podium.

(D) Option 2; "The rest of the routine was still pretty good," Biles said, according toUSA Today, "so I can't be too disappointed in myself."

2 According to the article, Biles has continued to compete and set new records after making historyat the Olympics.

Which selection from the article BEST supports the idea outlined above?

(A) That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balance beam events andfinished third in the all-around at the American Classic. She followed with animpressive series of showings in 2012, winning the vault and the all-aroundevents at competitions across the country.

(B) In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third world all-around title in arow, giving her a record 10 gold medals at the international competition. Shewent back to training in 2016 and was considered one of the country's topOlympic hopefuls.

(C) Biles continued her Olympic run in the individual floor exercise, taking the goldin a brilliant performance including "The Biles." With a score of 15.966, Bilesearned her fourth gold medal in Rio. Biles joined only three other gymnasts whohave won four gold medals in a single Olympic Games.

(D) After taking much of 2017 off, Biles returned to intensive training and reclaimedher place at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she swept all four events atthe U.S. Gymnastics Championships to win the competition by a whopping 6.55points, becoming the first woman to claim five national all-around titles.

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3 A reader suggested that the author included the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] in order to conveythat gymnastics has been important to Biles for most of her life.

Is this a reasonable claim? Which selection from the article supports your response?

(A) Yes; Ron and Nellie officially adopted the two girls, and Biles calls hersupportive grandmother "Mom." About Nellie, Biles told CNN, "She encouragesme and never lets me feel down about something for too long."

(B) Yes; According to the official USA Gymnastics website, the now 4-foot-8performer visited a gymnastics center on a field trip with her day care group andcaught the attention of the coach after copying the gymnasts.

(C) No; Simone Biles began competing in 2007. By 2011, she had cemented herstanding at the junior elite level. That year, she took the top spot in the vault andbalance beam events and finished third in the all-around at the AmericanClassic.

(D) No; Biles soon emerged as a force to be reckoned with at the senior elite level,bursting into the spotlight as the all-around winner at the 2013 U.S. P&GChampionships.

4 Read the following paragraph from the section "2016 Olympic Games In Rio."

On Aug. 9, 2016, Biles led the U.S. women's gymnastics team to gold.She earned an impressive 15.933 score in the vault, a 15.3 on balancebeam, and 15.8 for a crowd-pleasing floor routine in which she performed"the Biles," her signature floor move, which is two back somersaults and ahalf twist. The powerhouse gymnast shared the victory with Raisman,Douglas, Hernandez and Kocian, a team which calls themselves "TheFinal Five." Raisman explained that the nickname refers to the fact that itwas coach Marta Karolyi's last Olympics. It would also be the lastOlympics with a five-girl team.

How does the first sentence of the paragraph contribute to the development of the central ideas?

(A) It makes a claim that is supported by several examples in the paragraph.

(B) It presents an opinion that is supported by quotes in the paragraph.

(C) It introduces an argument that is contradicted by evidence in the paragraph.

(D) It states a conclusion that the rest of the paragraph fails to support.

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