The G.O.A.T. of gymnastics Simone Biles has been named the 2021 Athlete of the Year by Time Magazine. Biles is celebrated for spiking a global conversation about mental health.
“In the middle of the Olympics for which she had trained for five years, and which was supposed to be the triumphant capstone on a historic career, Biles slipped on her warm-up suit, packed her competition bag and told her teammates she wouldn’t be competing with them, but rather cheering them on in the team event,” TIME’s Alice Park and Sean Gregory wrote. “Her mind and body weren’t in sync, she said, which put her at serious risk. She also withdrew from her next four events, returning only to participate in the final one. At an Olympics in which five gold medals for Biles seemed preordained, she won a team silver and a balance-beam bronze.”
Biles spoke to being the only survivor of the Nassar sexual abuse scandal still competing, and pushing for USAG and USOPC to be held responsible is part of what’s driven her over the past few years.
“I definitely do think it had an effect,” Biles said. “It’s a lot to put on one person. I feel like the guilt should be on them and should not be held over us. They should be feeling this [pain], not me.”
You can see her cover below.
