Simone Biles and the Future of US Gymnastics: A Balancing Act Between Legacy and New Beginnings

The question that Simone Biles most frequently criticizes, namely regarding her future and particularly the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, mirrors the conundrum USA Gymnastics will face over the next four years. This week in Paris, the US team dubbed themselves "The Golden Girls," coming together in unparalleled brilliance. Had the qualifications gone as planned, the repeat tour from Tokyo might not have come together in the same impressive form. If there were betting odds for gymnastics, other gymnasts like Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, Leanne Wong, and Kayla DiCello would have been the favorites over Jade Carey, Suni Lee, and Jordan Chiles. Yet, what now? The dominance of these athletes simultaneously raises new questions for the future. In the real world, Biles (27), Carey (24), Chiles (23), and Lee (21) are just beginning their careers. For gymnastics, however, they might already be considered veterans. They have fundamentally changed the conversation about their sport: ending a career at the close of teenage years is no longer necessarily the norm. Jones, for example, might have once thought her Olympic dream was shattered with her ACL injury in the qualification rounds. But now, at 22, she has a role model path if she announces her return. "If you train intelligently, you don't necessarily have to peak at 16," said technical director Chellsie Memmel before correcting herself: "These women are constantly learning and perfecting new, more difficult techniques than they did at 16. The old thinking should no longer apply." Their age was a secret advantage in Paris, providing them with a perspective only gained through life experience. Biles' personal journey back to gymnastics empowered her to stand up for herself. Lee's determination to continue despite a kidney disease showed what she might otherwise have missed. Carey and Chiles both found extraordinary grace at an Olympic tournament, with Carey refocusing after a disastrous floor routine to eventually win medals in vault, and Chiles overcoming her personal disappointment of not making the all-around final to secure both team gold and floor bronze. As Biles noted, it is almost unfair to talk about Los Angeles before the shine from Paris has faded. Yet the four-year cycle marches on unrelentingly. And in this very specific cycle, nothing less than the future of gymnastics is at stake. For eleven years, there has been one constant: Biles. She and Katie Ledecky might be the most secure figures in sport. Biles has not lost an all-around competition since 2013. As the USA built their world and Olympic teams, they essentially started with Biles as the core. At 27, Biles is already the oldest all-around Olympic champion in over 70 years. That she can still perform at this level makes many things seem possible, but is it sensible? A quick look at the future shows that her coaching team, Cecile and Laurent Landi, will move to the USA post-Paris. The team has supported and fostered Biles after the strict approach of the Karolyis. She has no obvious successor because she has no equal competition, making the search for the "next Biles" futile. There are many very good gymnasts. Hezly Rivera already has an Olympic medal at 16. Nineteen-year-old Blakely has already participated in two World Championships. Joscelyn Roberson, an Olympic alternate and Biles' training partner, is only 18, and Leanne Wong, also an alternate, is 20. But none of them are Biles. After the floor ceremony in Paris, Biles bid farewell to the audience, waving and blowing kisses as she and Chiles walked out of the arena. A staff member briefly stopped the pair for instructions. Biles climbed a few steps and finally left the arena. She was done. But is she really at the end? It is up to her to answer and up to USA Gymnastics to solve this riddle.