U.S. Olympic gymnastics team set for quest for gold in Paris

They all had a reason to come back. Every single one of them.

Simone Biles to move past those wrenching two weeks in Japan three years ago, when the gymnastics superstar prioritized her mental health and safety over glory, a decision that inspired some and maddened others.

Suni Lee to prove — perhaps to herself most of all — that the all-around gold medal she earned while Biles watched from the stands wasn’t a fluke.

Jordan Chiles to turn the team silver she helped secure at the 2020 Games into gold.

Jade Carey to be an official member of the five-woman Olympic squad after earning her way to Tokyo as an individual qualifier, a pathway not available to the U.S. this time around and frankly, one she had no interest in exploring again anyway.

They’re all stepping back into the unique spotlight — oh, and 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera, too — only the sport’s biggest stage can provide.

Biles at 27 is the oldest American woman to make an Olympic gymnastics team since the 1950s. She never expected to still be doing this nearly a decade after becoming a crossover sensation at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

A trip to France has never really been in doubt since Biles returned from a two-year break last summer. All she’s done over the last 12 months is win a sixth world all-around title and capture her eighth and ninth national championships — both records — while doing the hardest gymnastics of her life.

She will be a prohibitive favorite when she steps onto the Bercy Arena floor though there is plenty to work on before women’s qualifying on July 28. 

She married Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023 and the two are building a house in the northern Houston suburbs they hope to move into shortly after Biles returns from Paris.

Biles heads to France as perhaps the face of the U.S. Olympic movement, though she’s well aware that more than a few of the millions that will tune in to watch next month will be checking to see if the demons that derailed her in Tokyo resurface.

And while there are still moments of anxiety — including at last year’s world championships — she has put safeguards in place to protect herself. She meets with a therapist weekly, even during competition season, something she didn’t do in preparation for the 2020 Games.




(AP Photo Charlie Reidel)