Olympic Champs Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas And Suni Lee To Face Off For First Time This Weekend—Here’s Why That’s A Big Deal

Topline

The last three victors of the coveted Olympic all-around gold medal in women’s gymnastics—Suni Lee, Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas—will compete against one another for the first time Saturday at an important competition on the road to the Paris Olympics, an unprecedented feat for a sport where elite careers tend to last just a few years.

Key Facts

Will Biles, Lee And Douglas Make The Olympics?

The Olympic Trials will take place between June 27 and June 30 in Minneapolis, where competitors will vie for spots on the five-person Olympic team. Biles hasn’t competed in 2024 yet, but she’s coming off a dominant 2023 season which concluded with the World Championships in October, where she won four gold medals (team, all around, balance beam and floor exercise) and one silver medal on vault. Lee and Douglas have had a rougher start to the year: They both competed at the American Classic in April, where Douglas placed 11th in the all around after falling twice on the uneven bars. Lee only competed vault and beam, but posted the highest beam score of the day. Lee also competed at the Winter Cup in February, where she fell on both balance beam and uneven bars—the latter on an original move she hopes to have named after her if she performs it at the Olympics.

Tangent

Though Biles and Lee have continued to compete since their respective Olympics—Biles added a significant haul to her world championship medals, which are held in non-Olympic years, and Lee competed in college for Auburn University—Douglas shocked fans by announcing a return to gymnastics seven years after her last competition, the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She told fans on Instagram in July 2023 she would resume training with the goal of making the Paris Olympics. “for many years, i’ve had an ache in my heart, but i didn’t want to keep carrying anger, pain, sadness, or regret and through my tears and hurt, i’ve found peace. i wanted to find the joy again for the sport that i absolutely love doing,” Douglas wrote. Fans speculated Douglas was referring to intense scrutiny she faced in Rio, where she was criticized for not putting her hand over her heart while the national anthem played and for her allegedly muted reactions in the stands while her teammates competed.

Key Background

Douglas won her all-around gold at the 2012 London Olympics, besting Russian competitor Viktoria Komova in a close match. Biles easily bested the entire field at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, placing ahead of silver medal finisher and teammate Aly Raisman by 2.1 points—the largest margin of victory ever recorded, and larger than the margins of victory from 1980 to 2012 combined. Biles was again expected to dominate in Tokyo, but after pulling out from most of the competition because she dealt with the “twisties,” a dangerous mental block, Lee took home the gold following a tight competition with Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, winning by less than two-tenths of a point.

Big Number

34. That’s how many medals Biles has across the Olympic Games and World Championships, a haul she’s added to almost yearly since her 2013 Worlds debut, easily making her the most decorated gymnast of all time (male or female).

Further Reading

Last three Olympic champions lead legendary list of registrants for 2024 Core Hydration Classic (USA Gymnastics)

Olympic champion Gabby Douglas announces her return to gymnastics: ‘Let’s do this’ (NBC News)

Olympic women’s gymnastics once was mostly for teens. That’s changing. (Washington Post)

Simone Biles thought ‘the world is going to hate me’ after experiencing the twisties at the Tokyo Olympics (CNN)