She’s the most decorated gymnast of all time, a change agent and yes, she has a powerful reason to return at this year’s Tokyo Games set to hold this summer.
Biles, 24, ever committed to making an impact will be dedicating her performance this year at the upcoming Olympics to sexual abuse survivors.
The four time Olympic gold medalist speaking with NBC Today host Hoda Kotb, said:
“I just feel like everything that happened, I had to come back to the sport to be a voice, to have change happen,” Biles told Hoda Kotb in an interview that aired on TODAY Wednesday. “Because I feel like if there weren’t a remaining survivor in the sport, they would’ve just brushed it to the side.
“But since I’m still here, and I have quite a social media presence and platform, they have to do something. So I feel like coming back, gymnastics just wasn’t the only purpose I was supposed to do.”
This comes on the wake of the sexual abuse scandal involving former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. Biles is one of many gymnasts to come forward with sexual abuse allegations against USA team gymnastic director Larry Nassar — other women including her former Team USA teammates, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas, all retired, spoke out. Nassar was later charged with child pornography and sexual misconduct and is currently serving a 175-year sentence.
Biles describes it as a really dark time in her life.
Biles said although she has yearned to come back after the games was postponed due to the pandemic, she realised her reason was far more:
“I don’t think I knew it, either, but I feel like gymnastics wasn’t the only thing I was supposed to come back for,” she said.
