Empowering Sporting Journeys, Inspiring Sporting Triumphs

At 27, Biles is the oldest U.S. women’s gymnast to compete in the Olympics in over 70 years.

Simone Biles says time has granted her wisdom about her old jokes regarding her former team captain, Aly Raisman.

During a June 30 press conference, Biles reflected on how her age has impacted her mindset as a competitive athlete. According to Gymnastics Now, the four-time Olympic gold medalist included her current perspective on Raisman’s age at the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics in 2016. Biles explained that Raisman’s age led to her being called “grandma” by team members, herself included.

“So now, I definitely have to apologize to Aly for calling her grandma because, whew, I feel like I’m way older now than me calling her grandma when we were younger,” she quipped while speaking to the press.

Biles was 19 when she competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now, at 27, Biles is five years older than Raisman— then 22— when they took on Rio.

According to NBC News, Biles will now be the oldest female U.S. gymnast to compete in gymnastics at the Olympics in 72 years.

“And you know, it’s, what, 11 (p.m.)? So, it’s definitely past my bedtime,” Biles continued at the press conference. “So I know Aly would be cracking up right now.”

“But yeah, it is crazy. I’m a lot older. I’m more mature. What was the rest of the question? See, I’m forgetting,” she joked, before touching on her recovery these days.

“I definitely have to take care of recovery mentally, physically,” she continued. “After classics, I swore I couldn’t walk. I was like hobbling to the plane, so that was exciting. After championships, I felt a little bit better and after day one of trials, I was actually surprised I could walk. So I was like, ‘Woo, I’m actually not as sore, I’m not hurting.’”

PARIS OLYMPICSTODAY surprises ‘team mom’ Hoda Kotb with US Olympic gymnast
“So (age) takes a big part,” she added. “So recovery, I just have to take a little bit more serious. Back in Rio, I could do anything. I’d never needed tape, nothing. I was just like a little hamster on a wheel, always running.”

On Instagram, Raisman responded to Biles’ comments with a repost of the interview and a caption featuring crying with laughter emoji.

She also shared the post in her Instagram story, showing her support for Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics with photos from the U.S. women’s Olympic trials, which began on June 26. In her posts, Raisman celebrated the gymnastics team’s five qualifiers: Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera, who will head to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

During a July 1 interview on TODAY, Hoda Kotb asked Biles how it feels at 27 as she heads to the Olympics.

“I definitely feel 27 after meets like this,” Biles said, referring to the the U.S. Olympic team trials that took place on June 30. “Whenever I wake up in the morning and I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, I’m hurting.’ It’s not the same as whenever I was younger. So, yeah, Aly wasn’t a grandma — I’m a grandma.”

Biles continued on to say that she wears the grandma title proudly at the gym but that when she steps outside, she knows she’s still “young, hip and fresh.”