It was hard not to gasp, watching Simone Biles perform at the Rio Olympic Games in August 2016, where she picked up five medals, wowed us with her gravity-defying signature move, The Biles (a double layout with half twist), and was hailed the greatest gymnast of all time. Just as winning was her effervescent personality and killer-watt smile, which belied her at-times troubled family history (aged two, Biles had been taken from her mother, then struggling with drugs and alcohol, and put into foster care; later she was adopted by her maternal grandfather). Still, there was one defining statement, made in an interview after she won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-round, that will have the more far-reaching impact on teenage girls and the way other women athletes are judged in the future. “I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I’m the first Simone Biles,” she declared, claiming her due as an athlete without peer, and negating the sexist commentary that had prevailed during the Games and reduced women athletes – including her record-breaking compatriot, swimmer Katie Ledecky – to second-rate versions of their male counterparts. The US Olympian sent this empowering letter to teenage girls around the world via the pages of PORTER.
Dear teenage girls everywhere, If I could tell my younger teenage self just one thing, it would be this: “Don’t ever change who you are.” And that’s the advice I would give to you. Always be yourself instead of trying to fit the mold of what everyone wants you to be. I know that takes confidence. I was lucky; growing up, my parents always drilled into me that I could do anything. But I understand how hard it can be to sustain, because there have been times when I doubted myself, too. Don’t worry – it’s OK to get a bit confused when you’re working out what you’re meant to do. Just learn about yourself. Have faith in yourself. You’ll find that once you set your confidence levels high, you really can do anything. Having good friends and family around you who tell it like it is will help, too. Once you work out what you want, getting it won’t always be easy – I know that from experience. You’ll have to make sacrifices. For me, deciding to be home-schooled instead of going to high school was really hard, especially when my friends were going off to school dances and having fun together. But it was worth it because winning gold with my team at the Olympics was the best thing that’s ever happened to me – even better than meeting Zac Efron! Make sure you find things that you love to do in life and do them no matter what anyone says. And remember, if there’s something about you that makes you different from those around you, own it. I used to feel awkward and shy about my muscular body because none of the girls at school had a figure like mine. I found that hard to accept, so I’d always wear jackets to hide my muscles. But now I love it. I figure I was born with this body for a reason, so I’m going to use it.
Simone Biles