Minneapolis, Minnesota — Simone Biles is returning to the Olympics, and so are her friends.
The gymnastics superstar made her third appearance on the sport's biggest stage with an easy victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday night, earning the lone automatic berth on the five-member women's team with a two-day combined score of 117.225 points.
Three years on from the Tokyo Olympics, where Biles withdrew from multiple finals to prioritize her safety and in the process became a testament to the importance of mental health, the 27-year-old returns to the Games feeling healthier than ever.
“I knew I could come back because I trusted the process and I trusted (my coaching staff),” Biles said.
Biles isn't going alone.
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic floor exercise gold medalist Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera were named to the five-person girls' team late Sunday night. Jocelyn Roberson and Lianne Wong will be alternates.
Biles has been a sure thing for France since returning from a two-year hiatus last summer, and her accomplishments over the past 12 months have included a sixth world all-around title and eighth and ninth national titles (both new records), further cementing her status as the sport's greatest ever athlete.
Biles will be a favorite to follow up her Olympic gold medal win in 2016, but she has a lot of improvement to make before the women's qualifying round on July 28.
She stepped back after landing a Yurchenko double pike vault, a testament both to the difficulty of the vault and the immense power she generated during a move that few male gymnasts attempt and even fewer can land cleanly.
Biles fell off the balance beam after mis-landing a side aerial, but she wasn't as frustrated as she was after a sloppy performance on Friday that left her yelling expletives in front of the whole world.
Biles finished with a splendid performance on floor exercise, her specialty event, where she was slightly off-balance but showed off the kind of unparalleled, world-class tumbling that was recently praised by pop star Taylor Swift, who opened her routine to the song “Ready For It.”
She stepped off the podium to a standing ovation and sat on the steps, savoring what may have been her final competitive round on American soil for some time.
Next up in Paris, the U.S. will be looking to return to the top of the podium after finishing second to Russia three years ago.
But the Biles who will step onto the court at the Bercy Arena in four weeks' time will not be the same Biles who left Tokyo.
She has taken intentional steps to ensure her life is no longer defined by gymnastics: Biles is set to marry Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023, and the couple is building a home in the northern suburbs of Houston, where they hope to move soon after Biles returns from Paris.
Biles heads to France presumably as the face of the U.S. Olympic movement, but she is well aware that among the millions watching on television next month, some will be tuning in to see whether the demons that frustrated her in Tokyo resurface.
Though she still has moments of uncertainty, including at last year's world championships, she takes safety measures to protect herself: She meets with a therapist every week during competitive season, something she didn't do while preparing for the 2020 Olympics.
Biles and the four other skaters joining her in France will be considered overwhelming favourites with defending Olympic champion Russia unable to compete because of the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. will send its oldest women's team ever to the tournament, thanks to Biles' unmatched longevity (she hasn't lost a tournament since 2013) and a relaxation of name, image and likeness rules at the NCAA level that allows Carey, 24, Chiles, 23 and Lee, 21, to continue competing while simultaneously enjoying newfound fame.
They relied on that experience to bounce back from a sometimes-disastrous tournament that saw top contenders Serie Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello all withdraw from the competition after being sidelined by a leg injury just weeks before the opening ceremony.
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