Why does Simone Biles wear a goat on her gymnastics uniform?
SIMONE Biles is considered one of the greatest female athletes of her generation.
During the US Classic on May 22, Biles became the first female in history to perfectly nail the Yurchenko double pike vault.
Why does Simone Biles wear a goat on her gymnastics uniform?
The five-time Olympic medalist wears a gymnastics uniform decorated with a goat design on her leotard.
The silver rhinestones in the shape of a goat head, reference to the athlete being dubbed by many as “the G.O.A.T.,” aka “the greatest of all time.”
Biles recently spoke to Marie Clare about how the G.O.A.T. design came to life.
“The idea was to hit back at the haters,” she told the outlet.
“[The haters] were joking like, ‘I swear, if she put a goat on her leo, blah, blah, blah.’ That would make them so angry. And then I was like, ‘Oh, that’s actually a good idea.’ And so that’s exactly what we did and why we did it.”
Biles first sported the goat design in 2019 during the US Gymnastics Championship in Kansas City.
The 24-year-old star athlete has named her goat design “Goldie”.
Does Biles considered herself to be ‘the greatest of all time’?
Biles told PEOPLE that the entire concept of “goldie” has been a “running joke.”
“I don’t think of myself as the G.O.A.T. and that’s not why I wear the goat on my leo.
“It was kind of a joke in the beginning. I wore one in 2019 and it was just funny because the haters were so upset,” she said to the outlet.
“What we did is to kind of tick them off even more. So I was happy because it’s like good, now you guys are annoyed because you’re annoying me.”
Biles said she ultimately hopes to inspire aspiring young athletes to embrace their talents with no regrets.
“I just hope that kids growing up watching this don’t or aren’t ashamed of being good at whatever they do. And that’s my problem: when people kind of harp on other people that are good at something,” she told Marie Clare.
“And it’s like, everybody can say you’re good, but once you acknowledge it, it’s not cool anymore. And I want kids to learn that, yes, it’s okay to acknowledge that you’re good or even great at something.”
When does the seven-part series, Simone vs. Herself, premiere?
The five-time Olympic medalist is documenting her journey toward the Tokyo Olympics in her new Facebook Watch docuseries Simone vs. Herself.
The seven-part series, which debuted on June 15, follows Biles as she prepares both physically and mentally for the Olympic Games.
The Tokyo Games will open July 23, with gymnastics at the games beginning July 24.
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Biles will take viewers through her gymnastics career and the inevitable outside factors that played a role in getting her to this point, beginning back at the age of six.
“At six years old, I didn’t know what they saw in me,” Biles said in the official trailer.
“I just felt like a normal kid. I didn’t see anything special.”