Simone Biles named Time’s Athlete of the Year
TOKYO, JAPAN – AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States poses with the bronze medal following the Women’s Balance Beam Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
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(NewsNation Now) — Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles was named Time magazine’s 2021 Athlete of the Year on Thursday.
The 24-year-old gymnast traveled to the Tokyo Games this year with the intent of rewriting the record books but instead brought about a groundbreaking, global conversation around athletes’ mental well-being.
She dropped out of the opening event in Tokyo, citing concerns for her mental health and a case of the “twisties,” a frightening and dangerous form of mental disorientation while completing one of her gravity-defying feats.
She later returned to the competition, winning a bronze medal on the balance beam after earning the support of her fellow athletes in gymnastics and beyond.
“It showed us that we are more than the sport, that we are human beings who also can have days that are hard,” her teammate, Sunisa Lee, told Time magazine. “It really humanized us.”
People magazine had recently named Simone Biles along with actor Sandra Oh, country icon Dolly Parton and the nation’s teachers as its “2021 People of the Year.”
Also Thursday, Time revealed that Olivia Rodrigo is its 2021 Entertainer of the Year.
Time magazine will name its Person of the Year on Monday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
