"I admire Simone Biles' human qualities more than her gymnastics" - Zoe Miller opens up on training with the gymnastics great
Legendary gymnast Simone Biles was recently adored by her fellow teammate Zoe Miller for her exceptional character.
Biles and Miller train together at the World Champions Centre, a training facility for elite athletes established by Biles' parents in Spring, Texas, in March 2014. Miller, 18, represented the United States at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
She clinched two gold medals in Santiago, including team and uneven bars events. Biles and Miller have developed a strong bond after training together for several years. Miller moved to Texas to train at the World Champions Centre as a nine-year-old in 2015 when Biles was 17.
Speaking highly of Biles' gymnastics prowess, Miller praised the seven-time Olympic medalist for her outstanding personality.
"I think I admire her human qualities more than her gymnastics," Miller said during an interview with ChinaDaily.com.
"Just because I know her on a way deeper level than most people do. She's very humble and she's very caring and is always looking out for me," the 18-year-old added.
Biles has locked her eyes on competing at the upcoming Olympics in Paris after withdrawing from the Tokyo Games. Biles stepped down from competing in the finals in Japan after experiencing twisties, a phenomenon where the gymnast loses their ability to sync the body with the mind while maneuvering an element.
"I can actually still do four out of the five" - Simone Biles on the gymnastics moves named after her.
Simone Biles’ career so far has been filled with remarkable achievements. She has secured seven Olympic medals across two editions. Her success record also comprises 30 World Championship medals, including 23 gold, four silver, and three bronze medals.
The 26-year-old has five gymnastics elements named after her, including one move on the balance beam, two on the floor exercise, and two on the vault. At the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics held in Belgium, Antwerp, her first international competition after a two-year hiatus, Biles flawlessly executed the Yurchenko double pike, i.e. Biles II, becoming the only female gymnast to have achieved it.
During a conversation on Peacock with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson, Simone Biles confessed that she could still perform four out of the five elements named after her.
"I can actually still do four out of the five," Biles said (at 0:40). "I don't really have a favorite. I guess there's scary to most scary. The scariest I think is my Biles II on the vault which I competed in Belgium in October."