"I wish we were friends... amazed at how tall they were"- When Simone Biles opened up on her fandom of Venus and Serena Williams

By Zahid Rashid Dar

Modified Oct 16, 2024 15:10 GMT

Simone Biles once revealed that she wanted to be friends with tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams while speaking about their impact on women's sports. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist thanked the sisters for impacting her career as a black athlete.

Biles continued the rise of black athletes in women's sports, particularly gymnastics when she won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Before her, Gabby Douglas became the first black gymnast in history to win an Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Games.

The 27-year-old has gone on to dominate the gymnastics arena since her Olympic debut and is now one of the most decorated gymnasts in history. With 11 Olympic and 30 world medals, Biles is still going strong.

The American gymnast once appeared on Red Table Talk, then hosted by Will Smith, and spoke about the impact Serena and Venus Williams had on her career.

"The impact Venus and Serena Williams have made, not only in sports but in life, has made a huge impact on my entire career. They’ve paved the way for black athletes as well as black women. I can’t thank them enough," she said. [20:03 onwards]

The 27-year-old added:

"I’m really grateful that I have them to look up to. I wish we were friends, but I’m pretty much just a big fan of them. I do remember meeting both Venus and Serena at separate times, and I was just amazed at how tall they were."

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Simone Biles meets Serena Williams' daughter, Olympia, who is almost her height

Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Simone Biles in action - Source: Getty

Simone Biles recently met with the daughter of Serena Williams, Olympia, when the tennis legend's family attended the gymnast's Gold Over America Tour. Biles was pictured with the 7-year-old and the height of the two looked nearly similar.

Williams' husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian shared glimpses of their meet with the Olympic champion, also thanking her for making her daughter's 'month'.

"I had to take S & Jr to see @simonebiles' Gold Over America Tour. Packed house. Awesome night. Don't miss it if they're coming to your town. 🥇🥇🥇 And thank you Simone and @jordanchiles for absolutely making Olympia's MONTH 🥞 I bought all the merch I could and even tried making this morning's pancake look like Olympia in one of her new leotards - sorry babygirl, photorealism is hard 😆😆 and the batter was too runny today," he wrote.

Simone Biles also shared a picture of the GOAT tour participants with Serena and family, hailing the tennis legend as the greatest of all time.