American gymnast Simone Biles added another title to his CV.
The 11th time Olympic The medalist was named Sports Illustrated’s 2024 Sportsman of the Year on Thursday.
“Honestly, it’s a huge honor. I know some of the greats who have won it in previous years, so keeping gymnastics on the map is really exciting,” Biles, 27, said.Hello America” of the Sports Illustrated honor. “I know a lot of people love gymnastics in an Olympic year and have followed my career closely, but I was still very shocked.”
She continued, “I feel like I’m always shocked to win an award or be honored.”
The Sportsman of the Year award comes after a year in which Biles won the 2024 award. Paris Olympic Games assault, adding four new medals to her collection in the team, all-around, vault and floor exercises.
After her performance in Paris, Biles, 27, is now tied for second among the most decorated female gymnasts in Olympic history, according to the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
Simone Biles of Team USA poses with her Paris 2024 Olympic medals after the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Floor Exercise Final on the tenth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Biles won three gold medals and a silver medal in Paris just a few years later withdraw from the team final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, when she suffered from “twisties”, a disorienting condition when a gymnast’s mind and body feel dangerously out of sync.
“Simone Biles is Sports Illustrated’s 2024 Sportswoman of the Year because she won gold, then another gold medal, then another; because she changed the face of her sport and the conversations around athletes in general; because she continues to speak out on issues that matter to her,” the magazine wrote of Biles. “And perhaps most importantly because after asking (teammate Jordan) Chiles out loud if she was about to relive the darkest period of her career, she took a deep breath, waved to the judges and started running.”
Biles will receive the 2024 Sportsman of the Year award in person on Jan. 7, when Sports Illustrated holds its annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
Simone Biles of Team USA in final action of the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise on the tenth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Arène de Bercy on August 5, 2024 in Paris, France.
Tom Weller/voigt/Getty Images
This year’s ceremony, to be held at the Wynn Las Vegas, will be hosted by actor Keegan-Michael Key.
Sports Illustrated has presented the Sportsman of the Year award every year since 1954.
In 2023, the award was given to University of Colorado head football coach and former NFL star Deion Sanders.