Simone Biles recieved her sixth Olympic gold medal. Photo: AFP / LOIC VENANCE
Simone Biles isn't just adding more Olympic gold medals to her jewellery collection.
Biles won the women's gymnastics all-around final on Thursday at Paris bringing her total Olympic medal tally to six, the most of any American womans gymnast. She also cemented her unofficial title of GOAT - greatest of all time, of course - by donning a custom-made, diamond encrusted GOAT pendant when she stepped onto the podium.
The three-dimensional pedant has 546 diamonds and "embodies her unparalleled status in gymnastics," according to Janet Heller Fine Jewelry, the LA-jeweller that created it. In a truly GOAT move, Biles commissioned the piece "to commemorate her remarkable achievements and undeniable legacy," the jeweller wrote on Instagram.
Photo: Janet Heller Fine Jewelery, Instagram
This latest gold medal didn't come easily as she battled for the top place with Brazil's Rebeca Andrade. A lacklustre performance on the uneven bars, at one stage, put Biles in third place.
But it wasn't long before she was back on top after the balance bars. Her floor routine, where she wore a sparkling leotard dotted with crystals, inched her into gold medal place by a thin margin.
It was a comeback within a comeback. Biles withdrew from several events in the last Olympics, citing her mental health and the "twisties, " a phenomenon where gymnasts lose sense of where their body is in the air, according to the ABC.
Simone Biles competes in Paris. Photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP
This latest medal comes days after Biles picked up her fifth gold medal in the women's team event with four other US gymnasts, including Jordan Chiles and Suni Lee. Following the event, Biles reignited a rift with former Olympian and gymnastics silver medalist MyKayla Skinner.
Skinner had previously criticised the work ethic of the current US gymnastics team. Biles celebrated the team's gold on Instagram with the cheeky caption "lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions."
It's been a busy Olympics for Biles but she isn't done yet. With more individual events still to come, she could add more medals to her collection.
