“Gonna hold your hand when I say this …”
Despite working through a lingering calf injury, Simones Biles officially became the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history while leading her team to a gold medal in the women’s team finals on Tuesday. But even with her piling accolades, the athlete has continued to ward off criticism about her hair. Imagine being one of the greatest living gymnasts on earth and having to answer for a few flyaways after flipping through the air in the dead of Parisian summer. Imagine!
simone biles on her way to do gymnastics the likes of which the world has never seen: pic.twitter.com/bJrI5liYbf
— matt (@mattxiv) July 30, 2024
On Tuesday, while on her way to the team finals, Biles posted a video to her Instagram Story showing off her slicked-back hair and seemingly responding to tweets about her “messy” bun. “Don’t come for me about my hair,” she captioned the clip. “IT WAS DONE but [the] bus has NO AC & it’s like 9,0000 degrees. Oh & a 45 min ride.” She followed that content up with a selfie, writing, “Gonna hold your hand when I say this ????Next time you wanna comment on a black girls hair. JUST DON’T.”
Another public service from Simone Biles pic.twitter.com/VURjFzhDBd
— elena ilana alana alina elana (@lenibriscoe) July 30, 2024
The 27-year-old’s physical appearance has been under a microscope for the entirety of her career, never mind that she has five gymnastics skills named after her with a sixth pending her upcoming Paris performance. But Biles is fearless in going after what she wants, and in this case, the athlete is determined to forget about the trolls and love her hair anyway. “I used to worry about [my hair being considered] not professional, but I’m not embarrassed about it anymore,” she told Elle this month. “Most of the backlash we get is from our own community, which is unfortunate. I don’t really care if my edges aren’t smooth.” There you have it! Case closed. Now, might I suggest we let Simone Biles get back to focusing on more important things like, I don’t know, bringing home a few more gold medals for this godforsaken country?
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