Simone Biles, the most decorated female athlete in the United States has been named the Associated Press (AP) female athlete of the year.
Her triumphant return which included her record eighth U.S. national championship and a sixth world all-around gold made Biles the sixth woman to claim the AP honor for a third time.
She had not participated in a major competition in two years. She alongside other people wondered how it was going to go.
“I thought that too, don’t worry,” Biles said with a laugh.
The 26-year-old seven-time Olympic medalist was followed by Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark and Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí of the World Cup champion Spanish soccer team in voting by a panel of sports media professionals.
Biles previously won the AP honor in 2016 and 2019. This would be her third win.
Biles married Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens in the spring. And she has been juggling between her competitions and her husband’s games.
“Whenever I was 19, it was the end of the world if I had bad days,” she said. “Now I’m like, ‘It’s OK, it’s just gymnastics and I’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll get it started again.’”
