American Catholic gymnast Simone Biles has won her first gold medal of Rio 2016 and his hoping to her medal tally in the coming days of competition.
Biles, 19, was the star of a gold medal-winning performance by the US in the women’s team gymnastics competition in the Rio Olympic Arena on Tuesday. Houston-born Biles registered the highest individual scores in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise.
She is favourite to win more gold medals in the individual gymnastics competitions in the coming days.
In a recent interview with Us Magazine, she revealed that she carried a white rosary in her gym bag. “My mum, Nellie, got me a rosary at church,” she told the magazine. “I don’t use it to pray before a competition. I’ll just pray normally to myself, but it’s there just in case.”
Biles’ mother was a drug addict who struggled to care for Simone and her sibling and so she was was adopted by her grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles, when she was five.
Biles is a Sunday Mass-goer and is reported to regularly lights a candle to St Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, before big events.
Meanwhile, Olympic swimmer and Catholic Katie Ledecky has won two gold medals in the Games so far. On Tuesday, Ledecky won the 200m freestyle race, with Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom finishing in second place.
Having been unable to sell in churches for well over a year due to the pandemic, we are now inviting readers to support the Herald by investing in our future. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values.
Please join us on our 130 year mission by supporting us. We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching. For more information from our chairman on contributing to the Herald Patron's Fund, click here
Make a Donation
Donors giving £500 or more will automatically become sponsor patrons of the Herald. This includes two complimentary print/digital gift subscriptions, invitations to Patron events, pilgrimages and dinners, and 6 gift subscriptions sent to priests, seminaries, Catholic schools, religious care homes and prison and university chaplaincies. Click here for more information on becoming a Patron Sponsor. Click here for more information about contributing to the Herald Patron's Fund