Simone Biles on Competing in the Next Olympics: “27 Is a Little Bit Old for a Gymnast”

Simone Biles triumphant return for the 2024 Paris Olympics was glorious — and, she says, even more so after she withdrew herself from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.

“It meant everything, especially coming off of Tokyo. That wasn’t my best performance or how I planned for it to go,” the legendary gymnast revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 4. “So to put the work in mentally and physically and to be back on a world stage, competing at an Olympic Games, meant everything to me.”

When Jimmy Fallon asked if the pressure was more intense because of her Tokyo experience, Biles responded, “Not necessarily. I feel like the only pressure I put was on myself, because I knew I could do it and I wanted to do it so bad. So that was the only stressful part.”

“Everything else was how it was supposed to be,” she added.

The moment she was actually worried about? The part of the 2024 Closing Ceremony when she had to give the Olympic flag to actor Tom Cruise.

I’m always tripping, falling down stairs,” Biles told Fallon in a surprising revelation. “So, actually, that was the most nervous I was for the whole entire Olympics. I was like, ‘Okay, I have to hand the flag off… don’t mess it up, don’t mess it up.’ I was terrified!”

When it came to actually meeting the Mission: Impossible star, Biles said, “He was so sweet, so nice, down to earth. He brought flowers. He got to meet my mom, and it was just so much fun.”

Though the 2024 Paris Olympics only ended a little over a month ago, fans are already looking forward to the 2028 Olympics in L.A. — so Fallon took the opportunity to ask Biles if she has thought about returning for another Summer Games four years from now.

“Everybody wants to know this question. I’m like, ‘Can’t I live?” Biles laughed.

“First, I’m getting older. 27 is a little bit old for a gymnast,” she said, joking that she’d do it if she could tag team the different events with her fellow gymnasts.

“You’re a baby!” Fallon protested.

“Outside of the gym, I’m young!” Biles agreed, acknowledging that she’s youthful by almost every measure. “But in the gym? I am old,” she added.

Biles might be unsure about her Olympics future, but the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history does know what she wants her legacy to be.

“I feel like, throughout gymnastics, as long as I’m inspiring the next generation and having fun and just making sure that it’s not all about winning, but still putting a good foot forward even when it doesn’t go your way,” she told Fallon.