Athletes: Simone Biles

Transcription

1 Athletes: Simone Biles By Biography.com, adapted by Newsela staff on Word Count 952 Level 1140L Image 1. Simone Biles competes on the uneven bars at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Aug.17, 2018, in Boston, Massachusetts. AP Photo/Elise Amendola Simone Biles is a champion gymnast. She was born March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, and was raised by her grandparents, Ron and Nellie, along with her sister after their mother's struggle with substance abuse. Ron and Nellie officially adopted the two girls, and Biles calls her supportive grandmother "Mom." About Nellie, Biles told CNN, "She encourages me and never lets me feel down about something for too long." Biles discovered her abilities at an early age. According to the official USA Gymnastics website, the now 4-foot-8 performer visited a gymnastics center on a field trip with her day care group and caught the attention of the coach after copying the gymnasts. "The gym sent home a letter requesting that I join tumbling or gymnastics," Biles said. Very soon, Biles was on her way to developing those natural gifts. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 Simone Biles began competing in By 2011, she had cemented her standing at the junior elite level. That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balance beam events and finished third in the all-around at the American Classic. She followed with an impressive series of showings in 2012, winning the vault and the all-around events at competitions across the country. Biles soon emerged as a force to be reckoned with at the senior elite level, bursting into the spotlight as the all-around winner at the 2013 U.S. P&G Championships. An all-around title honors a gymnast's abilities in all gymnastics events. Also that year, she delivered a historic showing at the World Championships by becoming the first female African-American athlete to win gold in the all-around. She told reporters that her victory likely served as an example to other young gymnasts. "I think it inspires a lot of the little girls out there to go in the gym and train harder," she said. Biles continued to build on her successes in 2014, again taking the U.S. and world titles in the all-around competition and winning gold medals at the Secret U.S. Classic that same year. She often executed what has become her signature vault move, a double-flip with a half-twist. Biles gets much higher than other gymnasts in order to complete two flips. In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third world all-around title in a row, giving her a record 10 gold medals at the international competition. She went back to training in 2016 and was considered one of the country's top Olympic hopefuls. She earned a spot on the 2016 Olympic team with an impressive performance in July, joining fellow gymnasts Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian. On Aug. 9, 2016, Biles led the U.S. women's gymnastics team to gold. She earned an impressive score in the vault, a 15.3 on balance beam, and 15.8 for a crowd-pleasing floor routine in which she performed "the Biles," her signature floor move, which is two back somersaults and a half twist. The powerhouse gymnast shared the victory with Raisman, Douglas, Hernandez and Kocian, a This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 team which calls themselves "The Final Five." Raisman explained that the nickname refers to the fact that it was coach Marta Karolyi's last Olympics. It would also be the last Olympics with a five-girl team. The Final Five are the third American women's gymnastic team to win gold, following team victories in 1996 and After taking the team gold, Biles tweeted "dreams DO come true" and a photo of the U.S. team on the medal podium. Biles continued to dominate the Olympic competition, winning the women's individual all-around gold medal. What made Biles' victory truly historical was that she achieved a 2.1 margin of victory over Raisman, who won silver. The lead was larger than any gymnast from 1980 to 2012 combined. She also became the first woman in two decades to win back-to-back Olympic all-around and world titles. She went on to win gold again in the women's individual vault competition with a score of , but faltered in the individual balance beam event. In a rare stumble, Biles fought to maintain her balance, scoring , which earned her the bronze medal. "The rest of the routine was still pretty good," Biles said, according to USA Today, "so I can't be too disappointed in myself." Biles continued her Olympic run in the individual floor exercise, taking the gold in a brilliant performance including "The Biles." With a score of , Biles earned her fourth gold medal in Rio. Biles joined only three other gymnasts who have won four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. With 19 Olympic and World Championship medals, Biles made history as the most decorated American gymnast ever. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 After taking much of 2017 off, Biles returned to intensive training and reclaimed her place at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she swept all four events at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships to win the competition by a whopping 6.55 points, becoming the first woman to claim five national all-around titles. At the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Biles earned her fourth world all-around title, setting a new record for most women's World All-Around titles. She also became the first defending Olympic women's all-around champion to earn a world all-around title since Biles became the first U.S. gymnast to win a medal on every event at a single World Championships. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 Quiz 1 Which option would Simone Biles MOST LIKELY agree with? 1. It is possible to accomplish one's goals with hard work and dedication. 2. It is essential to achieve perfection in one's performances. Which sentence from the article supports your response? Option 1; "The gym sent home a letter requesting that I join tumbling or gymnastics," Biles said. Option 2; "I think it inspires a lot of the little girls out there to go in the gym and train harder," she said. Option 1; After taking the team gold, Biles tweeted "dreams DO come true" and a photo of the U.S. team on the medal podium. Option 2; "The rest of the routine was still pretty good," Biles said, according to USA Today, "so I can't be too disappointed in myself." 2 According to the article, Biles has continued to compete and set new records after making history at the Olympics. Which selection from the article BEST supports the idea outlined above? That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balance beam events and finished third in the all-around at the American Classic. She followed with an impressive series of showings in 2012, winning the vault and the all-around events at competitions across the country. In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third world all-around title in a row, giving her a record 10 gold medals at the international competition. She went back to training in 2016 and was considered one of the country's top Olympic hopefuls. Biles continued her Olympic run in the individual floor exercise, taking the gold in a brilliant performance including "The Biles." With a score of , Biles earned her fourth gold medal in Rio. Biles joined only three other gymnasts who have won four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. After taking much of 2017 off, Biles returned to intensive training and reclaimed her place at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she swept all four events at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships to win the competition by a whopping 6.55 points, becoming the first woman to claim five national all-around titles. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5

6 3 A reader suggested that the author included the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] in order to convey that gymnastics has been important to Biles for most of her life. Is this a reasonable claim? Which selection from the article supports your response? Yes; Ron and Nellie officially adopted the two girls, and Biles calls her supportive grandmother "Mom." About Nellie, Biles told CNN, "She encourages me and never lets me feel down about something for too long." Yes; According to the official USA Gymnastics website, the now 4-foot-8 performer visited a gymnastics center on a field trip with her day care group and caught the attention of the coach after copying the gymnasts. No; Simone Biles began competing in By 2011, she had cemented her standing at the junior elite level. That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balance beam events and finished third in the all-around at the American Classic. No; Biles soon emerged as a force to be reckoned with at the senior elite level, bursting into the spotlight as the all-around winner at the 2013 U.S. P&G Championships. 4 Read the following paragraph from the section "2016 Olympic Games In Rio." On Aug. 9, 2016, Biles led the U.S. women's gymnastics team to gold. She earned an impressive score in the vault, a 15.3 on balance beam, and 15.8 for a crowd-pleasing floor routine in which she performed "the Biles," her signature floor move, which is two back somersaults and a half twist. The powerhouse gymnast shared the victory with Raisman, Douglas, Hernandez and Kocian, a team which calls themselves "The Final Five." Raisman explained that the nickname refers to the fact that it was coach Marta Karolyi's last Olympics. It would also be the last Olympics with a five-girl team. How does the first sentence of the paragraph contribute to the development of the central ideas? It makes a claim that is supported by several examples in the paragraph. It presents an opinion that is supported by quotes in the paragraph. It introduces an argument that is contradicted by evidence in the paragraph. It states a conclusion that the rest of the paragraph fails to support. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 6