PARIS — Before she had an all-around Olympic gold medal draped around her neck Thursday night, Simone Biles first donned a necklace with a diamond-encrusted pendant of a goat.
Biles, 27, brought the GOAT necklace to Bercy Arena and decided that if everything went well, she would bring it out. Then she won her second all-around Olympic title, and the ninth medal of her Olympic career, and there it was − a sparkly, not-so-subtle nod to her status as the Greatest Of All Time.
‘My GOAT necklace is just kind of an ode, because some people love it and some people hate it, so it’s like the best of both worlds,’ Biles said. ‘I was like, ‘OK, if it goes well, we’ll wear the GOAT necklace. I know people will go crazy over it.”
The goat pendant is adorned with a whopping 546 diamonds, according to an Instagram post by the California jewelry company that made it at Biles’ request.
‘Crafted with meticulous precision, this piece reflects her dedication, perseverance, and the spirit that has inspired generations,’ the company, Janet Heller Fine Jewelry, wrote in the post.
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It’s not the first time Biles has leaned in to the GOAT moniker − but it is the first time she’s done so in a while.
In the years leading up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Biles twice wore a leotard with the figure of a goat’s head outlined in rhinestones on the back. She also posted pictures on social media with a stuffed goat. But those references largely stopped after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and the two-year hiatus from competitive gymnastics thereafter.
The title itself, however, is hardly in question these days. With 39 Olympic and world championship medals to her name − and the potential to add three more before the 2024 Paris Olympics end − she has long been the most decorated gymnast of all time. And one of her teammates, Jordan Chiles, suggested earlier this week that her GOAT status should transcend their sport altogether. Chiles described her as ‘the greatest of the greats.’
‘At the end of the day, it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes,’ Biles said Thursday, ‘because I just still think that I’m Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip.’
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.