Simone Biles has been named Time Magazine’s 2021 Athlete of the Year.
According to reports, she is being celebrated for helping bring “mental health to the forefront of a broader cultural conversation.” Biles said in a statement to the publication, “I do believe everything happens for a reason. Not only did I get to use my voice, but it was validated as well.”
The Olympic gymnast made headlines after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics due to her mental and physical health. She was very transparent about her struggles with being a gymnast where she withdrew from the final four individual finals but competed in the balance beam competition.
“At that point, it was no longer about medaling, but about getting back out there. I wanted to compete at the Olympics again and have that experience that I came for. I didn’t really care about the outcome. On that beam, it was for me.”
Colin Kaepernick congratulated and celebrated Biles for “using her remarkable position as the world’s greatest gymnast ever to inspire a long-overdue global conversation on mental health.”
Congratulations to Simone Biles.