Summary

The prologue, written by 1984 Olympic gold medalist gymnast Mary Lou Retton—the first American gymnast to win all around Olympic gold— highlights Simone Biles’ incredible accomplishments in the world of gymnastics and argues that she has truly transformed the sport through her powerful form. Unlike historically “pixie-like” gymnasts, Simone’s approach emphasizes power and agility, allowing her to perform moves no one in the competition can even approximate. Even before the 2016 Olympics, Simone had already amassed a total of 14 World medals, ten of them gold, the most ever won by an American female gymnast. Simone has not lost an all-around meet since 2013.

In Chapter 1, Decisions Day, Simone writes that she was 14 years old when she competed at the 2011 Visa National Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota. If she earned a high enough score at this meet, Martha Karolyi, the USA Gymnastics (USAG) team...