Young Simone Biles Falling and Being Comforted During Competition?

Claim:

A video shared on social media authentically shows a very young Simone Biles falling and being comforted after attempting a vault.

Rating:

Research In Progress

In August 2024, various social media accounts posted a video purportedly showing Olympic U.S. gymnast Simone Biles competing as a child. In the footage, the girl identified as Biles falls after attempting a vault and is seen wiping away tears as she exits the mat.

One Facebook reel posted on August 1, 2024, amassed about 107,000 likes and 6,600 shares at the time of writing. This appeared to be a repost of an August 2023 TikTok post, which consisted of a cellphone recording of the video playing on a laptop.

Both the 2023 TikTok and the 2024 Facebook reel included captions like, “Watch tiny Simone Biles getting upset at falling on her vault,” and, “The little pout, I love her so much.”

In another post, made to X (formerly known as Twitter) on August 5, 2024, the video was set to a snippet of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” At the time of writing, the post had received about 26.3 million views, 168,000 likes, and 800 replies, many of which described the video as inspiring.

One commenter wrote, “A perfect example of the power of being deeply humbled. Being overconfident and learning to embrace those pains leads to mastery in ways a lack of being humbled cannot. Absolutely inspiring.” Another added, “10 years later she is the best gymnast of all time.”

Snopes has reached out to a representative for Biles to verify if the girl in the video is indeed Biles as a child. Updates will be provided if and when they receive confirmation.

However, there are two pieces of evidence suggesting the video’s authenticity.

First, the footage appears in a longer video titled, “Simone Biles’ earliest days in gymnastics – rare footage,” posted by NBC Sports on YouTube on July 18, 2019. The relevant clip starts around the 01:13 timestamp. However, NBC Sports did not include any verifiable data regarding where and when the video was recorded.

The second piece of evidence comes from archival clips included in the 2021 Facebook Watch docuseries, “Simone vs Herself.” While the exact clip from the social media posts has not been pinpointed, multiple moments throughout the show’s archival footage show a young Biles wearing a leotard and hairstyle similar to those in the video. An example can be seen around the 00:28 timestamp in the series’ first episode.

We will update this story if confirmation from Biles’ team is received that the video genuinely depicts her competing as a child. For now, this claim is rated as “Research in Progress.”

Sources:

Simone vs Herself. Film 45, Religion of Sports, 2021.

Simone vs. Herself | Ep. 1 | Can I Do It Again? | We Are so Ready to Watch Simone Biles at the #TokyoOlympics. To Get Pumped, Here’s Episode 1 of Our Series “Simone vs. Herself.” 🏅 | By Religion of Sports Facebook. www.facebook.com, https://www.facebook.com/vsonwatch/videos/can-i-do-it-again/812722329675813/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.