Simone Biles delivered an inspirational speech at the Washington University commencement ceremony, where she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree.

Delivering the speech nearly two hours into the ceremony, the gold medalist spoke for a little over ten minutes, telling the audience, “You might think I’m used to the spotlight, but I would probably feel more comfortable if they had allowed me to vault onto the stage or do a little floor routine. But really, today is your day. While I may be considered an elite athlete, I know that you are elite students.” Biles remarks drew an applause from the crowd.

“The world doesn’t need you to be perfect,” she continued. “It needs you to be bold, it needs you to care, and to keep going even when things don’t go as planned. So go out there and write your own story — one that only you can tell.” After her inspiring speech, Washington University took to Instagram to pay their respects to the legendary athlete.

“@simonebiles is no stranger to the podium — or to greatness. As the most decorated gymnast of all time, her athletic achievements speak for themselves,” they wrote in their caption. “But what’s just as remarkable is her advocacy beyond the mat: championing mental health, supporting foster care youth, and amplifying the voices of sexual assault survivors.”

The University continued: “At WashU’s 164th Commencement, she delivered a golden message and a powerful reminder that perfection isn’t the goal — courage is. It was a great honor to present her with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters as she inspired the #WashU25 class to rise, lead, and leap boldly into their next chapter. Congratulations #WashU25 and congratulations, Dr. Biles! ❤️🎉💚.”

Indeed. Huge congrats Dr. Biles.

Simone Biles is no stranger to podiums. We’ve seen her soar, twist, and land with the kind of precision that makes history books rewrite themselves. Gold medals? She’s got them. World titles? Plenty. GOAT status? Undeniably. But recently, Simone stood tall in a very different kind of uniform. No leotards. No chalked-up hands. This time, it was a cap and gown. What? Yes! You read it right.

The most decorated gymnast of all time wasn’t celebrating another athletic win — she was marking an academic milestone that surprised and delighted her fans. For years, fans wondered what could’ve been if Biles had taken the NCAA stage. After all, she had committed to UCLA once upon a time. Can you imagine the electric buzz of a college meet with Biles flipping through the air? But life had other plans. Choices had to be made. But turning professional in 2015 meant giving up that dream. Still, Simone Biles’ relationship with education? Far from over.

So, Simone Biles just casually dropped a TikTok that had fans doing a double-take. This time, she wasn’t flipping through the air or showing off medals. Nope — she was in full graduation regalia, rocking a green gown with red and black trim, a classic black cap with a gold tassel, and holding up a shiny new diploma. The document, from what you could make out, looked official and was styled like one from Washington University in St. Louis. But the real eye-catcher? The title on it: “Honorary Doctorate.” That’s a pretty big deal — it’s an honorary doctorate, usually given to people who’ve made a huge impact on society.

And in true Simone Biles fashion, she kept the caption short and sweet: “call me Dr. Biles.” Posting a photo from her big day also on Instagram, she cheekily wrote, “It’s Dr. Biles to you 🫶🏾.”Of course, she followed it up with a heartfelt message: “But in all seriousness, thank you @washu for allowing me to do the commencement speech! Congrats to all the graduates 🎓 Truly inspiring! Good luck with all your future endeavors!!” Classic Biles — a little flex, a lot of gratitude, and always inspiring.

Just like that, she let the world know she’s now got a new title — not from winning medals, but for her work as an advocate, role model, and changemaker. From pushing mental health conversations into the spotlight to inspiring athletes everywhere, this honorary doctorate is another well-deserved recognition. Simone might have missed the NCAA stage, but she keeps proving that her legacy goes way beyond gymnastics. But the question now comes, why did she choose to turn professional instead of NCAA?

Why Simone Biles opted out of the NCAA

Simone Biles’ gymnastics journey began at the age of six during a daycare field trip to a gym. Her natural athleticism quickly became apparent, and by the age of 14, she was competing at the elite level. In 2014, she verbally committed to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), planning to join their gymnastics team after the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, in July 2015, Biles made the decision to turn professional, forfeiting her NCAA eligibility to pursue a career in elite gymnastics. She chose this path because she was doing so well internationally and becoming a multiple World Champion, and she knew she wouldn’t have many more chances to compete in the Olympics.

Reflecting on her decision, Biles shared, “It was a very long and hard decision. My dad kept telling me, ‘You can always go to college, but you can’t always go pro.” That made sense to me.“ Additionally, she noted, ” if you have an opportunity to set yourself up [financially] in life, why not take it? So I was like, ‘Let’s get this going.“

Simone Biles stood on a gold podium, addressed a crowd of thousands and admitted she was a little nervous.

Biles then gave a performance several minutes longer than any of her gymnastics routines.

She spoke for 12 minutes at Washington University in St. Louis, giving the commencement address on a rainy Monday. She did so at Francis Olympic Field, which held competition in several sports during the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.

The whole speech is here, about one hour and 45 minutes into the ceremony.

“You might think I’m used to the spotlight, but I would probably feel more comfortable if

they had allowed me to vault onto the stage or do a little floor routine,” she said with chuckles, drawing applause. “But really, today is your day. While I may be considered an elite athlete, I know that you are elite students.”

Biles was also bestowed an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

“I always dreamed of going to college, not just to be part of a collegiate gymnastics team, but to study medicine, to become a children’s nurse or a pediatrician, and to enjoy all the fun of a college campus,” said Biles, who committed to UCLA before turning professional at age 18 and forgoing college gymnastics. “But for me, that dream bumped up against others, and ultimately I chose a different path. But I do think my path and yours have a lot in common, although mine probably included a few more sequins and leotards.”

Biles last competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning three gold medals and one silver medal. She has repeated this spring that she doesn’t know if she will return to competition to bid for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

To close her address Monday, she said, “The world doesn’t need you to be perfect. It needs you to be bold. It needs you to care and to keep going even when things don’t go as planned.”

It’s been a busy past week for United States Olympic star gymnast Simone Biles who gave the “Riders Up” call at the Kentucky Derby on May 3 before attending the Met Gala just a few days later.

The seven-time Olympic gold medalist delivered a flawless performance, but it’s what she said about her future with husband Jonathan Owens, a defensive back for the Chicago Bears, that caught everyone’s attention at the time.

“We are obviously gonna put them in sports in the beginning so they get their bearings and learn,” Simone told E! News. “But other than that, we don’t really care what they do as long as they find their passion…I’ve always wanted to be a mother, have kids and just like [Jonathan], he’s always wanted to be a dad, so it’s just really exciting.”

Fans got a bit overzealous, suggesting she was pregnant, which Biles shut down immediately. “I am not pregnant, I never was pregnant therefore I never had a baby. Please stop asking me and falling for AI,” she said plainly.

Fast forward just a few days and Biles is back in the headlines thanks to a recent change to her physical appearance. She showed off a change to her hair with a shoutout, “slayyyyyy, she did her big one mhmmmkayyy,” she said in the caption of her post on her Instagram story.

During an interview in August 2024, Biles admitted she wants to have kids with her husband, but their professional lives won’t be taking a back seat.

“Me and Jonathan always talk about kids,” she said during an appearance on Today. “He would have had them yesterday if he could have. Obviously, we both have goals that we want to achieve before we start a family, but yes, that’s definitely in our future.”

‘I’m So Sorry’: Simone Biles’ Ex-Coach Opens Up About Unintentionally Abandoning Her During Parents’ Gym Crisis

“She’s like a second mom to me—I’ve been with her since I was seven, and we’ve shared this entire journey. So it’s very cool we could start and end the same way.” Together, Simone Biles and her second mom soared to three straight world all-around titles from 2013 to 2015, a feat no woman had ever achieved before. Under her guidance, the gymnast claimed four gold medals—in team, all-around, vault, and floor—and even battled through a bronze on beam.

This mother was none other than her former coach, who trained her in her early years, the coach who had one philosophy – prioritizing Biles’ well-being over mere medals. A philosophy that was challenged once. When and why?

“I didn’t realize how much my added responsibilities were affecting Simone until one day I stepped onto the floor and approached Simone, whom I noticed was in a somber mood,” recalled Aimee Boorman in her book, The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles. She remembers asking her about what happened, and she broke down, and said, “You never coach me anymore! You’re just always in the office! You don’t even care!” The coach was shocked.

Embracing the gymnast in a big warm hug, she told her, “Oh, Simone, I’m so sorry. I’m right here. I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m always right here.” This was the time when Aimee and Simone’s parents were establishing the WCC, and as the coach recalls in her book, “I had been in the office more.” But in her defense, she felt that now that Simone is a world champion, she didn’t need her to look over her shoulder now and then.

But then it hit her, “While that was true, I also realized that after we had left Bannon’s and separated. Simone from all her friends and teammates, I was the one stable thing she still had in the gym.”

The 2013 World Championships were when Biles got her first world championship gold, but in 2014, things turned around when she and Aimee departed from Bannon’s Gymnastix, where Biles had trained since age six. The exit marked a pivotal stone in gymnastics history. In her book, the coach also claimed, “We had chemistry, and-knowing her so well and watching her grow up-I could tell just how much or how little she required each day. That was part of our magic together.“

Aimee Boorman began coaching Simone Biles in 2005, when Biles was eight years old. By this time, they had both known each other for 8 years or more, and the magic was bound to happen. Knowing what Simone was going through, Aimee had one thing to do: she said, “I needed to make sure Simone knew she was my priority.” Why? There was no point in working on WCC if Simone wasn’t taken care of. She handed off what she could of the administrative tasks she was attending to and made sure she was out on the floor next to Simone from that point forward.

One thing is clear in the mind of the coach of the goat, and she even jotted it down in her book. She wrote, “Success doesn’t breed comfort; it amplifies everything around you the good and the bad. The praise can be deafening and the ridicule can be crushing. Self-doubt, apathy, and insecurity will grab your ear to fill the void of a coach who’s not there to bat it away. “All of this happened just because Aimee was too busy with working on the WCC gym crisis.

The WCC gym crisis

In 2013, after Simone clinched her first world all-around title, her longtime coach, Aimee Boorman, expressed a desire to leave Bannon’s Gymnastix, the facility where Simone had trained since childhood. This development posed a significant challenge: finding a new training environment that would provide stability and continuity during Simone’s prime competitive years. Why find one when you can create one? Biles’ dad, Nellie, purchased a four-acre plot in Spring, Texas, and initiated the development of what would become the World Champions Centre. Initially, the gym operated out of a temporary warehouse, affectionately dubbed “The Shed“.

One of the early challenged that was faced by them was that there was no heat in the gym, Boorman recalls in her book, “On really cold mornings, we would bring small space heaters into the gym for the girls to sit in front of before stretching, and they would regularly come into the office to get warm.” Getting the tin can to convert into a functional gym was quite the work, and on top of that, it wasn’t the only responsibility on her head. The idea was, as later described, “writing a plan and organizing the details of the permanent World Champions Centre. This meant I wasn’t coaching as much while I focused on operations.”

The work didn’t end there. The inside of the gym still needed its final layout, more equipment had to be brought in, programs had to be planned out, and systems for sign-ups and staff pay had to be put in place—among many other things. Her book read, “Ron and Nellie had never run a gym before, so they relied heavily on my and Selinda’s experience. Additionally, I had to consider how I was going to staff a potentially large program.” This is where Jason Collins stepped up.

While the WCC focused on the women’s program, Collins was hired to develop the men’s one. He had been coaching since fifteen, but is also an accomplished opera singer. He attended the Juilliard School in New York and then traveled the world, singing in front of massive crowds in amphitheaters and concert halls. He stuck around for two months before finally moving out to take care of his ill father. After operating in a temporary warehouse, the Biles family invested in a state-of-the-art, 52,000-square-foot facility in Spring, Texas, which opened in 2016. Today, it has produced the likes of Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, and many others.

For most people, two weeks of red carpets, galas, and the national spotlight would require months of recovery. But Simone Biles? She handled it all like the powerhouse she is—gracefully, joyfully, and with just enough sparkle to remind the world why she’s not only the GOAT in gymnastics but also in owning life’s biggest moments. It all started in Madrid, where the 28-year-old touched down to accept a prestigious honor at the Laureus World Sports Awards. Dressed in elegance and pride, she stepped onto the stage to receive her laurel—another feather in a crown that’s been steadily growing with every twist and turn of her career.

From the TIME 100 Gala, where she celebrated yet another spot on the influential list, to the Kentucky Derby, where she gave the iconic “Riders Up!” call, Simone Biles made every stop count. She capped it all with a dazzling appearance at the MET Gala, arriving hand-in-hand with husband Jonathan Owens—just in time to mark their second anniversary in true star fashion. Because, yes—May 6 marked their second wedding anniversary. Amid everything, Simone paused just long enough to post: “2 year anniversary [emoji] ilysfm.” Simple, heartfelt, and deeply her. So what comes after the lights, the gowns, the applause? Reality—and rest.

On May 8, Simone Biles gave her followers a candid glimpse behind the glamour. In an Instagram Story, she shared a cozy, no-makeup moment of herself tucked into bed back home in Texas, with a caption that read: “me before I passed out last night… so happy to be home and decompress.” But rest doesn’t last long when you’re Simone Biles.

In the very next story, she was already on the move again, snapping a pic from the passenger seat of a car, bathed in Texas sunshine. The update? “Will be catching y’all up on my last few days soon. such a beautiful day today i love you houston.” It was a subtle promise from the gymnastics queen—yes, she’ll fill us in. But for now, she’s just soaking it all in. The awards, the love, the whirlwind, and the quiet drive through her hometown. However, there were a few more uploads on her Instagram stories.

The first one was the Olympian’s appearance at the MET Gala. For her MET Gala 2025 appearance, Simone turned heads in a custom Harbison Studio minidress dubbed the Seraphim. It was a radiant burst of bright blue, with glittering black embellishments and a satin finish. She topped it off with towering heels and a dramatic Galaxy Cathedral Train, making sure her return to the MET since her 2021 debut was nothing short of celestial.

Right beside her, husband Jonathan Owens matched the vibe in an all-white Deji & Kola suit with blue accents—and stole a bit of the spotlight himself, accessorizing with a fur cape, black cane, and a jaw-dropping 119.44-carat aquamarine Margot McKinney pendant. But even the dazzle of couture couldn’t outshine what Simone was really excited about—her nails. She posted close-ups of her sunshine-yellow set, encrusted with shiny stones, calling it “probably my fav nail set so far… my dawg Lucky!!”

That love continued in a follow-up photo with a full glam close-up and a caption of emojis with heart eyes. Nail art? It’s her soft spot. Of course, with a schedule like hers, staying on the move is a full-time job. Luckily, Simone had the right ride. In another Instagram story, she posed in front of the sleek new 2025 Genesis GV80 2.5 Advanced AWD, thanking @genesis_usa for getting her to all her events: “Thank you @genesis_usa for getting me everywhere I needed to be this week. Loved visiting @genesishousenyc and I’ll be back soon.” And another adventure is already loading.

Believe us, that’s just the past few days. And well, in the last six months, Simone has been everywhere through her trips. Do you remember those outings?

Simone Biles has been on memorable trips 

It all kicked off in January, when Simone and her husband, Jonathan Owens, jetted off on a dreamy European tour. Fresh off her Gold Over America Tour (G.O.A.T.), the Olympic legend traded leotards for layers as they explored wintery cities hand-in-hand. But this wasn’t just a vacation—it came with a surprise twist.

In Switzerland, Simone sat down for a rare, high-profile conversation with CNBC anchor Sara Eisen. The setting? The Winning Mindset, presented by Nasdaq, is likely tied to the World Economic Forum. A gymnast on the global economic stage? It was unexpected—and unforgettable. Few athletes ever get that kind of platform, but Simone, with her blend of discipline, influence, and vision, fits right in. Then came a completely different kind of adventure: a South African safari. Swapping boardrooms for the bush, Simone and JO immersed themselves in nature, exploring the wild heart of Africa. Elephants, lions, sunsets—each moment was raw, real, and restorative.

However, not long after, the couple touched down in Austin, Texas, this time to celebrate something much closer to home: the baby shower of Simone’s close friend Kayla Simon. From global summits to heartfelt gatherings, Simone shows that she can move seamlessly between power meetings and personal moments, always fully present. So, from Switzerland to South Africa to Austin, Simone’s journey continues to unfold across continents and causes, proving again and again that she’s not just flipping through life—she’s soaring.

Although the Met Gala took place Monday evening, celebrities and athletes are still reliving the unforgettable night.

On Thursday night, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens shared an Instagram reel featuring behind-the-scenes moments of him and his wife, Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles, preparing for fashion’s biggest event. The reel was filmed by Houston-based content creator Michael D. Bishop.

“Dreams to reality 🎥💫,” he captioned the post.

This year marked Owens’ Met Gala debut and Biles’ second appearance. It was also the first time the couple attended the gala together, making the night for them even more special.

Despite the reel showing off how easy and smooth the getting-ready process looked, the couple admitted in an interview with Vogue that it was actually pretty stressful.

In the video, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Ego Nwodim asked the gymnast whether it was harder to get ready for an Olympic event or for the Met Gala. Immediately, Biles responds with the Met Gala.

“Because I trained for the Olympics my whole entire life and this is just a one-day event,” explained Biles. “I got in yesterday, and we did all my fittings. It’s just a lot. It’s stressful.

Owens also answered Nwodim’s question and agreed that prepping for the Met was more stressful, and joked that he “can feel her energy.”

The 28-year-old gymnast stunned the carpet with a bright blue poofy gown from Harbison Studio with a long train attached to the skirt. The top of the dress was decked out in diamond pins, blue flowers and a white collar with a silver bow tie. She paired the outfit with a matching pair of blue high heels and simple diamond jewelry.

Meanwhile, the NFL player wore an all-white suit with a matching fur coat. He was styled by Haitian-American fashion stylist Marc Desir.

The Met Gala 2025 theme was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” The theme was also the name of the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibition, which explores the importance of style in the formation of Black identities, particularly in the Atlantic diaspora.