Simone Biles had to fact-check ESPNW after they tweeted the incorrect number of Olympic gold medals the gymnast has won.
Biles won four Olympic gold medals, but ESPNW only credited her with winning three in a now-deleted tweet.
“Seven years ago today, Simone Biles won the women’s vault final in Rio. That night, Biles became the first U.S. female gymnast to win three gold medals at one Olympics,” wrote ESPNW.
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Biles saw the tweet and corrected the medal count with the caption, “this is awkward……. I won 4.”
ESPNW deleted the tweet and reposted it with the correct number of medals from the 2016 Olympic Games.
“Seven years ago today, Simone Biles won the women’s vault final in Rio. That night, Biles became the first U.S. female gymnast to win three gold medals at one Olympics, and later added a fourth with a flawless floor routine!”
The 26-year-old gymnast won four gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biles won one gold medal with Team USA for the team all-around. She also won three individual gold medals for the vault, floor routine, and individual all-around. Biles took the bronze medal on the balance beam in Rio. She has a total of 19 World Championships gold medals.
In response to the incorrect tweet, fans online began showing support for Biles, telling ESPNW not to play with her name and status.
“Tell ‘em simone lol correct that s—t,” noted one.
“She said please put some respect on her name.”
“Why y’all be playing in her face,” added another.
Biles is grateful and happy to serve as a pioneer to other young girls who wish to achieve success as she did. Although some view her as an inspiration directly to Black girls, she doesn’t see it that way.
“To me, I feel like I’m just Simone,” she told The Undefeated before dominating the Olympic Games.
“I never think of it as, ‘Oh, I’m the first African-American to win [the world championship].” “Everyone just shoves that in our heads,” she explained. “I never think, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I am the first this, I’m the first that.’ I just do my gymnastics because I like to have fun. I don’t bring race into it.”
Biles is likely training and preparing for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, next summer. She is also a new bride, having married Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens last April. She recently showed her 28-year-old hubby support when the Packers played against the Cincinnati Bengals for a pre-season game.
The couple dated for three years before walking down the aisle in May.
