Despite stepping away from the mats, the former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne still weighed in on the sport's biggest debate, making a clear stance about her GOAT.

Hardly any gymnast would name anyone other than the 11 Olympic and 30 World Championship medal winner, Simone Biles. And Dunne wasn’t any exception, as she talked about Biles before the 2024 Paris Games.

“Simone has always been a GOAT, and I think this is, like, her revenge tour,” she told Sports Illustrated at the ESPY awards in 2024. “What happened in 2020 was a freak thing, and I think that she’s out for revenge, and she’s probably going to win.”

To prioritize her mental health, Biles withdrew from several individual events at the 2020 Tokyo Games. But defying the immense criticism, Dunne believed Biles would return to Paris in 2024 and prove everyone wrong.

And Dunne was right. A 27-year-old Biles stepped foot on the mats at the Paris Games and returned with three golds and one silver, solidifying her status once more as the greatest gymnast of the modern era.

But while Dunne labelled Biles’ return as the “revenge tour,” the gymnastics icon herself said something similar after her victorious run at Paris.

Simone Biles Echoed Dunne's Narrative

Being the most decorated gymnast in history, initially, Biles has hardly anything to prove. But delivering a winning performance at the Paris Games was important, and Biles explained why.

“I think we all had something to prove from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and tonight we did just that,” she said. “It means the world. This was our goal going in, even though we didn't share it with everybody because it's just a personal thing that we were working on.”

Apart from the medals, defying the criticisms and returning stronger than ever was proof of Biles’ resilience. And this is probably what makes her the greatest, along with her athleticism.

With that being said, who would you pick as your GOAT? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Deblina Roy