Simone Biles sends message to haters with goat embellishment on leotards

Simone Biles has a message for her haters.

The most decorated gymnast in history made history again winning her seventh national title after another powerful performance Sunday. And these days, she’s added a special symbol to her look. 

“introducing GOLDIE ✨ – thanks for giving her a name y’all,” Biles shared on her instagram about the goat on her new leotard design.

The 24-year-old shared photos of her leotards featuring a symbolic bedazzled goat located on different parts of the outfits in places ranging from the center, to her arm and on her side.

“The idea was to hit back at the haters,” she told Marie Claire about the symbolism behind it.

During the interview, Biles shared how she came up with the concept.

“I didn’t feel like it was necessarily fair how they could keep saying whatever they wanted, but then if I said something, it wasn’t fair,” Biles said.

“[The haters] were joking like, “I swear, if she put a goat on her leo, blah, blah, blah.” That would make them so angry. And then I was like, ‘Oh, that’s actually a good idea. Let’s make the haters hate it, and the fans love it.’ And so that’s exactly what we did and why we did it.”

Biles is known globally as the G.O.A.T., which stands for the ’Greatest of All Time,’ of gymnastics.

Everyone from fans to sports gurus to supporters acknowledges her greatness, which includes four Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal, 25 World Championship medals, including nineteen gold, and four gymnastics skills named after her.

“We are so proud of you,” one supporter shared on Biles’ instagram post as many others dropped goat emojis. 

She told Marie Claire she hopes children in today’s society will feel empowered to own their talents. 

“I just hope that kids growing up watching this don’t or aren’t ashamed of being good at whatever they do,” Biles said. “And that’s my problem: when people kind of harp on other people that are good at something. And it’s like, everybody can say you’re good, but once you acknowledge it, it’s not cool anymore. And I want kids to learn that, yes, it’s okay to acknowledge that you’re good or even great at something.”

While the superstar athlete continues to make history along her journey, she also navigates taking care of herself, including her mental health.

“There’s a long way to go, because at the end of the day, people think we’re just athletes and entertainers, but we’re also humans and we go through our own issues that you guys might not be able to see,” Biles told Marie Claire. “So I’m happy that the conversation has been opened to the public, and they’re starting to realize that we’re more than just an athlete at the end of the day.”

Biles also shared how she used therapy as a tool this past year during tough times.

“For me, I saw a therapist quite frequently and that helped me a lot,” Biles shared. “I also was put on anxiety medicine, which has helped. Everybody has different ways of doing it, whether it’s meditation, medicine, [and/or] therapy. I feel like there’s so many avenues that you can try, but that’s what worked for me.”

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