“We look mean a lot of the time because we’re concentrating so hard. If you don’t, you get hurt.” Simone Biles reveals her idols massage that transformed her life despite…….see more

“We look mean a lot of the time because we’re concentrating so hard. If you don’t, you get hurt.” Simone Biles reveals her idols massage that transformed her life despite…….see more

No one who watched the Rio Olympics will forget the astonishing acrobatics of the sunny four-foot-eight powerhouse gymnast from the USA. Simone Biles captured hearts and minds (not to mention a great many medals) at the 2016 Summer Games, somersaulting into the sporting stratosphere as the star-spangled poster girl for a new era of gymnastics. But for all her game-changing virtuosity, Simone is a down-to-earth 20-year-old from Texas with a natural gift of the gab.

With Tokyo 2020 on the horizon, she is setting her sights on Olympic glory once again, but at least for now, Simone’s attentions are more focused on the serious matters of dancing, shopping and Zac Efron.

For as long as she can remember, Simone Biles has begun the year by writing down her goals. Like any gymnastics-obsessed girl growing up in suburban Houston, Texas, her ambitions were fairly circumscribed: to do better in school, master a new skill in the gym, grow a bit taller. Over time, as her precocious power and explosiveness began to set her apart as an elite junior, her list grew to include graduating to the senior ranks, placing in the world championships, making a magazine cover or two, and representing her country in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

This January, having surpassed all but one of her goals (despite her wishful thinking, she’s remained 1.43 metres tall since she was 13), including winning the Olympic gold medal for individual all-around champion, Simone broke with tradition. “I didn’t write down anything,” she tells me when we meet for lunch in New York in June. “It’s my year off. I didn’t want to think about anything other than relaxing and being with friends and family.”

Nice, in theory. Since vaulting her way into the public consciousness last summer in Rio by winning four gold medals (and a bronze) and becoming the most decorated American gymnast ever (14 World Championship and five Olympics medals and counting), Simone, 20, has had quite the year. She’s met her idols Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian, visited the Obamas before they left the White House, appeared in a music video for teen-bait Jake Miller, hit the red carpet in a seemingly endless parade of custom-tailored frocks, and traversed America in an exhibition tour of 36 cities with her “Final Five” Olympic teammates.

“She’s always at an airport,” says her best friend, Rachel Moore, a former gymnast. “I don’t know how she does it, but as soon as she’s back, she’s not the type to just crash. She’ll be like, ‘Hey girl, wanna hang out?’”

In between hitting Forever 21 (“Hello, the mall is not going to shop itself!”) and getting her nails done with friends, Simone has signed with Octagon – one of the world’s most respected sports agencies, which represents Michael Phelps, among others – and with a host of sponsors, including Nike. Her pre-Olympics net worth was estimated at $2 million, but her competition success and relatability with a key young demographic make her highly marketable to the mass audience that gymnastics attracts. “Simone’s athletic accomplishments alone place her in a very rare class of athletes in terms of market value,” her agent, Janey Miller, says.

Simone has also published a memoir, Courage to Soar, and was named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year alongside Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi of Black Lives Matter, Miuccia Prada and Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund. In news that might not sit well with Simone’s beloved Kardashians, she launched her own emoji app, called – naturally – Simoji. The poppy graphics, which she curated, include leotards and gold medals aplenty as well as insider nods like a sticker of Simone, an Olympian-level napper, catching some Zs. “I slept in the cab coming over here,” she informs me.

Oh, that winning smile! Here, Simone is wearing a pink jersey three-quarter-length-sleeved polo shirt with cat appliqué by MIU MIU. In the opening image, she wears a green jersey bodysuit with three-quarter-length sleeves by GUCCI.

Simone is in New York for a couple of days, having flown in from Los Angeles, where she’s been living for the past few weeks while competing in Dancing with the Stars, the American version of the British television show Strictly Come Dancing. DWTS, like Strictly, features a broad church of celebrities. (This season’s eclectic lineup of competitors ranged from has-beens such as Mr T to young stars like Normani Kordei from the American pop group Fifth Harmony.) After a shock elimination in the semi-finals, Simone and her partner, the Australian dancer Sasha Farber, finishe