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Sports Illustrated Announces Its 2024 Sportsperson Of The Year

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Jan 2, 2025 9:12 AM ET

In 2023, Colorado football coach Deion Sanders was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year. On Thursday, the iconic magazine unveiled its pick for 2024.

Instead of sticking on the gridiron, Sports Illustrated has decided to honor of the greatest Olympians of all time: Simone Biles. That's right, the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Olympics has been named SI’s 2024 Sportsperson of the Year.

"Simone Biles is Sports Illustrated’s 2024 Sportsperson of the Year because she won gold, and then another gold, and then another; because she changed the face of her sport and the conversations around athletes in general; because she continues to speak out about issues that matter to her," the iconic brand said. "And perhaps most of all because after she wondered aloud to Chiles whether she was about to relive the darkest period of her career, she took a deep breath, she saluted the judges and she broke into a run."

Biles, 27, was outstanding at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning three gold medals as well as a silver medal for her floor routine. It was an epic comeback for an athlete who experienced the "twisties" at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"I think I was just so full of emotion and I finally released all of that," Biles said at the 2024 Summer Games. "I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey’s over. It’s so crazy. It happened too quick."

PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 01: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) Gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States poses with the Olympic Rings and a goat charm on her necklace during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final medal ceremony on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Biles currently has 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals on her résumé. To many, she's considered the "G.O.A.T." of gymnastics. As for her future, she's still unsure if she'll compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know,” Biles told reporters. “But I am getting really old.”

Biles will receive the 2024 Sportsperson of the Year award on Jan. 7 at a ceremony in Las Vegas.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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