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PARIS – The cell phone of Valorie Kondos Field, or “Miss Val” as the former UCLA gymnastics coach is known, has a familiar name.
“Simone Biles.”
It was August 4, 2014. Biles was just 17 years old, a high school student from Spring, Texas. It was a long time before she became an international performer and the most decorated US gymnast, who will seek her 10th Olympic medal, and seventh gold, on Saturday when he entered the individual competition here.
However, Biles was already a reigning world champion who displayed the aggressive ability and work ethic to push the odds in the gym.
So for Miss Val, who coached UCLA for 28 years and won seven national titles — and nearly every NCAA coach in the country — Biles was waiting for something else.
The most coveted person in college gymnastics…always.
Val instinctively answered the phone quickly and soon heard one of his favorite expressions.
“I want to sign with UCLA,” Simone said.
Miss Val quickly shared the news with her husband, Bobby, UCLA’s longtime football coach.
“I said, ‘We just got the ‘Goat.’ We just got the greatest recruit of all time,'” Kondos Field said.
Of course, it wasn’t meant to be. This was before the NCAA began allowing athletes to profit from their name, image and character. So when Biles won another world championship in 2015 and was the favorite to dominate the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she was approached with millions in endorsement deals from Nike, Proctor & Gamble and Hershey’s.
The money was too much. He turned pro.
“It was a tough decision, because I really liked UCLA,” Biles said.
Which left Miss Val with her last tail of misfortune – who ran away.
“Of course it would have been fun,” Kondos Field said with a laugh. “We knew he was going to be a pro. There was no way. There was no way he couldn’t. …
There is no more debate. On Thursday, Biles became only the third woman to win two Olympic gold medals and the first since 1968, when it was a very different sport. She is the first to do it in non-consecutive Olympics – if it wasn’t for her inability to compete in Tokyo 2021 she might be the only woman to win three all-around medals.
She has not lost an all-around competition in more than a decade and is expected to win three more medals here when the individual event finals begin, including vault and floor gold. .
That’s why the whole idea of Simone Biles as a college gymnast is mind-boggling.
However, if the rules now were the rules then, Biles said she would have gone to UCLA. In addition, Sunisa Lee spent two seasons at Auburn after her 2021 Olympic gold medal round. Current Team USA teammates Jordan Chiles (UCLA) and Jade Carey (Oregon State) both competed in the NCAA after the Tokyo Games.
Sixteen-year-old Hezly Rivera, as you might expect, is considered the top recruit in her class.
It is part of the integration of college gymnastics and high-level international gymnastics, which although they are different sports with different scoring systems, have found ways to help each other.
“College gymnastics can make you a better competitor,” said Jordyn Wieber, the 2012 gold medalist and now head coach at the University of Arkansas who went to UCLA, but with reason to take business opportunities and give permission he had to work as a team manager under Miss Val. .
It’s one reason why Lee (21), Chiles (23) and Carey (24) were able to return to the Olympics, joining 27-year-old Biles to make the oldest Team of the Year. USA.
“In college, you compete every week, 14-16 times a year,” Wieber said. “In advanced gymnastics, you might get up to compete 4-6 times a year.”
Olympic gymnastics uses a scoring system that equally values routine difficulty and routine execution. Love Biles’ amazing athleticism. College gymnastics is all about doing well.
“There are easy ways, but you have to be competitive,” Wieber said.
Being older than one does not mean being older than the other. Lee, for example, finished second all-around at the 2022 NCAA Championships, and other Olympic gymnasts were just good, not great.
As for Biles, Ms. Val had no doubts. No, he wouldn’t be attempting the “Biles II” — a double backhand that he can hit — in the NCAA room, but the former UCLA coach is sure the GOAT would have scored any points. which ones. the system was placed before him.
“She could have won many national championships,” Miss Val said with a laugh.
If only.
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