Simone Biles, among all of her dominance and accomplishments over the years, is still only the seventh most decorated Olympic women's gymnast of all time. With eight pieces of hardware from the Games so far, and likely more to come with the all-around and individual event finals in the days ahead, that is subject to change.
The 27-year-old finds her name among some of the most iconic gymnasts in the history of the Games with the number of medals she's collected over the years, but she still has a little ways to go to become the competition's most golden girl. She has the Eastern European teams of the 1950 to 80s to thank for that, as their dominance still reigns supreme today.
That being said, with a perfect performance in her remaining competitions, Biles could match the most gold medals in women's Olympic gymnastics history. Here's how she can catch the Olympic gymnastics gold medal record.
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Most gold medals in Olympic women's gymnastics
Larisa Latynina, who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Games, has nine gold medals—half of her 18 overall. She is the second-most decorated Olympian of all time, only behind Michael Phelps. Biles is tied for third most in women's gymnastics, but would need to win both the all-around and all of her individual event finals to tie Latynina's gold record.
Here are the gymnasts with the highest number of gold medals in the Olympic women's competition.
| Rank | Gymnast | Country | Years | Golds |
| 1 | Larisa Latynina | Soviet Union | 1956, 1960, 1964 | 9 |
| 2 | Vera Caslavska | Czechoslovakia | 1960, 1964, 1968 | 7 |
| T-3 | Agnes Keleti | Hungary | 1952, 1956 | 5 |
| T-3 | Polina Astakhova | Soviet Union | 1956, 1960, 1964 | 5 |
| T-3 | Nadia Comaneci | Romania | 1976, 1980 | 5 |
| T-3 | Simone Biles | USA | 2016, 2021, 2024 | 5 |
| T-3 | Nellie Kim | Soviet Union | 1976, 1980 | 5 |
| T-8 | Ludmilla Tourischeva | Soviet Union | 1968, 19722, 1976 | 4 |
| T-8 | Olga Korbut | Soviet Union | 1972, 1976 | 4 |
| T-8 | Ecaterina Szabo | Romania | 1984 | 4 |
Simone Biles gold medals
Biles won four gold medals in Rio and has won one so far in Paris for the team event . She also won bronze on the balance beam in both Rio and Tokyo, also taking home a silver for the team event in the 2021 Games.
2016 Rio gold medals
- Team event
- All-around
- Vault
- Floor
2024 Paris gold medals
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Simone Biles overall medal count vs. most decorated Olympians
Throughout her Olympic career, Biles has earned eight total medals. While this is above standard for the average Olympian, she's only tied for 65th most medals all time in any sport including both Summer and Winter Games, with the most being Phelps' 28. When she's finished with these games, however, it's possible she moves into the top 20 or 30.
Here's how she compares to the best Olympians of all time:
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Sport | Total medals |
| 1 | Michael Phelps | USA | Swimming | 28 |
| 2 | Larisa Latynina | Soviet Union | Gymnastics | 18 |
| T-3 | Marit Bjorgen | Norway | Cross country skiing | 15 |
| T-3 | Nikolai Andrianov | Soviet Union | Gymnastics | 15 |
| T-5 | Ole Einar Bjorndalen | Norway | Biathlon | 13 |
| T-5 | Boris Shakhlin | Soviet Union | Gymnastics | 13 |
| T-5 | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | Fencing | 13 |
| T-5 | Ireen Wust | Netherlands | Speed skating | 13 |
| T-5 | Takashi Ono | Japan | Gymnastics | 13 |
| T-65 | Simone Biles | USA | Gymnastics | 8 |
Will Simone Biles go to 2028 Olympics?
Biles hasn't explicitly spoken about the 2028 Olympics and whether they are on her radar yet, but she has said she's not thinking much past 2024 at the moment.
“I would never say never and I think that would be amazing to (do this) after every Olympic cycle,” she told the AP. “I think that would be a beautiful thing. But right now I can’t tell you yes or no. Like no definitive answers because I don’t know what life will look like in the next few years to come.”
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