Simone Biles says she still hasn't decided whether she'll chase a fourth Olympics in 2028, and she isn't in any rush to figure it out. The 29-year-old gymnast, already a two-time Olympic all-around champion, says competing at a home Games in Los Angeles would be fun — but that the decision has to be made for the right reasons, not just because the opportunity is there.
According to a report from WKMG, Biles said she doesn't have to make up her mind about 2028 yet, and that she's at peace even if she never returns to competition. She'll be 31 when the Los Angeles Games open in July 2028, and she's weighing the sacrifices and risks of trying to make a fourth Olympic team against everything else going on in her life.
Biles has already competed at three Olympics — Rio in 2016, Tokyo, and Paris in 2024 — and became the third woman to win multiple Olympic all-around gold medals during that 2024 run, per the same report. She then took a two-year break from competition after Paris, time she's used to figure out what, if anything, comes next.
Family Plans and Reproductive Health Weigh Heavily
Among the biggest factors in her decision, the outlet reports, are reproductive health and the possibility of starting a family. Biles is married to Indianapolis Colts safety Jonathan Owens, and she's said she wants to have a family at some point. She's also considering the potential impact of continued elite training on her reproductive health, and the reality that she and Owens could be separated for significant stretches if she returns to full-time competition.
Those aren't small considerations for an athlete who has already been through the wringer at the Olympic level. Biles withdrew from several competitions at the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021 after experiencing a mental block known as the twisties, according to NPR, an experience that looms over any calculation about stepping back into elite training.
A Gym Session That Complicated the Decision
Biles recently threw a double layout in a gym alongside her sister, Adria, and said afterward that doing it only made her more uncertain about retiring for good. It's the kind of moment that keeps the door open, even as she insists she isn't leaning one way or the other just yet.
She isn't the only member of Team USA's recent gymnastics core weighing a return. Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey are all reportedly pointing toward the 2028 Games as well, which would put a good chunk of the Paris roster back together on home soil if it comes together.
Comeback Comparisons Across Sports
Biles isn't the first elite athlete to consider an unlikely return well past when many expect retirement. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn made an Olympic comeback at age 41, as reported by The Associated Press, a data point that's been raised as evidence that age alone doesn't rule out another run at the Games.
Gymnastics has its own recent example in Katelyn Ohashi, who reportedly returned to elite competition in July after a 13-year break from the sport's top level. That timeline comes from lower-confidence secondary reporting rather than a primary account, so the specifics of her comeback remain less firmly established than the core details of Biles' own situation.
For now, Biles' message is straightforward: the door to Los Angeles hasn't closed, but it hasn't opened wide, either. She says any return will have to be for the right reasons, and she's genuinely comfortable with the idea that her competitive career may already be finished.
