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Inspiration January 11, 2017
After a summer of dominating the Rio Olympics, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman are turning heads again as they appear in the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
And though the stars look effortlessly gorgeous in the scantily clad photos from the special issue out next month, they have both admitted to struggling with body shaming and insecurity in the past.
It’s hard to even imagine a legendary athlete like Biles being criticized for her figure, but she revealed that while at a meet in 2013 a coach called her “fat.”
The Olympic all-around gold champion hadn’t been doing as well as expected at the meet, and later overheard a coach say, “You know why she crashed? Because she’s too fat — that’s why. How does she expect to compete like that?”
Speaking of the incident, the “Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance” author told Katie Couric, “No 15-year-old girl wants to hear that they’re fat, especially in a sport where we only wear half of our clothes.”
She told People, “It was really hard, because growing up I never felt overweight or fat, so it shocked me, like, ‘Why would he say that?’ But in a way, it actually shaped me for the better, because it just taught me to rise above and to love my body no matter what.”
And Raisman explained to For the Win that she and Biles didn’t fit the norm for a “gymnast’s body.” Holding her hand out flat she had told the publication, “Gymnasts are supposed to look like this… like pencils. Having a butt is bad in gymnastics.”
The six-time Olympic medalist shockingly revealed, “There was a time when both of us were told our body fat percentage was way off.” She admitted that it really got to her when she was younger, but has since “worked hard on it so it didn’t hold her back.”
Such criticism is hard to follow, particularly when Simone, who stands at just 4’9”, is only 104 pounds. Aly, a little bit taller at 5’2”, is only 115 pounds. And it’s easy to see that a great deal of that is muscle.
The pair – along with fellow “Final Five” teammate Madison Kocian, – inspired hashtag “ab goals” after posing on the beach together in Rio. Of course, even that picture received criticism.
An online troll shared a screen grab from one of the athlete’s Snapchat accounts, writing, “y’all find this attractive? lmaaoo.” The world had their back though, with hundreds and thousands of retweets and responses later leading the culprit to delete his tweet.
Twitter user @blackandbougie had the social media site in stitches as she posted, “They’re the best gymnasts in the world. I promise you, they didn’t get those abs to impress your dusty ass.” Funny… because it’s true.
Biles was criticized again after sharing a blissful snap from her vacation in Belize. Commenters claimed she wasn’t attractive and called out her muscular figure. This time though, Biles was not having it.
you all can judge my body all you want, but at the end of the day it’s MY body. I love it & I’m comfortable in my skin ?
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) December 28, 2016
She clapped back with a pitch perfect body positive tweet, which earned over 26,000 likes. “you all can judge my body all you want, but at the end of the day it’s MY body. I love it & I’m comfortable in my skin,” Biles wrote.
As if those Olympic gold medals weren’t enough to shut up critics, the duo’s jaw-dropping photos in SI Swimsuit Issue certainly show they’ve had the last laugh. And it helps that the Olympians – who plan to return at the 2020 Games – always have each other’s backs.
Biles revealed that they can just talk to each other about insecurities and body shaming, “because we’re all going through the exact same thing.” She added, “We’re all born with unique types of bodies, and we’ve proved that you can have any type of body and be good.”
And teammate Raisman revealed how she keeps her confidence up, regardless of the criticism. “I try to start my day off by looking at myself in the mirror and picking out things I like about myself instead of picking out things I don’t like about myself,” she shared with Shape, advising fans, “You just have to learn to love the way that you look.”
