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Supportive Queens! Inside Taylor Swift and Simone Biles’ Record-Breaking Friendship History
The Team USA 2024 Olympians received so much love from fans and celebrities while they competed for gold. Gymnastics legend Simone Biles won over Taylor Swift’s heart after she performed the pop star’s powerful floor routine to her song “…Ready For It?” – however the queens have had a precious, budding friendship over the years.
The Olympics Brought Taylor Swift and Simone Biles Together
In 2016, the history-making Grammy winner publicly wished Simone good luck as she headed to her first Olympics at the Rio Games.
The message manifested into the two meeting in person for the first time at a Super Bowl party (before they were WAGs).
Taylor snapped a photo with Simone and her siblings Ron II and Adria at the event, which the gymnast eagerly shared via Instagram.
“Always a joy watching you perform, nice to finally meet you,” Simone captioned the February 2017 post. “Club nomadic @taylorswift.”
Taylor Swift and Simone Biles Are Each Other’s Cheerleaders
Simone faced challenges during her second trip to the Olympics in 2021 and withdrew from all individual events to prioritize mental health.
The “Lover” singer made a special video in support of Simone and her tough decision to walk away from the Tokyo Games.
“What do we want from our heroes? What do we expect of them? What do we need from them? What happens when they surprise us? When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning,” Taylor narrated. “It can be a heavy burden. It can be a chance to change everything. Throughout the last week, her voice has been as significant as her talents, her honesty as beautiful as the perfection that had long been her signature. But don’t you see? It still is. She’s perfectly human. And that’s what makes it so easy to call her a hero.”
“I’m crying. How special. I love you @taylorswift13,” Simone wrote via X in August 2021, leading Taylor to respond, “I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you.”
Simone later revealed that she withdrew from the competition because she had the twisties. The term refers to a “mental block in gymnastics” that “causes a disconnect between the brain and body, causing you to lose control over the movement,” according to Health.com.
The Texas native made a virtual diary clip of the experience and shared the video during a September 2021 episode of her Facebook series, “Simone vs Herself.”
“So, having these mental blocks in the gym recently, it’s not been fun, it’s been scary. I’m getting lost in my skills. I’m so prepared that I don’t know if I’m overthinking, but it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming dangerous,” she tearfully said. “And it’s like it could happen any other time, I don’t get why it happens at the Olympics.”
How Did Taylor Swift React to Simone Biles’ Paris Olympics Routine?
Fast-forward to the Paris Olympics and fans went wild when Simone debuted her floor routine that featured “… Ready For It?”
“Watched this so many times and still unready. She’s ready for it tho,” Taylor wrote via X on June 29, 2024, in response to a video of Simone’s performance.
The professional athlete reacted to her long-distance friend’s sweet words during an interview on the Today show a few days later.
“I do love her. She is so sweet,” Simone gushed.
