GYMNASTICS

that could see her challenge for five gold medals.

She will arrive in Rio as the red-hot favorite for the coveted all-around crown and to lead the US defence of the prestigious team title.

More gold awaits on the individual apparatus, balance beam, vault and floor, where she is expected to whip up the Brazilian crowd with a saucy, high-flying routine played out to a Latin beat.

“She’s a machine,” said Retton, who broke the Eastern European grip on the all-around title when she took gold at the Soviet boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympic. “She should have to compete with the guys, she is so good. She pushes it. She’s the best gymnast I have every seen in my lifetime.

“She’s going to have that Olympic title; she just has to show up. It’s hers.”

Currently there is no one out there capable of standing up to the 4-foot, nine-inch African American powerhouse.

The 19-year-old competes with joy and ruthless, clinical efficiency.

In a sport that routinely sees champions crowned by fractions of a point, Biles’s margin of victory is often two, three or even four points.

She does not beat the competition she crushes it, all with a disarming smile on her face.

“She is that good, she is so impressive,” Shannon Miller, a twice all-around world champion and double Olympic gold medallist at the 1996 Olympics. “In gymnastics it is so difficult to stay on top ... she’ll win by four points, it is absolutely incredible.

“Honestly I cannot think of anyone who has separated themselves as much from the pack as Simone.