Leading The Pack
Simone Biles is going into the Tokyo Summer Olympics already in the number-one spot.
The Olympic gymnast is the top-tweeted U.S. Olympian on Twitter, according to a report from the social media platform, ahead of the Tokyo Summer Olympics taking place later this month. Biles has over 1.2 million Twitter followers.
She is among three female athletes who made Twitter’s top 10 ranking. She precedes nine-time Olympic medalist, track and field star Allyson Felix, who is in the second spot, and six-time Olympic medalist, swimmer Katie Ledecky, who ranked at the ninth spot.
Biles is one of the most decorated gymnasts in the sport’s history, winning four gold medals and one bronze at her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She’s also the first gymnast to win three consecutive world all-around titles. Biles is heading into the
Tokyo Olympics as the favored gymnast to win the all-around competition. The gymnast is joined by newcomers Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, MyKayla Skinner and Jade Carey on the U.S. gymnastics team.
The Olympic gymnast has racked up several fashion endorsements since her first
Olympic games. Biles first teamed with Nike in 2015 to represent the brand at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She then ended her sponsorship deal with the athletic giant and signed with Athleta this April in a long-term partnership that makes the brand Biles’ exclusive apparel partner. Biles is currently collaborating with Athleta on her own activewear line and will release multiple capsule collections with Athleta Girl starting next year.
The remainder of Twitter’s topmentioned U.S. Olympic athletes list is comprised of members of the men’s basketball team, including Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Kevin Love and Draymond Green. — LAYLA ILCHI and other Olympic national teams enter Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 23. The Americans will make their Olympic debuts wearing Opening Ceremony uniforms from Ralph Lauren, a designer whose clothes Biden has worn on occasion. Sports fans in the U.S. will be able to catch a glimpse of Biden and the opening festivities via NBC’s live coverage starting at 7 a.m., which will be evening local time in Japan.
Anticipation runs parallel to determination for many Olympic hopefuls and the 16-month postponement of the Summer Games tested their mettle even more. Competing in largely empty stadiums and sports arenas will be another test of their competitive spirits. The White House has not yet shared specifics about the length of Biden’s trip or other details.
Millions of would-be Olympic ticket holders and Olympic athletes’ relatives have found themselves shut out of the
17-day competition, due to crowd capacity restrictions that have been tightened in line with the coronavirus crisis. Nearly 4.5 million tickets had reportedly been sold before international visitors were banned from attending and then domestic ones were, too. Even International Olympic Committee representatives, who are in Tokyo dealing with preparations are said to be dealing with changing guidelines day-by-day.
There are a lot of medals up for grabs at the Tokyo Games with 339 events on the docket in 33 sports. While American multimedal winner Simone
Biles is sure to attract millions of viewers to the gymnastics competition, 11 Team USA teenage Olympians like Katie Grimes may rev up interest in another much-watched sport — swimming.
Such traditional Olympic sports are always crowd pleasers in terms of ratings, but more daring ones like skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing — which are being ushered in for the first time at the upcoming Games — are sure to help reel in the ever soughtafter younger audience. At 70, Biden is known to be active in her off-hours pursuits as well as her work in teaching college students and making official appearances as first lady. During a satellite appearance while in Cornwall for the G7, Biden spoke of her interest in surfing.
Patriotism and nationalism are undercurrents of the Olympics. Business is omnipresent, too. Sixty-plus Japanese companies collectively paid more than $3 billion to sponsor the Summer Games and then another $200 million to extend the contracts after the Olympics were postponed last year. Insurance and partnerships are other added expenses for some.
— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG