We couldn’t pass on the opportunity to celebrate the Black Girl Magic at last night’s gymnastics competition at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
It was the first ever all-Black female gymnastics podium in Olympic history and surprisingly, it wasn’t the GOAT Simone Biles at the top. After performing a great routine, but stepping out of bounds a couple of times, Biles took silver to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who has been nipping a Biles heels now for a number of years.
Earning the bronze was U.S. Olympian Jordan Chiles. It was her first individual gymnastics medal. Chiles was initially scored in fifth place in women’s floor, but a challenge to her score elevated her to a spot on the podium .
On the podium Biles and Chiles took a moment to appreciate Andrade, who Biles has repeatedly lauded as an incredible competitor, celebrating her achievements on the world stage. Biles addressed the excitement of seeing three Black women in the top spots at the 2024 Olympics when talking about a sweet photo in which she and Chiles bow to Andrade, celebrating her gold medal win.
Her win makes Andrade the first person to beat Biles in a floor competition at a major, international event according to the Associated Press.
With Biles’s dominance, we’ve become used to seeing a Black woman winning, but the reality is that gymnastics is still a majority White sport. In the U.S. data from the 2022-2023 school year, shows that only 8% of NCAA female gymnasts were Black.
Black women have made plenty of history in recent years in gymnastics.
Dominique Dawes was the first Black woman to win an individual gymnastics medal at the 1992 Olympics, but it wasn’t until 2012 that Gabby Douglas became the first Black woman to win the all around.
And it wasn’t until 2023 that Biles, Andrade, and US gymnast Shilese Jones made up the first all-Black podium at a World Artistic Gymnastics Championship event.
People on social media were thrilled to see what many are calling the #BlackGirlMagic podium.
