Simone Biles Says She Was Misidentified as 2 Other Prominent Black Athletes Multiple Times in One Day: ‘It’s Not Even 6 A.M.’
Credit: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Simone Biles said in an Instagram Stories post that she was mistaken for two other prominent Black athletes in a single day
- The Olympic gymnast said she was confused for Dominique Dawes twice and Sha’Carri Richardson once
- Biles has spoken out many times in the past about being wrongly identified and the overall racism she’s faced in her life
Simone Biles said she was misidentified as two other prominent Black athletes multiple times in a single day.
In a post on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, July 12, the Olympic gymnast, 29, wrote, “It’s not even 6am and I’ve already gotten called Dominique Dawes 2x and Sha’Carri [Richardson] once.”
Dawes, 49, is a retired Olympic gymnast, and Richardson, 26, is an Olympic track and field sprinter.
Credit: simonebiles/Instagram
Still, Biles appeared to take the confusion in stride, adding a series of laughing face emojis at the end of her caption.
She shared the message alongside a photograph that appeared to be taken from a hotel balcony at sunrise.
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Biles has been misidentified as another Black athlete in the past. In 2023, she called out the Wall Street Journal for publishing an article about her while using a photo of Shilese Jones, one of her fellow Black gymnasts.
“This picture isn’t even me…….. try again,” she wrote on X at the time, in response to the publication’s since-deleted post.
Upon correcting the mistake, the outlet responded to Biles on social media, writing, “We have corrected the photo and the story and on social media.”
Credit: Simone Biles/Instagram
Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, has been candid about her past experiences with racism in the gymnastics world.
“I didn’t really notice racism until 2013,” she told Hoda Kotb while appearing on the Today show in 2020. “I was on a world scene, and what made the news was, another gymnast saying that if we painted our skin black, maybe we would all win because I had beaten her out of beam medal, and she got upset. And that was really the news, rather than me winning worlds.”
The instance Biles was referring to was when she made history by becoming the first Black woman to win the all-around title at the 2013 World Championships in Belgium. There, Italian gymnast Carlotta Ferlito made the comment.
Biles added on the Today show that she felt racism is something that “happens every day.”
“I feel like every Black athlete or colored athlete can say that they’ve experienced it through their career,” she explained.
“But you just have to keep going for those little ones looking up to us,” continued Biles. “It doesn’t matter what you look like. You can strive for greatness, and you can be great.”
Read the original article on People
