Simone Biles Is 50-50 on the 2028 Olympics — and Spent $22,000 Getting Ready for a Red Carpet
Two stories broke about Simone Biles on May 1, 2026, and together they paint a surprisingly complete portrait of where the greatest gymnast of all time stands right now. One was serious — a candid CNN interview in Madrid where she admitted she hasn't decided whether to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with mental health at the center of that calculation. The other was hilarious — a viral TikTok reacting to a $22,000 hair, makeup, and styling bill for a single red carpet appearance, with Biles threatening to never leave her house again. Both stories landed the same day. Both went massively viral. And both say something real about the position Simone Biles occupies in 2026: globally celebrated, financially successful, and quietly wrestling with one of the biggest decisions of her athletic career.
What Biles Actually Said About the 2028 Olympics
At the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, Biles gave CNN the kind of honest answer that athletes rarely give when asked about retirement or future competitions. Rather than the usual "I'm focused on the present" deflection, she put a number on it: "50-50."
"We're going to have to make these decisions pretty quickly," she told CNN, acknowledging the timeline pressure that comes with planning a multi-year training cycle for an Olympic Games. The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics would take place when Biles is 31 — elite for most sports, ancient by gymnastics standards, but not unprecedented for someone of her conditioning and experience.
According to Newsweek, Biles was direct about what's weighing on her: "Mental is a huge thing and it's a lot of dedication on that." This isn't a throwaway line. Biles has been publicly and unflinchingly honest about mental health since her withdrawal from multiple events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — a moment that reshuffled how the sports world talks about athlete psychology. For her to name mental health as a primary factor in her 2028 calculus is consistent with who she's been since Tokyo, and it signals that she's treating this decision with real seriousness rather than basing it purely on physical capability.
The Yahoo Sports report on her comments also noted the logistical argument working in LA's favor: Biles lives in Spring, Texas, roughly a three-hour flight from Los Angeles. Compared to international travel for Paris or Tokyo, a domestic Olympics is a meaningful quality-of-life factor for an athlete who has spent the better part of two decades on planes and in hotel rooms.
The Stakes: What's Left in the Record Books
To understand why this decision matters beyond Biles personally, you have to look at where she sits in gymnastics history. The numbers are staggering: 11 Olympic medals (7 gold) and 30 World Championship medals. She is currently tied with the legendary Czech gymnast Vera Čáslavská for second-most Olympic golds among female gymnasts in history.
The record she hasn't yet broken belongs to Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won nine Olympic golds across the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Games. Two more golds at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics would tie that all-time record. Three would break it outright.
That's not a trivial thing to walk away from. Latynina's record has stood for over six decades. The athlete positioned to challenge it is the same one saying she's 50-50 on whether she'll compete — and citing mental health as a major factor. This isn't hedging; it's an honest reckoning with what it costs to stay at the top of a sport as punishing as gymnastics for another two-plus years.
Biles is 29 years old. In most professional sports, that's prime age. In women's gymnastics, it's remarkable. The average Olympic gymnastics champion is years younger. The fact that Biles remains competitive at this level is itself an achievement, but it also means every training cycle carries a real physical and psychological cost that compounds over time.
The $22,000 TikTok That Everyone Is Talking About
The Olympics interview would have been enough news for one day. Then Biles posted the TikTok.
In the video, which went viral almost immediately, Biles revealed that her hair, makeup, and styling for the Laureus red carpet cost $22,000. Her reaction was pure and unfiltered: "If that's the new norm, y'all can have it. Y'all will never see me at another event."
The Fox News/OutKick report on the video captured the spirit of it well — this was not a celebrity complaint about a luxury problem so much as a genuine "wait, is this normal?" moment from someone who, despite being worth an estimated $25 million, apparently wasn't expecting that bill. The AOL Finance coverage quoted her reaction verbatim: "I just need to know if this is normal."
And Yahoo Entertainment noted the follow-up: "Staying inside for good." Which is, given the context, extremely relatable content for someone who just learned that looking camera-ready for a global awards ceremony costs more than most people's monthly rent.
The TikTok landed because it showed the human side of a celebrity who is often discussed in mythological terms. Biles isn't performing normalcy here — she's genuinely surprised, she's making people laugh, and she's posting it herself rather than managing the story through a PR filter. That authenticity is a significant part of why she remains one of the most followed and beloved athletes in the world.
Mental Health, Then and Now
It's worth pausing on what Biles said about mental health, because it's easy to scan past it as a talking point and miss what she's actually communicating.
When Biles withdrew from the team finals and multiple individual events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she was publicly vilified by some commentators and celebrated as brave by others. What actually happened — the twisties, a terrifying spatial disorientation that makes it impossible to safely perform aerial elements — is a known phenomenon in gymnastics that can end careers or cause serious injury. Biles chose to stop rather than risk her safety or her team's medal chances. That decision was made under enormous pressure, in public, while the entire world watched.
She came back for the Paris Olympics in 2024 and was dominant, winning gold in the team competition, the all-around, vault, and floor exercise. She took silver in her final event. The comeback was complete by any external measure. But the Paris Games also represented the end of something — a chapter, a cycle, a version of competitive life that had demanded everything from her for years.
When Biles says mental health is "a huge thing" in deciding whether to compete in 2028, she's not offering an excuse or a deflection. She's describing the actual internal calculus of an athlete who knows exactly what it costs to prepare for an Olympics — not just physically, but psychologically — and who is no longer willing to make that commitment without being certain she can give it fully. That's a more mature and honest framework for athletic decision-making than most elite competitors ever articulate publicly.
Other athletes are navigating similar intersections of performance and wellbeing. Zheng Qinwen's intensive preparation schedule ahead of the 2026 Italy Open reflects how much sustained mental and physical investment professional athletes pour into staying at the top of their sports — a commitment Biles is weighing against everything else her life currently contains.
What This Means: The Case For and Against a 2028 Run
There's a genuine argument on both sides of this decision, and Biles is clearly working through it honestly rather than landing on an easy answer.
The case for competing in 2028: Los Angeles is essentially a home Olympics. The travel burden is minimal compared to any international Games. Biles has already demonstrated she can return from an extended break and perform at the highest level — the Paris comeback proved that. She has the physical capability, the coaching infrastructure, and the personal motivation to pursue Latynina's record. The 2028 Games would be a historic moment for American sports, and Biles competing on home soil would be a cultural event unlike almost anything else in recent sports history.
The case against: Two and a half years of Olympic-level training is a grind that requires almost total commitment. Biles is 29 now and would be 31 at the Games — every year adds injury risk and recovery time. She has nothing left to prove and has already secured her legacy as the most decorated gymnast in history. And she's said directly that mental health is a major factor — which means the question isn't just whether her body can do it, but whether her mind and spirit can sustain the preparation without cost to her wellbeing.
Her husband, Indianapolis Colts safety Jonathan Owens, is also navigating an NFL career — which adds another layer of scheduling and life logistics that matters when you're making multi-year athletic commitments as a couple.
The 50-50 is not a cop-out. It's probably the most accurate thing she could say.
Simone Biles and the Business of Being Famous
The $22,000 glam bill is funny on its face, but it points to something worth examining: the actual financial reality of maintaining a global celebrity presence at the level Biles operates.
Estimated to be worth $25 million, Biles has built a brand that extends far beyond gymnastics through endorsement deals, media appearances, and her own gym. Attending events like the Laureus World Sports Awards is part of maintaining that brand — it's work, even when it looks like a party. The styling, hair, and makeup that go into a red carpet appearance at a major international awards ceremony isn't a vanity expense; it's a professional requirement for someone whose image is part of her business model.
Which makes her TikTok reaction more interesting, not less. She's not performing outrage at the price — she's genuinely processing it in public, which is a very different thing. And the response suggests that even at her level of wealth and fame, $22,000 for a single evening's grooming is still a number that lands with some weight. That's a useful reality check on celebrity economics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Simone Biles going to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics?
As of May 2026, Biles says she is "50-50" on the decision. She has cited mental health as a major factor and acknowledged that decisions will need to be made soon given the training timeline. No commitment has been made in either direction.
How many Olympic medals does Simone Biles have?
Biles holds 11 Olympic medals, including 7 golds. She also has 30 World Championship medals. She is currently tied with Vera Čáslavská for second-most Olympic golds among female gymnasts in history. Two more golds would tie Larisa Latynina's all-time record of nine.
Why did Simone Biles post about a $22,000 glam bill on TikTok?
After attending the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, Biles posted a TikTok reacting to the cost of her hair, makeup, and styling for the red carpet — $22,000. Her reaction was one of disbelief, joking that she'd be "staying inside for good" if that was the going rate for a night out. The video went viral for its humor and authenticity.
How old is Simone Biles and how does that affect her 2028 prospects?
Biles is 29 years old and would be 31 at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. That's unusually old for elite gymnastics, but Biles has already defied the sport's age conventions — her Paris 2024 comeback demonstrated she can compete at the highest level. The question is less about physical capability and more about whether she's willing to commit to another full Olympic training cycle.
What did Simone Biles say about mental health and the Olympics?
Speaking to CNN at the Laureus World Sports Awards, Biles said: "Mental is a huge thing and it's a lot of dedication on that." She has been open about mental health since withdrawing from events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and she frames it not as a limitation but as a serious factor that has to be honestly accounted for in any major competitive decision.
Conclusion: The Decision Only She Can Make
Simone Biles has earned the right to take her time. She's the most decorated gymnast in history. She staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent Olympic memory at Paris 2024. She's built a life and a career that extend well beyond competition. And she's been honest, consistently and sometimes at personal cost, about what elite sport actually demands — not just from the body, but from the mind.
The 50-50 answer she gave in Madrid is probably the most useful thing she could have said. It's not a tease and it's not a dodge — it's an honest accounting of where she is. The record is there to be broken. The logistics of a home Olympics make it more feasible than any other scenario would be. But the internal work required to sustain another two-plus years of Olympic preparation is real, and Biles isn't going to commit to it until she's sure she can do it right.
Watch this space. But also, maybe don't ask her to any more red carpet events. At least not unless someone else is picking up the tab.
