Simone Biles Drops Perfectly Fitting New Nickname for U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team

Simone Biles of the United States celebrates with her gold medal after the women’s team final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Bercy Arena.
Simone Biles of the United States celebrates with her gold medal after the women’s team final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Bercy Arena. / Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

Simone Biles won her fifth Olympic gold medal Tuesday by leading the U.S. women's gymnastics squad to victory in the team competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

In her press conference with teammates after the competition, Biles told reporters that the U.S. gymnastics team was nicknamed "F.A.A.F.O."—or "F--- Around And Find Out." But a few hours later, Biles posted on social media letting fans know the "actual" nickname of the gold-medal squad.

The "Golden Girls."

The nickname works in several ways. Of course, it's a nod to the Americans winning gold in the team competition on Tuesday. But it's also a reference to The Golden Girls, the 1980s sitcom about four older women who shared a home in Miami.

The 2024 U.S. women's gymnastics team entered Paris with an average age of 22.2 years, the oldest American roster sent to the Olympics since 1952. In fact, the 27-year-old Biles became the oldest U.S. gymnast to win a medal since 1948, and the oldest American to win gold in Olympic history, easily besting 22-year-old Aly Raisman in 2016.

Biles and the "Golden Girls" will head back to the arena for the individual finals later this week. Biles qualified for four of the five individual finals—the all-around competition, vault, floor exercise and balance beam.


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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.