The case for Simone Biles for SI's 2015 Sportsman of the Year

Phil Taylor makes his argument for Simone Biles for Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsman award.

Phil Taylor | Dec 1, 2015

The case for Simone Biles for SI's 2015 Sportsman of the Year /

Simone Biles is one of the leading contenders for Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsman of the Year. You can see the full list and the entire series of essays that make the argument for each candidate here. This story also appears in the Dec. 7, 2015, issue of Sports Illustrated. To subscribe, click here.

At the World Championships in Nanning, China, last year, a bee did what the world's top women gymnasts have been unable to do for two years—force Simone Biles from the top of the medal stand. After she won the all-around competition, Biles was given a bouquet, along with her gold at the medal ceremony, and she was so frightened when the insect came buzzing out of the flowers that she jumped off the podium and did an impromptu floor exercise as she tried to avoid it. "I don't do bugs," she said later.

Biles, 18, also doesn't do second place. She hasn't lost the all-around competition at a meet since March 2013, and she continued an unprecedented three-year run of dominance in 2015, becoming the first woman to win three straight world championships in the all-around. She also won gold medals in the balance beam and floor exercise at the world championships last month, giving her 10 career golds at the worlds, the most ever among women. Biles is one of the most decorated female gymnasts in history, and she hasn't even been to an Olympics yet.

The expected success in Rio makes Biles a likely candidate for Sportswoman of Next Year, but she deserves her place on this year's short list as well. Though she's only 4'9", Biles is the biggest thing in her sport. She won her third straight U.S. championship in August—joining Kim Zmeskal as the only three-time national champs—and she has been so far ahead of her competition that the comparisons in the press have not been solely with legends of her sport, such as Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton, but also with other transcendent athletes, such as Serena Williams, Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi.

Published Dec 1, 2015

PHIL TAYLOR

Senior writer, Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor has covered a variety of sports in his more than two decades with the magazine, including pro and college basketball as well as college football. He has written The Hot Button column for SI.com and frequently writes the magazine's Point After column, for which he won a National Headliner Award in 2012. During his years as the magazine's lead NBA writer, Taylor profiled many of the league's stars. Among his most memorable stories were a piece on Michael Jordan's return from baseball to the NBA and an in-depth profile of reclusive Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton. Some of the historic sports events he has covered include the earthquake-struck 1989 World Series at Candlestick Park, Chris Webber's infamous timeout in the 1993 NCAA tournament title game and Jordan's epic "flu-game" in the 1997 NBA Finals. Prior to joining SI, Taylor began his career at the Miami Herald, where he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for feature writing. He has also written for the San Jose Mercury News and the now-defunct sports daily, The National. Born in Flushing, N.Y. and raised on Long Island, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1982 and a Masters in communications from Stanford University in 1983. Taylor and his wife, who have three children, live in northern California.