Simone Biles Responds To Comments Made About Her Hair Being 'Undone' At 2024 Paris Olympics
She urged people to stop putting their two cents into how her hair looks when the attention should be on her performance.
Focus Pix | Shutterstock Simone Biles has made quite the name for herself in women's sports, becoming the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history. The Paris 2024 Olympics have now earned Biles her eighth Olympic medal, and the U.S. women's gymnastics team has secured another win.
Biles' trailblazing career has made her an inspiration, especially when it comes to diversity within the sport. Yet despite Biles' impressive flips and tumbles, managing to land perfectly each time, the 27-year-old recently clapped back against criticism and backlash for the way that her hair was done during the Paris games.
Biles responded to criticism about her appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On July 30, the gymnast posted a video to her Instagram story showing off her high ponytail and the white mini fan that she was using to help herself cool off, just hours before she was scheduled to participate in the final. "Don't come for me about my hair. IT WAS DONE but bus has NO AC & it's like 9,000 degrees," Biles captioned the video, adding that it was also a 45-minute ride.
Amidst the current heatwave sweeping through Paris, Biles wanted to make it known that not only was it impossible for her to stay absolutely perfect ahead of her routine, but she also used that opportunity to directly respond to the slew of people on X who took it upon themselves to comment about how her hair looked.
"I’m just trying to figure out why Simone Biles hair never done ? Like girllll come on,” one X user wrote on Sunday, adding, "STILL LOVE HER AND HOPE SHE DOES GREAT!" Another person added, "Simone Biles hair never being done properly be [expletive] me off. Everybody else on the team is put together; then she looks like she just rolled out of bed."
Directly addressing the criticism again, Biles added another suggestion to her Instagram story, "gonna hold your hand when I say this," before continuing, "next time you want to comment on a Black girl's hair, JUST DON'T."
This type of commentary on a Black woman's hair truly needs to end.
Biles is a phenomenal gymnast and has continued to make a name for herself in the athletic world. Yet, all people seem to be able to focus on is whether or not her edges are done or her hair is slicked back enough while she's twirling, impressively, in the air.
A Black woman's hair doesn't define the amount of success and achievements that she earns, and it shouldn't be a point of conversation. This fixation on Black women's hair has frankly become quite stale, on top of just being incredibly ignorant and rude.
Unfortunately, a good amount of this criticism comes from other Black women, which proves that there is so much work to be done to truly address the misogynoir, racism, and internalized hate that not only belong in this world but in our own communities as well.
Black women with naturally kinky hair, straight hair, curly hair, or anything in between existing in these predominately white spaces means that our appearance is always up for judgment. On top of Biles dealing with things like this, the same case was said for gymnast Gabby Douglas.
During the 2012 Olympics, online trolls criticized the appearance of Douglas’ hair and said the gold medalist’s strands were "unkempt" and "embarrassing."
Douglas admitted that she "cried and cried and cried" about her struggles with her hair and talked about how hard it was when people criticized her hair during the Olympics instead of focusing on her athletic abilities.
This isn't the first time that Biles has addressed the hateful comments about her natural hair.
In a July 2024 interview with Elle, Biles opened up about learning to embrace her hair over the years. Biles told the outlet she "used to worry about [my hair being considered] not professional" but that she's "not embarrassed about it anymore."
"Most of the backlash we get is from our own community, which is unfortunate,” Biles continued. “I don’t really care if my edges aren’t smooth." Instead of focusing on the hate, Biles claimed that ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, her main priority was making sure her hair stayed healthy, which has helped boost her confidence.
Part of that comes from finally having access to beauty tutorials from Black content creators who discuss different products and styles to try. "We've been able to take care of our hair better and take care of our beauty routines better because it’s self-taught," she added. "It's really special that we have access to those platforms."
It's definitely time for people to stop commenting on Black women's hair, especially when that same level of criticism never seems to fall on white and non-Black women.
Instead of focusing on Biles's appearance, we should commend her impressive achievements and the level of success that she's achieved because that's truly the only thing that should matter.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.