Her 2024 gymnastics routine to “…Ready For it?” was instantly iconic — but the connection between Team USA’s Simone Biles and Taylor Swift actually goes way back, with the two superstars publicly supporting each other many times over the years.
Biles, 27, currently making our eyes pop out of our heads at the 2024 Paris Olympics — her third Olympic games overall — is the most decorated gymnast in history. Swift, 34, currently performing in Europe on her epic Eras tour, is the biggest pop star in the world right now, and has secured her place in the all-time pantheon.
But while 2024 has been an incredible year so far for both women, they have both been through some very public struggles in the past too, and it’s created a strong bond between them. So, how did it all begin?
Swift has been declaring her support for Team USA as far back as 2016, when she wished Biles and the team good luck in the Rio Olympics over Twitter. But the pair didn’t meet in person until 2017, when Biles was in attendance at a Super Bowl party that Swift performed at in Houston, Texas. A long-term Swiftie, she shared this photo on Instagram at the time (and yes, there is over a foot between them in height — pocket rocket Biles stands at just 4’8”, versus Swift’s statuesque 5’10”.)
Then, in 2021, Biles struggled at the Tokyo Olympics, and opted to withdraw herself from several events, citing mental health reasons. Her decision attracted a lot of criticism in some circles, with the gymnast being branded “selfish” towards her teammates for pulling out of group events. But Swift boldly defended Biles, narrating a video to her song “This Is Me Trying” (off 2020’s folklore) with the words “What do we want from our heroes? What do we expect of them? What do we need from them? What happens when they surprise us? When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning. It can be a heavy burden. It can be a chance to change everything. Throughout the last week, her voice has been as significant as her talents, her honesty as beautiful as the perfection that had long been her signature. But don’t you see? It still is. She’s perfectly human. And that’s what makes it so easy to call her a hero.”
Biles was overwhelmed with gratitude towards Swift for speaking out so publicly, knowing the Grammy winner’s iron-clad influence over millions of fans: yup, basically the whole world. Biles responded via X that the video had made her emotional (“I’m crying. How special. I love you @taylorswift13”), to which Swift continued the mutual love-in: “I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you.”
I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you. https://t.co/VQxyeEf0mJ
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 3, 2021
Later that same year, Biles virtually presented Swift with an award — The Gracie Grand Award at the 2021 Alliance for Women in Media Awards — and took the opportunity to reiterate just how much her support had meant in her darkest moments, saying “I can’t even begin to express how much I adore Taylor and her music. And let me tell you, folklore isn’t the only amazing thing she did during this ongoing pandemic. She’s shown incredible grace and generosity to so many of her fans in need, including me. During the 2020 Olympics, she reached out. But she also did something so incredibly special for me that I’ll never forget.”
In response, Swift recorded an equally adorable acceptance video, once again declaring her love and appreciation of Biles.
These days, the women have something else very significant in common too: everyone knows that Swift’s boyfriend is NFL star Travis Kelce, but Biles is, of course, married to an NFL player too, Jonathan Owens. In 2023, Owens’ then team, the Green Bay Packers, were up against Kelce’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs, with both WAGs present in the stadium to cheer on their men. But sadly for fans of the Swift-Biles friendship, they were sitting in different sections. “There was no selfie!” said Biles after the game. “And I’m not sure they were exactly happy that the Packers were beating them!”
The next connection between the women was earlier this year, when Biles gave an interview to Vanity Fair in which she reflected on her fame in relation to Swift. “I think everyone wants to be famous, and then when it happens, you almost hit a wall and you have an identity crisis,” she said. “You’re like, Am I made out for this? Why did I wish for this? I’m not saying that [people] scream and line up like I’m Taylor Swift, [but] I still get a lot of attention. When five people come up to me and they’re rushing for a photo, I just get a little flustered. My anxiety kicks in.”
Thankfully, Biles’s anxiety was nowhere to be seen during the Olympics qualification trials on June 30, when she first used Swift’s reputation album opener “…Ready For It?” for part of her mind-blowing routine, considered the most difficult in the history of the sport. And it turns out the decision to use the song came about in collaboration with her team. “I actually hate learning a new floor routine, that’s the worst part for me,” she told NBC. “So, I just kind of let everybody pick whatever they wanted. Actually, my agent suggested Taylor Swift and then I found this Beyoncé song that I really liked and we kind of collabed it together … I do love Taylor Swift and I do love Beyoncé …. Those are my girls!”
But Biles’s choreographer, French legend Grégory Milan, said getting the floor routine to work with the track was easier said than done. “So it’s complicated to find instrumental versions of Taylor Swift’s music,” he told Essentially Sports. “If Taylor Swift hears my message, I would have loved to tell her, ‘Why Taylor, if Simone is a fan of yours, why didn’t you make a special piece of music for her?’” but since I don’t know her and she doesn’t know me, I had to manage on my own.”
Milan’s effort paid off; the now iconic routine caught the attention of Swift herself, who wrote via X, “Watched this so many times and still unready. She’s ready for it tho.”
So far at Paris 2024, Biles has been wowing the crowds — including Tom Cruise, who also recently attended the Eras tour in London— with her routines, and Swift has been admiring from afar while on the road, posting via X that she was “So ready to scream at my TV cheering for these athletes 🏅”
With Swift currently touring across Europe, and all of the venues just a short flight from Paris, fans of the women’s mutual appreciation society are desperately hoping that Swift could make a surprise appearance at the Olympics on one of her days off, noting that she has no concert scheduled for August 11, when the closing ceremony takes place; a ceremony which, if all goes to plan, should see Biles dripping in medals!
Meanwhile, Swifties are also speculating that Biles’s “…Ready For It?” triumph could inspire their hero to announce that it’s time for 2017’s reputation, the album it originally featured on, to finally get the “Taylor’s Version” treatment.
Right now, though, “…Ready For It? (Simone’s Version)” is more than enough to keep the world happy. But since these two supremely talented, utterly dedicated women are basically the most iconic figures in the world right now, we’d all love to see that closing ceremony selfie too.
