PARIS, France — Vancouver native Jordan Chiles is headed to her second Olympic games after filling in at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, when Simone Biles stepped down.
Chiles was born in Tualatin, Ore. and grew up in Vancouver, Wash. She will partake in her second straight Olympic Games after spending the past years at UCLA.
After Simone Biles decided to withdraw from the Tokyo Games due to the "twisties," Chiles had to step in for her and helped Team USA place second, receiving the silver medal. She also was given Vancouver's key to the city.
"I'm always going to be proud of it, I look at that medal each and every day knowing that those were the times when I was crying at practice or frustrated or didn't want to do the sport anymore or wanted to quit," said Chiles.
Gymnastics requires Chiles to spin, flip and fly acrobatically through the air. While it may seem difficult for most, for her, it's like she has superpowers.
"My favorite thing about being a gymnast is knowing that I feel like a superhero, I love superheroes and every apparatus or event that we do, I feel like I'm flying, especially on bars, I feel like I'm Spiderman."
Superpowers or not, Chiles is focused on one thing and one thing only: a gold medal for Team USA.
"Team USA wants every gold because it's a really cool piece it's a really cool statement to who you are and it's always going to be in history books," said Chiles.
Team USA is returning a large portion of the team in Tokyo, plus Simone Biles. And while a gold medal would be the fairy tale ending Chiles is looking for, she said it's about more than just a medal.
"My masterpiece would be being 100% Jordan, being able to walk in with my friends with a different mindset and knowing that no matter what we put on the floor we'll be proud of ourselves," said Chiles.
The Women's Artistic Gymnastics begins on July 28, where Chiles and Team USA will look go for gold.