The whole world already knows Simone Biles is the greatest. Now, America is coming close to making it official.
Last week, Biles, 18, was named a semifinalist for the James E. Sullivan Award. Given annually to the nation's best amateur athlete, it put the petite winner of three consecutive women's world all-around gymnastics titles up against the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and other large stars of college football, basketball and other big-time sports.
After a week of voting online, Biles emerged today as one of seven finalists (yeah, Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry is still there). You can check them all out at www.aausullivan.org and vote for the winner, to be announced on April 10.
You can read all about "Why the Rio Olympics Will Flip Over Simone Biles" in this story. She's the leader of a U.S. squad that's expected to once again contend for gold in the prestigious women's team competition that has us all glued to our TV's and spouting terms like "Double Layout Full In, Full Out" every four years.
But did you know it all began for the American women at the 1996 Summer Olympics right here in Atlanta? Check out this story about how Kerri Strug landed her famous one-legged vault and turned U.S. gymnastics — and women's sports in general — into a juggernaut that leads directly to Biles today.
Read about other powerful women:
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