Saturday evening (19 July), seven-time Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles watched competition at the 2025 U.S. Classic from a corner of the arena, avoiding the spotlight at one of the first major U.S. gymnastics competitions since the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
There was no formal recognition of the sport’s greatest of all time, no ceremony, no media obligations as Biles kept a low profile, initially standing on the floor near the balance beam to watch former training-mates Joscelyn Roberson and Dulcy Caylor compete.
“My lil babiessss,” Biles said in an Instagram story post of the duo.
After the first rotation, Biles found a seat in a lower-level suite where she quickly caught the attention of the crowd.
Her long-time coach Cecile Landi, now the University of Georgia co-head coach, joined her there. The two chatted casually throughout the competition.
It was a fitting image as the 28-year-old contemplates what’s next for her in both life and the sport. Biles would be 31 when the Games head to Los Angeles in 2028. She hasn’t ruled out a fourth appearance at the global event but hasn’t committed to it either.
With Biles on the sideline – literally – a new generation of gymnasts led by Claire Pease, the 2024 U.S. junior champion, stepped up.
Pease soared to a 54.600 score in the all-around, powered by top-three finishes on all four events. Simone Rose, a 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, was second at 54.200, followed by Roberson’s 53.250.
Rose, 17, went into the final rotation with a three-and-a-half tenth lead, having started her night with a bang, sticking her one-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko for a 13.800. She added a 13.950 on the uneven bars before putting up a 13.150 on the balance beam.
But Pease, just 16, passed her in the final rotation as she boomed a clean Yurchenko double full for a 14.050 score. Rose’s clean but lower-difficulty floor exercise earned a 13.300, putting her second overall.
Biles’ Olympic teammate in Paris, Hezly Rivera, struggled in her opening two rotations, coming up short on her uneven bars dismount and falling off during her acrobatic series on the beam. The errors cost her, as she finished in a tie for 12th place.
The event was the final qualifier for next month’s U.S. Championships, set for New Orleans from 7–10 August. Senior women’s athletes scoring a 52.000 or better in the all-around earned automatic qualification to the event.