Believe it or not, there was a time Simone Biles wasn’t quite good enough to make a team, let alone win a medal.
In 2011, a 14-year-old Biles finished 14th in the all-around at the U.S. Junior Championships, after which the U.S. women’s junior national team was named.
Thirteen gymnasts made the team, so Biles missed by one spot.
Biles described it as devastation, heartbreaking and a failure in an excerpt from “Courage to Soar,” her autobiography due out Nov. 15.
“Tears were bubbling up inside me, but I refused to let the other girls or the coaches see me cry,” Biles wrote.