Simone Biles had braces but no driver’s license and “Harlem Shake” topped the Billboard Hot 100 the last time she was beaten in all-around competition, seven years ago this week.
Biles, then having just turned 16, took second to 2012 Olympian Kyla Ross at a tri-meet among the U.S., Germany and Romania in Chemnitz, Germany, on March 30, 2013.
It was just the third senior meet of Biles’ career in her first year as a senior gymnast. Since that runner-up, Biles has won 21 straight all-arounds through the October 2019 World Championships, rarely even challenged (though she has been defeated in unofficial national team camp competition).
Chemnitz marked one of the least consequential meets of Biles’ sterling career. She devoted one sentence to it in her autobiography, “Courage to Soar,” and noted she was distracted from the stress of competition on the overseas trip by daydreaming about a birthday present.
“Secretly, I hoped that when I got back home, a shiny new turquoise-blue Ford Focus would be waiting for me in our driveway,” she wrote.
Ross, speaking by phone last week, faintly recalled when asked the last time Biles was defeated.
“I think it was ... were we in Germany?” she said. “Oh gosh, I don’t even know if I can remember it that well.”
Ross did remember training before the meet at a German national team gym.
“When we got to the arena we were all kind of shocked,” she said. “In elite, we’re all used to competing on podium or in these big arenas. It was more of just almost like a college meet. Like it was a basketball floor. Nothing was on podium.
“I don’t even remember how the scores were shown or anything. Those meets in the spring in elite we’re just trying to get our routines figured out and get more consistent.”
Ross was the all-around star of the U.S. program at the time, given fellow 2012 Olympians Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber and Aly Raisman were taking breaks. She won both Chemnitz and the U.S. Classic (where Biles was pulled mid-competition by coach Aimee Boorman after early struggles).
Later that summer, Biles edged Ross by two tenths of a point combining scores from two days at nationals, and they again went one-two at the world championships.
“I felt like it was kind of the two of us,” Ross said. “This was her time to upgrade and make a name for herself. I definitely feel like I helped her and guided her a little bit. I feel like Martha [Karolyi] wanted me to teach her the ropes a little bit just because she always so fun and outgoing but definitely needed to try to learn and focus and understand what it was like to compete internationally and compete for Team USA.”
NBC Sports researcher Sarah Hughes contributed to this report.
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@Simone_Biles at the autograph session after the Chemnitz meet @USAGym @TripleTwistGym @GetAGripGymblog pic.twitter.com/uIOhIV01Cc
— Kerstin P (@Kerstin88) April 1, 2013
Today marks 7️⃣ years since the last time @Simone_Biles lost an all-around competition.
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) March 30, 2020
What else do you remember from 2013? pic.twitter.com/QfxEGGK2IZ