Simone Biles Addresses Bowing to Her Competitor After NFL Player Calls the Gesture 'Disgusting'

Simone Biles is not only the most decorated gymnast in history (and not-so-arguably, the greatest of all time)—she's a class-act human being too, putting her sportsmanship on full display at her last competition.

During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, she and her teammate Jordan Chiles bowed to their competitor Rebeca Andrade as she earned the gold medal during the floor finals, after the Team USA duo took silver and bronze respectively.

On the podium, photos of Biles and Chiles bowing down to the Brazilian gymnast quickly went viral—but the kind gesture wasn't well-received by everyone.

Namely, NFL player Marlon Humphrey took issue with the bold move, taking to social media to express his unfiltered opinion.

On Monday, Aug. 5, the Baltimore Ravens cornerback took to X (formerly Twitter) to bash the moment of women empowerment, writing, "This is literally disgusting," alongside a photo of the trio of gymnasts.

Several social media users took to the platform to refute his opinion, like one who sarcastically replied, "Yeah, because giving someone their flowers who has come back from THREE ACL tears to continue to be a top gymnast is disgusting."

But Biles defended her own actions in a TV interview that followed, "sending a big message" that at the end of the day, "it's all about sportsmanship."

Today's Hoda Kotb commended her for her powerful display at the Olympic games, noting, "I think the lessons that you're teaching our girls—winning is beautiful, and you've demonstrated that for years—but there's something else that you're doing at these games that is so interesting and different."

"Rebeca Andrade, when she won gold and you and Jordan both bowed down, and the Louvre said, 'Hang this image in the Louvre,' girl, that's amazing," she continued to commend.

Smiling widely, Biles responded, "We don't care whether we win or lose, we're always gonna keep a good face and support our competitors because they've worked just as hard as we have for that moment. So you have to give them their flowers, and that's exactly what me and Jordan were doing, and we were so happy for her. She deserved it—she had the best floor routine of that day and of the Olympics, so it's like, yeah, she deserved it!"

Well, it's hard to go against that response! As for Biles, the history-making pro gymnast took home another three gold medals and one silver during this year's set of competitions.

Next: Simone Biles Shares Pointed Message on Behalf of All Olympic Athletes