Since helping the U.S. women’s gymnastics team win silver in Tokyo, Jordan Chiles has won gold at the World Championships and Pan American Games and become a champion collegiately at UCLA. Earlier this month, at the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Connecticut she had a strong showing, placing third in the all-around competition.
Jordan says after Tokyo she wasn’t sure she’d even try for the team in Paris, but just last year she realized she had more left in the tank.
“Knowing that in Tokyo I had that opportunity but obviously it didn’t turn out how I wanted it to,” recalled Chiles. “So after my freshman year I was like, ‘You know what, why not try for another one?’”
So after her freshman year at UCLA, Jordan returned to Texas to train again at World Champions Centre, the gym owned by Simone Biles’ parents in Spring.
“My motto this whole year is, I’m that girl,” said Chiles. “If I did it once I can do it again.”
In addition to being an Olympic medalist with a champion’s spirit, Jordan also has a fun side. She especially loves tennis shoes and is a certified sneakerhead. She showed us her collection at her Houston-area home which is about 100 pairs. But that is only half of all the shoes she actually owns. The rest are in storage in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t start to actually like really, really develop that sneaker love until I was older. Around 14, 15 years old,” said Chiles. “My collection kind of grew from there and almost every Christmas I’d just be like, ‘Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!”
Her love for the shoes will never fade, but her mind for the next two months will be focused on Olympic gold in Paris.
“It’s going to be a fun moment, being able to have your family and friends,” she said. “Having that energy in those moments and that hypeness is going to definitely bring out a little more in the athletes.”