Simone Biles to hold international invitational at family's World Champions Centre in Spring

SPRING, Texas – America's most decorated gymnast, Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles will have her very first international invitational at her family's World Champions Centre in Spring.

Biles sat down with KPRC where she discussed her invitational, preparations and plans for Tokyo 2020 and her message of encouragement to current Olympians in Korea.

Recommended Videos



She watched the historic win in Pyeongchang for the U.S. Women's Hockey team, where they took home the goal in a nail-biting shoot-off. 

WATCH: Simone Biles offers encouragement to US women's hockey team

"It's incredible. Especially when you're breaking those boundaries--all those young girl hockey players watch you," Biles said.

"I watched the entire thing -- but then it went into overtime," said her mother, Nellie Biles.

Biles is no stranger to pressure at the games. In 2016, she came out on top as the individual all-around, vault and floor gold medalists. At 20 years old, Biles has a total of nearly 20 world champion and Olympic medals, making her the most accomplished U.S. gymnast.

"I think it's a very scary moment for us because we work our whole lives to get there, but once you get there you kind of get a little timid and you get nervous, but then you remember, 'I've done so well to get here'," she said. 

However the U.S. had been struggling, with American Figure Skating having the worst short program in Olympic history. Mirai Nagasu, Karen Chen, and Bradie Tennell, the three Americans earned 9th, 10th and 11th place.

The American hockey team was sent home without any chance of earning a medal.

"You're an Olympian whether you win a medal, or you don't win a medal -- you're an Olympian," Biles said, offering encouragement to her Olympic colleagues.

"Do not give up. Don't think you've failed because you're still an Olympian. Medal or not, the U.S. is still so proud of you," she said.

For those who are still competing, Biles said, "have fun and embrace the moment -- don't change anything and go through your normal routine because you did exactly what you needed to get you there, so don't change anything and you'll succeed."

It is a lesson of discipline, perseverance and hard work that she's teaching to aspiring Olympic champions. Thursday marked the start of Biles' first-ever invitational.

"It's really exciting but there's a lot of hard work and dedication that's behind it. We don't just come up on scene and make it. We start from the bottom," she said.

Biles' mother, Nellie, spearheaded the invitational.

"We came up with this idea last year, of course, after the Olympics," said Nellie. "We were saying, 'Why don't we have an invitational meet. When Simone got back into her training, I thought it would bring a lot of energy."

This meet will have 15 sessions with multiple levels. Girls will get Biles Invitational leotards. Signed posters of Simone Biles will also be for sale. 

"We had to cut off registration in November," said Nellie.

The demand to enter was high, Nellie said, and next year, they are looking to expand the meet.

"I just hope that Simone is an inspiration to the young gymnasts," Nellie said. "I just hope that what she says, the way she carries herself, the work she puts into the sport--that they themselves know it's not easy."

"I train six hours a day, Monday through Friday, four hours on Saturday, then I have Sunday off. So I'm here quite a bit of time. I kind of live in the gym," Biles said.

For 2020, Biles plans on expanding her skills and trying new things. Right now, she said she is working on getting back into the swing of things.

"Sometimes we're working on routines or we break it down to skills or parts or sometimes you just do drills and conditioning. Some of the practices, it's a combination of all of that," Biles said.

Biles' 2018 Invitational runs the entire weekend. 

Simone Biles talks 2020, invitational, and encouragement for Olympic team

Posted by KPRC2 Rose-Ann Aragon on Thursday, February 22, 2018