Jordan Chiles, the 23-year-old American gymnast, arrived at the Paris Olympics with the motto "do it for yourself."
After a rocky mid-career parting ways with critical coaches and taking over for Biles after she withdrew from the Toyko 2020 games, Chiles' mindset going into the Paris Olympics was to focus on herself, she previously told Business Insider in 2023.
"I'm going to put myself out there; I'm going to go do this and have an amazing time," Chiles said, adding she "didn't want to regret anything."
Chiles has surely lived up to her motto, and has already seen resounding success in Paris. The athlete a gold medal in the team finals on July 30 after competing on all four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
But even though Chiles was one of the strongest performers during qualifications, she fell just shy of the score she needed to compete for the women's all-around final. The Olympics only permits two gymnasts per country to go on to the all-around, and Chiles' score was slightly lower than that of her teammate Suni Lee.
Instead, Chiles will cheer on Lee and Simone Biles on August 1 as the two go head-to-head for the all-around gold medal.
Before arriving in Paris, Chiles was already a Olympic silver medalist — she took home the award for the team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — and has two World Championship silver medals in floor and vault, and a gold in the team event.
Outside of gymnastics, Chiles is known for her social media presence and her sense of style — she has several tattoos on her arms, including the Olympic rings, and several meaningful quotes, one of which was inspired by her grandfather, who died in 2023: "Where you are I have been, where I am you will be."
Jordan Chiles' career and road to the 2024 Olympics
Chiles grew up in Vancouver, Washington, and was named after Michael Jordan. She has four siblings: Jazmin, Jade, Tajmen, and Tyrus.
Chiles got into gymnastics at age six, and her parents, Timothy and Gina Chiles encouraged her passion for the sport.
Chiles was just 11 years old when she reached the elite level, and made her first national team the following year at age 12. The 5-foot-5 athlete went on to collect dozens of awards even before finishing high school.
But the road to the Olympic Games wasn't easy. Chiles has often spoken of how she considered quitting the sport in 2017 due to racist comments about her hair and muscles, and difficulty with her former coaches.
But instead, Chiles decided to move to Texas and train alongside Biles at World Champions Centre, under the coaches Laurent and Cecile Landi. Since then, her career has taken off.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Washington state native didn't qualify for individual finals. But when Biles withdrew from multiple events for mental health reasons, Chiles stepped in to replace her friend in the all-around final, helping the US team win their silver medal.
After competing in the 2020 Olympics, Chiles went on to compete in collegiate gymnastics — a similar path as her Tokyo and Paris teammate Jade Carey, who competes for the gymnastics team at Oregon State University.
Chiles attends UCLA, and has won two gold medals at the NCAA Championships for uneven bars and floor. When she's not competing or training, Chiles studies business, though she deferred her studies to prepare for the Paris Olympics.
Chiles, alongside Biles, Carey, Lee, and newcomer Hezly Rivera, is part of the all-star team of gymnasts representing US in Paris.
Chiles' net worth includes winnings from her Olympic medals —the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee awards its athletes $37,500 for gold medals and $22,500 for silver medals — and she also has a Nike sponsorship, and works with companies like the makeup brand Milani and and smoothie brand Too Good & Co.
