Simone Biles, the 29-year-old seven-time Olympic gymnastics champion, revealed a serious health scare that she described as "almost dying" that occurred earlier this week [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. She posted on Instagram June 6 showing hospital bracelets on her wrist and a heart-rate monitor, confirming she had been hospitalized [1, 2, 3, 5]. Biles called the event "one of, if not the scariest experience of my life" and said she has since been resting in bed [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. She wrote, "I'm not one to normally share things like this because I value privacy in today's age, but almost dying wasn't on my bingo card earlier this week," and promised to explain the cause "sooner or later" [1].
Biles' husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens, was away in Indianapolis with the Colts during her illness, which added to the emotional difficulty she faced [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. She thanked her close circle of friends and family who reached out with visits and flowers [1]. While she has not disclosed a diagnosis, the images and statements indicate a serious medical event [1, 2, 3, 5].
The 29-year-old gymnast holds seven Olympic gold medals and 41 total world championship and Olympic medals. She won multiple medals as recently as the Paris 2024 Games [1, 2, 5]. In November 2025, she revealed she had undergone three plastic surgeries, two of which were not visibly noticeable [4].
Biles' social media accounts have millions of followers, with Forbes noting she has 11.8 million Instagram followers [3]. On June 6 she confirmed she was resting at home after the scare but gave no timeline for a full recovery or return to public life [1, 2, 4].
