Simone Biles Tackles Body Shaming In New Book 'Courage To Soar'

Simone Biles knows all the ups and down of body image and body shaming.

“It’s hard growing up in a sport where you compete with very little clothing on your body and everyone is staring at [your body] no matter how good you are,” she recently shared about the sport.

Simone tackles the subject straight on in her new book, “Courage To Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance”, and opens up about one time she overheard one coach call her fat after crashing on the mat.

“I dismissed myself from the floor so nobody could see me, and I walked to the back behind the curtains and I was crying…Martha [Karolyi, former USA gymnastics national team coordinator] pulled me back on the floor, and she gave me a little bit of a pep talk and was like, ‘See, you can’t train like this and let the results show,’” she shared during an interview.

Simone adds, “So I went back to the gym and I did as told. Her pep talk kind of gave me a little bit of an up rather than a down…it felt good to hear her because I was terrified she was going to be upset with me.”

Check out more pics of Simone below during a visit to the Build Series in New York City this week — and go pick up her book now!