Simone Biles has five gymnastics moves named after her — and for the first time, someone besides Biles nailed one of those moves at the Olympics.
Hillary Heron, a 20-year-old artistic gymnast from Panama, made history when she landed the Biles I floor element as she competed in Paris on July 28 at the Bercy Arena.
Biles debuted this signature move, which involves a double layout with a half-turn, at the 2013 World Championships, and since then, only a handful of other gymnasts have performed it over the years (and none, until now, at the Olympics).
Heron, who is making her Olympic debut in Paris, first performed the Biles I floor skill at the 2023 South American Championships, and landed it again at last year’s World Championships.
“I think it’s the floor routine of my life, just so much work that has gone into that floor that many people wouldn’t believe, hours and hours and hours and trusting myself,” Heron said in an interview with Olympics.com. “I couldn’t believe I had done it, and I had done it just as I imagined it when I was four years old.”
She called Biles an “inspiration” and said performing one of the legendary gymnast’s signature skills meant a lot to her.
Heron also said Biles stopped to chat with her in Paris.
“When I was in the warm-up, she told me she loved my leo,” Heron said. “Definitely that was an ego boost.”
Heron appears to have been a Biles fan for a while. In another Olympics interview in April, when asked if she currently had Biles’ number on her phone, she said she only wished she did.
“Unfortunately I don’t have Simone Biles on my phone,” she said. “I would love to.”
Heron scored 13.033 for her floor routine on Sunday. She did not qualify for the all-around finals this time, but she feels hopeful for the future.
“Definitely I want more Olympics,” she told Olympics.com. “This is the start of my career. I’m just very, very motivated for what’s to come next.”
Read on to learn more about this first-time Olympian.
She started doing gymnastics after watching the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Heron started doing gymnastics at 4 years old after watching the 2008 Beijing Olympics and “instantly falling in love” with the sport, she told International Gymnast in January.
By age 9, Heron was competing on Panama’s national team in the children’s category, and she went on to compete in several junior championships, including the Junior South American Championships and the Junior World Championships.
She made her senior competition debut at the 2021 Pan American Championships, and has competed twice in the Cairo World Cup.
Heron qualified for the Paris Olympics at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
“I look back with a little nostalgia at that four-year-old girl who had no idea what was going to happen in her life when she started this sport, and I would love to tell her that her biggest dream will come true,” she told International Gymnast.
Heron has a gymnastics skill named after her, too
Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, isn’t the only elite gymnast with a signature move named after her.
Earlier this year, Heron celebrated one of her own moves being entered into the Code of Points of the International Gymnastics Federation.
Her move, dubbed The Heron, involves a tucked back salto, or somersault, with one-and-a-half twists.
“It’s official … my name will forever stay in gymnastics history books,” Heron wrote on Instagram, sharing a video of herself performing The Heron at the 2024 Cairo World Cup.
She also thanked her coaches for “always pushing me to my full potential and for coming up with crazy ideas that lead us to history-making performances.”
Her Olympics leotard was a tribute to her native Panama
Heron has opened up about representing her Panamanian identity at the Olympics.
Her competition leotard, which she helped design, included several tributes to Panama, according to Reuters.
These include a red, white and blue color scheme echoing the Panamanian flag, as well elements of a “pollera de gala” design, an intricate design often found on traditional skirts.
Her leotard also included images of the flower of the Holy Spirit and the Bridge of the Americas, the bridge that spans an entrance to the Panama canal near Panama City.
“Knowing that I carry Panama with me, both in my leotard and in every presentation I do, it means a lot to me and it’s a dream come true,” Heron told Reuters.
Heron was the flag bearer for Team Panama at the Olympics opening ceremony. She is one of eight Panamanian athletes, and the only gymnast from the country, to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Her father and grandfather were professional baseball players
Heron comes from a family of athletes.
Her father, Ricardo Heron, played with the Chicago White Sox in the 1990s and her grandfather, Karl Chico Heron, was a minor league baseball player in the 1950s, the Olympian told International Gymnast earlier this year.
The gymnast said her grandfather also worked as a scout, and is known for signing Panamanian-American pitcher Mariano Rivera to the New York Yankees.
“Baseball is a fundamental part of my family, and my parents have instilled in me that unconditional love for a sport — not just gymnastics — happens from an early age,” Heron told International Gymnast.
“Sports teach you fundamental values that not only make you a great athlete, but also a great person,” she continued. “Having a family that understands what it means to be a high-performance athlete at this level is wonderful because they are always there to give me advice and guide me on the right way.”
Heron also often posts about her mom, Yaroslavi de Heron, and her sister, Alexandra, on social media.
On June 26, the Olympian shared a photo of herself with her family seeing her off at the airport, posing with Heron’s three Team Panama branded suitcases and Olympic backpack.
“And so the adventure begins,” she wrote in the caption.
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