Simone Biles Inspires Us No Matter What

On Monday afternoon, U.S. Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles took the bronze in the beam event after stumbling during her competition. She came in third behind teammate Laurie Hernandez and the Netherlands' Sanne Wevers. However, Biles' bronze medal doesn't mean she's lost. While some have suggested her slight fall led her to "settle" for the bronze, no matter what medal she walked away with on Monday, Biles is still a winner.

Over the last week of women's gymnastics coverage, the whole world has watched as Biles won one gold medal after another. The young athlete came out on top, as she dominated the competition in the beam, vault, and her specialty, the floor. She won three gold medals in her first week of competitions — proving she was not going to end her Olympic debut without first making history — and showed the world that she is one fierce athlete.

So no, even though Biles came out of Monday's beam competition with a bronze medal, she has absolutely not lost. In fact, her Olympic debut has proven inspirational to millions of viewers tuning in, and that's an important win in itself. And she wants to make sure the world knows who she is, noting, "It's amazing to be recognized for all of this success, [but] I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, I'm the first Simone Biles."

Biles has already made history during her first Olympics. And ahead of these Olympics, Biles had already won three world championships in a row, and was the four-time all-around champion. During the individual all-around competition on Aug. 11, Biles made history as the best gymnast in the world, and possibly of all time, as she joined the ranks of Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin, and Gabby Douglas as winners of the Olympic all-around competition for Team USA.

Rolling Stone wrote that "Watching her in action is the living embodiment of black girl magic," noting the importance of Biles and Gabby Douglas' achievements in recent years, especially in regards to representation. Specifically, Team USA reported that Wendy Hilliard, "the first African-American to make a national team in rhythmic gymnastics" said, "To see someone like you doing it really shows you it can be done. It’s that simple."

Biles has set an increasingly high bar for the sport moving forward. She has been nearly unbeatable over the course of the 2016 Olympics, and will likely continue to push the boundaries of competitive gymnastics moving forward as a fierce and fearless athlete.

At the end of the day, Biles has already achieved so much at the 2016 Games. She definitely hasn't lost.