Simone Biles has some real gall…….stones that is. 

It’s no secret that after watching her captivate the world during the 2016 Summer Olympics and helping lead the US Women to their second straight team gold and fourth straight all-around gold medal win that Simone Biles is a force to be reckoned with. And possibly the greatest gymnast to ever compete in a red, white, and blue leotard. 

Well just when you think this pint-sized powerhouse couldn’t wow us again she proved you, me, your dad, your crazy aunt and all of the world wrong. In case you haven’t already heard, the night before she was set to compete at this year’s world championships she was taken to the E.R. because of kidney stones. In a move that channeled the spirit of Kerri Strug, Biles put her team first and pushed through the pain.

Not only did she just push through but SHE WON. Biles captured her 4th(!) World’s All-Around Gold Medal making her the first woman to ever do so!! So what if she fell twice?? That’s how elite she is at this point. She was so far ahead that two falls couldn’t derail her. Oh yeah….she also had her signature vault named after her!

Need I remind you she had kidney stones? Yeah, let’s go ahead and talk about that…

Have you ever had kidney stones? Well, I have! And I can tell you that it was the worst pain I have ever been in my entire life! (Granted I haven’t had any children yet so there’s a trump card that is still left to be possibly played but honestly I’m even skeptical about that).

I am not exaggerating when I say that I walked into urgent care bent in half due to the amount of pain I was in (and I’ve gotten teeth knocked out during a soccer game but that’s a story for another day). I legitimately could not stand up straight. The thing with kidney stones is that they pass whenever they pass so it could be an hour or it could be a day. Just depends on the individual case.

Frankly, I find it borderline offensive that Simone went out and one-up’d any of us that have ever gone through that experience. I swiftly went from a 19 year old girl to a 90 year old woman within a matter of hours, complete with being forced to drink my choice of either prune or grape juice and straining my pee. Is that TMI? Too bad. If you’ve had them you’ll understand what I’m talking about.  

Simone on the other hand went from the E.R. to the competition floor and casually made history.

If she wasn’t so great I’d be angrier but mostly I’m just still sitting here in awe of her and her athleticism and her perseverance. We all should be.