Legendary Serena Williams Calls Simone Biles ‘GOAT’ Following Joint Panel

The tennis icon praised the Olympic gymnast in an Instagram post after the event.

Serena Williams and Simone Biles / Marc Piasecki/Getty Images and Derek White/Getty Images

On Dec. 4, Serena Williams and Simone Biles teamed up for a joint panel conversation at an event hosted by Audemars Piguet, Vanity Fair and The Female Quotient. It was, according to the former professional tennis player, “an evening of impactful conversation.”

Following their chat, Williams took to her Instagram to confer on Biles a nickname that has likewise been given to her over the years. In the caption of the tennis star’s Instagram roundup from the high-profile evening, she called the Paris Olympian “the GOAT.”

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For Williams, much as we said, the term isn’t an unfamiliar one. Throughout the course of her 27-year career, she established herself as a phenomenon on the court. Her record speaks for itself: she has 23 Grand Slam women’s singles titles to her name (the second-most in the history of women’s tennis), 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (alongside her sister, Venus Williams) and four Olympic gold medals (three in the doubles event and one in the singles). In other words, Williams earned the title of “GOAT,” and wears it well, too.

But talent recognizes talent, as they say—and Williams certainly knows an impressive athlete when she sees one. With three Olympic appearances, almost a dozen Olympic medals and three times as many World Championship medals to her name, there’s no doubt that Biles is “the GOAT.”

If it wasn’t clear before the Paris Olympics, she certainly made it so during her latest appearance on the international stage. After a case of the “twisties” caused her to withdraw from competition at the 2020 Tokyo Games, the 27-year-old took a step back from competition. She turned her focus to her mental health, prioritizing meditation and therapy—practices that she carried with her to the 2024 Summer Games. And when she came back to competition, she did it in a big way, winning several competitions en route to the 2024 Olympic Trials. And at the Games themselves, she reclaimed the individual all-around title.

Needless to say, the praise from Williams was well-deserved. The pair, both dressed in their best all-black winter fashion, are both incredibly talented—and inspirational, too. And that’s what the event last night was all about. “I love to see it,” Williams wrote of the evening in her caption. We couldn’t agree with the sentiment more.