The Inspiring Reason Simone Biles Returned to SI Swimsuit for a Second Photo Shoot

In 2019, she traveled to Puerto Vallarta for her sophomore feature in the annual magazine.

Simone Biles was photographed by Walter Chin in Puerto Vallarta. / Walter Chin/Sports Illustrated

In 2017, Simone Biles fielded an invitation to join the SI Swimsuit family. The offer included a photo shoot in Houston and a spot on the pages of the annual issue alongside fellow 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympian Aly Raisman.

It wasn’t your typical brand photo shoot. For one, the settings—which included both a skate park and a sculpture garden—were a far cry from a tropical beach. But, perhaps more importantly, Biles’s poses weren’t ones you would typically find in the annual issue. Dressed in a series of stunning black and white swimsuits, the athlete gave the SI Swimsuit team a taste of her incredible gymnastics talents. Rather than standing in traditional poses, Biles did handstands and leaps and standing splits.

By comparison, her return to the magazine in 2019 was relatively standard. That year, in Puerto Vallarta on the coast of Mexico, the brand made the decision to showcase a different side of the incredible gymnast. “Everyone’s so used to seeing Olympic Simone,” editor in chief MJ Day explained on set, “and we get to hang out with Simone the woman, who just wants to feel beautiful.”

The resulting photo shoot strayed from her debut in both styling and setting. Where her swimwear looks were concerned, Biles wore a series of bright pastel one-pieces and stunning feminine bikinis. And where the setting was concerned, she was photographed in powerful poses atop oceanfront rocks or on dark sand beaches.

For Biles, it seemed, returning to the magazine was somewhat of a no-brainer. “To be a part of this magazine means everything just because they celebrate women [and] empowerment,” she told the team while on set in Mexico. “So it’s really—it’s an honor.”

It was a feeling that we shared, and the honor was all ours. But more importantly, we were happy to have the opportunity to celebrate the woman that Biles is. On set with SI Swimsuit, Biles willed herself “to be more confident, to feel more feminine and to be more beautiful,” she said. “I feel like I accomplished that goal. I felt confident out there. I felt pretty.”

That was, after all, her understanding of the brand’s mission—the celebration of women—and the SI Swimsuit team was happy to have the chance to prove the elite gymnast right.

Here are a few photos of Biles in her element on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta.

Walter Chin/Sports Illustrated

Walter Chin/Sports Illustrated

Walter Chin/Sports Illustrated