Simone Biles congratulated Jordan Chiles on making the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team over the weekend after the athlete nearly quit the sport three years ago.

Biles greeted Chiles, 20, with a huge hug after the gymnast placed third in the 2021 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics trials Sunday night.

“When I watched the 2008 Olympics, I knew I wanted to be an Olympian,” Chiles told NBC Sports. “But I didn’t really understand the concept of how to do that.” 

Chiles was only 7 at the time and had been competing for only a year. Since then she has won several awards and has been deemed a star by many. In 2016, Chiles was just four months shy of the age requirement to compete in the Olympic trials. After turning 15, however, she was devastated when she hadn’t made the cut to represent the U.S. at the Olympic games.

“I was crying in my seat,” Chiles told NBC Sports. “And I don’t cry just to cry. Like, I was just bawling my eyes out.” 

While anticipating her next chance at competing, she thought about quitting the sport in 2018, halfway through the current Olympic cycle. 

“I didn’t think the sport wanted me anymore…So I went in the opposite direction,” Chiles said during an interview with The New York Times. 

After careful consideration and several pep talks from her family and Biles, she decided to see it through and continue her dream of one day being an Olympian. That’s when Biles led Chiles back to the sport. Biles asked her to move to Texas to train with her and her coaches.

“I just wanted to finish high school and go off to college. But then I had a talk with Simone,” she added.

The athlete also credits her new coaches for helping her rediscover her love for the sport. 

“Laurent and Cecile brought back the love of the sport for me – because it was gone,” she said of her new coaches. “They’ve given my so much encouragement. I didn’t get that too much in the past. I just thank them all the time.”

Chiles now joins Biles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum in next month’s Olympic games. 

This isn't the first time Biles has been credited for being sisterly. At the beginning of June, Biles was seen fixing the ribbon in 16-year-old Zoe Miller's hair during the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, as Blavity previously reported. 

Jordan-ChilesSimone BilesTokyo-OlympicsU.S. Gymnastics