Simone Biles' Beloved Tradition After Every Meet Involves Pepperoni Pizza

Simone Biles returned to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with nothing but gold on her mind. After getting hit with a hard case of the twisties in the 2020 Tokyo Games — a mental block that causes gymnasts to lose the connection between their brain and body that resulted in her withdrawing from the competition — Biles is leaving Paris with an additional 3 gold medals and 1 silver, for a grand total of 11 in her Olympic career. And how did the "GOAT" treat herself after each? The same way she always does, with a pepperoni pizza.

Win or lose, medal or no medal — Simone Biles orders a pizza after every meet. As she explained in a 2016 interview with ABC News, "It doesn't even matter if I don't win a self-gold, after every meet I have pizza. Pepperoni pizza." It's her personal tradition, and considering that she's the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history, she's had more than her fair share. But she has also admitted to ordering pizza more often than that, citing it as her favorite thing to order for lunch after a long morning spent training in the gym.

Seeing as it's her favorite food, and that she's sampled many from different parts of the world, Biles surely holds an educated opinion on what pizza is the best. But, her favorite is more divisive than the question itself.

Within the "what pizza is the best" debacle, a few major cities will usually come to mind first. There's Chicago's famous deep-dish – which is about as controversial as Simone Bile's favorite — and the more mainstream-appreciated New York slice. There's also some lesser known styles, like the Colorado braided crust and Detroit's chewier, square cut slices, aside from the traditional Italian styles. Biles' preferred pizza, however, hails from St Louis — but more specifically from a chain called Imo's, a stance that some might agree with, while others might argue revokes her credibility on the matter entirely.

In an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2021, Biles defended the chain's pies — particularly its use of provel cheese, a St. Louis staple in and of itself. She told Kimmel that it's the best, and rebutted his likening of it to provolone as "what Velveeta is to cheddar" with one, simple response: "I don't discriminate against cheese." You really can't argue with that. Later on in the interview, she went as far as to rate the pizza "a perfect 10." Imo's appreciated her acknowledgement so much that the company went as far to make sure she had some waiting for her upon her return home from Tokyo in 2020.

That could change, however. With her husband, Jonathan Owens', recent move to the Chicago Bears football team, Biles has said she's looking forward to diving into the local food scene, which will undoubtedly include some pizza. Pepperoni pizza.