KC teen has eyes of G.O.A.T Simone Biles
Janae' Hancock, CNN | 2/27/2024, 8:49 a.m.
The name of one Kansas City teen is being mentioned right alongside the greatest gymnast of all time. One day before making her debut in the Winter Cup, 16-year-old CaMarah Williams got the surprise of a lifetime when Simone Biles acknowledged one of her routines on Friday.
A video of the KC native was posted on the social media platform X with the caption, “CaMarah Williams elite debut who’s ready?” Almost one hour later, The 4x Olympic gold medalist responded with the emoji raising her hand.
The post immediately went viral.
USA Gymnastics then tweeted, “We’ll be watching this one over and over again.”
Williams says she was in disbelief.
“She is the best gymnast in the world. This was my first year like ever doing elite so for her to notice me and like see me out of a lot of girls there it was a different feeling.”
The teen, who fell in love with the sport at the age of six, says she was extremely nervous ahead of her debut. But with the eyes of Biles, she walked into the competition with confidence.
“First, I feel really grateful. I feel like I am one of the good gymnasts now. I don’t feel too iffy about elite anymore,” Williams said. “Now that I did get recognized by her, I know that I am good enough where I am at.”
The 16-year-old medaled in 6th place on Saturday. She finished with an overall score of 51.000, qualifying her for the 2024 US Gymnastics Championships in May.
She says she dreams of going to college to compete on a gymnastics team and hopes to represent the USA at the Summer Olympics one day.