- Simone Biles said Black women have to "be greater" to earn respect for their accomplishments.
- Even breaking records gets dimmed down "as if it's just normal," she told The Cut.
- Black female athletes battle stereotypes and stigma, on top of acing their sport, to earn respect, research shows.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Simone Biles is undoubtedly the greatest gymnast – and, many argue, athlete – of all time. She's earned 32 Olympic and World Championships medals, has landed a trick no other woman has attempted, and is the first American female gymnast to win a World medal in every event.
And along the way, she's had to battle the added pressures of being a Black woman in sport, Biles told The Cut's Camonghne Felix.
"As a Black woman, we just have to be greater," she said. "Because even when we break records and stuff, they almost dim it down, as if it's just normal."
Research has shown that Black female athletes have to learn and play a game other than their sport to earn respect: How to be neither too feminine or too masculine, how to give their all without seeming too "aggressive," how to excel in traditionally white sports without being tokenized by white people or criticized by Black people.
Black female athletes deal with "an overcompensation of composure because you're in a hostile environment – even on your own side at times," says Marirose Roach, an attorney and former Temple athlete, told the Undefeated.
Other female athletic stars have talked about that constant pressure to work harder than white women to get the same accolades. "I have to pay attention to what I need and take space when I need it, and understand that I'm up against a lot," 7-time Olympic gold medalist Alyson Felix told Elle earlier this year when asked about how she takes care of her mental health as a Black female athlete.
"There's a lot of pressure, and there are many barriers to break, and sometimes it can just feel overwhelming."
For Simone Manuel, the first Black woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming, the weight of just being a Black American, not to mention a female athlete, contributed to her missing an Olympics qualifier this year. "Being a Black person in America played a part in it," she said during a press conference. "This last year for the Black community has been brutal."
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