Skip to main content
Join Now

Simone Biles gives 'Riders Up' call ahead of 2025 Kentucky Derby

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•05/03/25•

NickSchultz_7

Olympic gymnastics great Simone Biles at the Kentucky Derby
© Maggie Huber/Special to Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ahead of the 2025 Kentucky Derby, Simone Biles took part in one of the race’s great traditions. She gave the “Riders Up” call at Churchill Downs.

Biles attended the race with her mother and her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens. They were in matching lavender outfits – something Biles said Owens picked out – and took in the scenery ahead of horse racing’s biggest event.

The “Riders Up” command has been reserved for a dignitary or celebrity attendee at the Kentucky Derby since 2012, Churchill Downs said. Biles now joins a list of names such as Martha Stewart, Patrick Mahomes and Jack Harlow to give the call in recent years.

Biles added to her decorated Olympics career this past summer in Paris. She now has 11 medals, including seven gold to set the record for a U.S. gymnast.

But she said being at Churchill Downs on Saturday for the Kentucky Derby is among the top events she has attended. Biles called it “exciting,” especially since the spotlight is on the horses who will run.

“This one is so exciting, mainly because the athleticism is really focused on the horses,” Biles said on the NBC broadcast. “Obviously, the jockeys have a lot of athleticism, as well. But it’s just so exciting.”

Simone Biles still undecided on 2028 Olympics

After giving out her pick for the 2025 Kentucky Derby – Chunk of Gold – Simone Biles was asked about whether she’ll participate in the next Olympic Games. The 2028 Olympics will be in Los Angeles, which could provide a stage for Biles to close out her storied career.

However, Biles is still working through whether she’ll take the floor. For now, her focus is on staying healthy as she makes her decision.

“I have not decided,” Biles said. “Obviously, since it is a home Olympics, it is such an honor to compete on home soil with the fans and everything. But as of now, we’re just going to take some time off, focus on my mental and my physical health. And then, we’ll see. If anything, I’ll definitely be there supporting Team USA. But I just don’t know right now if it’s on the floor or in the stands.”

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles brought home four medals – including three gold. In the process, she also broke Shannon Miller’s all-time record for medals won by a U.S. gymnast, now with 11 to her name.