Simone Biles Becomes First Female Athlete To Receive ‘GOAT’ Emoji on Twitter for the Tokyo Olympics

Reigning all-around champion Simone Biles is heading to her second consecutive Olympics in Tokyo, where she is the touted early favorite on most of the apparatuses and poised to add more gold medals to her trophy case. To help celebrate Biles’ career and to show her support throughout the Summer Games, Twitter has created a new hashtag feature befitting her dominance in gymnastics.

 

 

Whenever a Twitter user uses the hashtags #SimoneBiles or #Simone, a custom goat emoji automatically appears beside it. NBC reports that Biles is the first female athlete ever to receive this feature on Twitter.

Illustrated by Twitter animator and designer Kaitlyn Joe, the emoji features an anthropomorphic goat dressed in a leotard, adorned with a gold medal and performing a split jump.

For those unfamiliar, “goat” is a stand-in for the acronym “GOAT” or “Greatest of All Time.”

According to USA Today, the term is frequently attributed to boxer Muhammad Ali, who often touted himself with the accolade during interviews with reporters — and trash talk with opponents. His wife, Lonnie Ali, incorporated “G.O.A.T. Inc.” in September 1992 to consolidate and license his intellectual property for commercial purposes. Rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J also popularized the term when he released his eighth studio album in 2000 with the moniker.

Describing dominant sports figures as the “GOAT” continues decades later — from Michael Jordan to Serena Williams to LeBron James to Tom Brady. Whether it’s defying gravity, pushing boundaries of physics, or simply adding gymnastic elements that even the men have trouble performing, Biles is certainly living up the GOAT title.

Although some events like soccer and softball have already started preliminary matches, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics officially begins with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 23, 2021.

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