U.S. and UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles is a two-time Olympian and three-time NCAA particular person champion.
She appears to be like utterly comfy in her personal pores and skin as she’s performing a ground routine to music by empowering artists like Beyoncé and proudly displaying the greater than 20 “amazing art pieces” she has tattooed on her physique.
For a lot of Chiles’ life, nonetheless, the physique that helped propel her to athletic greatness made her really feel “ugly” and self-conscious. However when she first noticed photographs of herself as a Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit mannequin, “I literally started bawling my eyes out,” Chiles lately informed Folks journal.
U.S. and UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles seems on the duvet of the 2025 Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit situation, on newsstands starting Might 17. The portrait was shot in Boca Raton, Fla., on Nov. 4.
(Ben Horton /Sports activities Illustrated / Contour by Getty Pictures)
Chiles stated her mom, Gina, reacted equally.
“My mom actually cried a few times from some of the photos because she’s been there literally every single moment of my life,” Chiles stated, “so I think it was more of her realizing how beautiful her daughter is and what I’ve gone through.
“She was there when I would cry and be like, ‘Mom, they’re saying this. They’re saying that.’ Or I would look at myself in the mirror and call myself ugly almost every day. I think it was just really cool for her to know that I get this opportunity and that I get the ability to embrace who Jordan is.”
Chiles was a member of the U.S. Olympic squads that gained staff silver on the Tokyo Video games in 2021 and staff gold on the Paris Video games final summer time. Chiles was additionally awarded her first particular person Olympic medal, a bronze within the ground train, in Paris however it was taken away due to a technicality.
At UCLA, Chiles gained two nationwide titles within the uneven bars (2023, 2025) and one on the ground (2023). She additionally completed second within the all-around competitors in 2023 and helped the Bruins to a second-place general end this yr. Chiles has already introduced she is going to return to Westwood subsequent yr for her senior season.
“I’ve embraced every single aspect of who I am and I’ve embraced the amazing body that I have,” Chiles stated.
