Simone Biles claims Paris club tried to charge her $26,000 for a champagne bottle

The 27-year-old U.S. gymnastics star said in a TikTok post over the weekend that a Parisian nightclub tried to get her to spend $26,000 on just a single bottle of champagne after the Olympics ended last week.

“We had closing ceremonies at the Olympics. I went and after that we went out. You guys, this club tried to charge me $26,000 for a bottle of champagne. Like, are you insane?” Biles said. “Obviously, I didn’t buy it. But why would you even try to play me like that? Like, that’s wild.”

Biles added that it was one example where the inescapable attention she receives as the most decorated gymnast in history isn’t ideal.

“And I don’t know, sometimes the attention, I’d rather not have it. I’d rather just be as normal as possible… I don’t know,” she said.
Biles did not name the specific club where the attempted champagne sale occurred. However, she was previously seen with her sister Adria Biles at the popular Paris nightclub L’Arc on Aug. 12 in photos she posted to social media one day after the Olympics ended. She referred to the club then as “The reason I’m unwell this morning.”

In addition to saving the $26,000, Biles surely returned home from Paris a wealthier woman than when she arrived. She won three gold medals in the team, individual all-around and vault events, and a silver in floor.

Her lone silver medal yielded her nearly enough money to cover the cost of the champagne, as U.S. Olympians are paid $23,000 per silver medal. Her gold medals, which earned her $38,000 each, brought her total earnings based purely on medals up to $137,000 from Paris.
However, her Olympic medal bonuses account for a very small amount of her income. According to data from Sportico, Biles was the ninth-highest earning female athlete in the world in 2023. She reportedly made about $8.5 million before taxes and any agent fees without any Olympics that year. She makes the vast majority of that from endorsement deals.

Still, her medal-worthy performances in Paris will surely bring about new marketing deals for her too.

The hardware haul brought her Olympic medal total up to 11 – the most of any American female gymnast – four more than Shannon Miller. Biles’ seven gold medals are two behind Larisa Latynina for the most Olympic gold medals of all time. Latynina finished her career with 18 total medals.

Biles even managed to hit her famous Yurchenko double pike, also known as the “Biles II.” She managed all this while dealing with a calf injury, as she was seen in a walking boot during the pomp and circumstance of the closing ceremony.

“Such an honor. I haven’t found the right words to describe my Olympic experience, it’s been a whirlwind… but I do know, I’ll be forever grateful to represent the United States,” Biles wrote on Threads after returning home.

The next Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles. Biles is unsure whether she will compete in those games, when she would be 31.

“Never say never,” Biles told reporters at a press conference on Aug. 3, via “Today.” “Next Olympics are at home. So you just never know. I am getting really old.”