Zac Efron shows support for Simone Biles’ gold medal win 8 years after their meeting on TODAY
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Team USA superstar and gymnastics GOAT Simone Biles has long been a super fan of actor Zac Efron, but it turns out he’s an equally big fan of hers.
Eight years after Efron flew to the Rio Games and surprised Biles on TODAY, he’s still celebrating her Olympic wins.
In a post to his Instagram page following the U.S. women’s gymnastics team’s first-place win in the team final at the Paris Olympics on July 30, Efron celebrated Biles’ historic gold medal.
“So incredibly proud of you @simonebiles,” he posted to his Instagram story, sharing a Team USA post noting that Biles is the oldest U.S. women’s gymnast to win an Olympic gold, at age 27.
Efron included three emoji: one of hands forming a heart shape, a gold medal and a goat, referring to her status as one of the greatest of all time in the sport.
Efron and Biles famously met on an episode of TODAY back in 2016 at the Rio Games when Biles was just 19.
Much was made of Biles’ Efron fandom in the NBC Olympic coverage. The “Final Five” star jokingly told Hoda Kotb at the time that she and her teammates needed Efron there for the team final.
“I think this is a moment, I think if you look at Camera 1 …” Hoda said to Biles.
“I can’t get my hopes up, I can’t do that!” Biles replied before eventually being cajoled.
“OK, Zac Efron, I think we need you here at the team final because we’ll all get to be there,” she said into the camera. “And we need you to come watch.”
Several days later, Efron surprised the gymnast in person in Rio de Janeiro.
After Biles won her fourth gold (and fifth overall) at the 2016 Games, Efron appeared during a segment on TODAY and surprised her, clad in a Team USA shirt, of course.
“Stop, you’re lying,’’ Biles said, flustered. “Stop, no way, no way.
“Ahhh, oh my God! Stop, is this real life? Oh my God. Stop.”
Efron gave Biles a big hug and posed for photos, which Biles celebrated with posts on social media.
Later in an interview with TODAY, Efron said he’d started watching and following Olympic gymnastics because he was “immediately captivated by these girls and what they were doing.”
“Their story just blew my mind,” he said. “When I found out Simone and this team were fans, I was like, ‘What kind of guy am I if I don’t show up?’”
Efron also posted to his X account (then Twitter) that meeting the team was his “Olympic dream” coming true.
In the years since her Efron encounter, Biles has become the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast ever and she’s also gotten married. Biles married NFL safety Jonathan Owens in two ceremonies last spring.
