'Never say never': Simone Biles hints at competing in 2028 LA Olympics despite 'getting really old'

PARIS, FRANCE: Minutes after winning gold on vault, Simone Biles left the door open to competing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

The American star defeated Brazil's Rebeca Andrade once again in the vault apparatus final on Saturday, August 3, winning her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics.

Simone Biles jokes about aging and remaining at the peak of her gymnastics career

It's Simone Biles' 10th Olympic medal and seventh career gold. The gymnast said "Never say never," after winning the gold medal on Saturday, according to USA Today.

"The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know, but I am getting really old," she added.

In June, Biles said that compared to previous years, 2016, when she won four Olympic gold medals, and 2018, when she nailed every event at the world championships, she was feeling at the top of her career at 27.

“I use the phrase, 'Aging like fine wine,’" Biles joked earlier this month after she’d extended her own record with her ninth US championship.

Three years ago, after her nightmare experience in Tokyo, Biles wasn’t sure she’d ever compete again, let alone make it back to an Olympics.

Simone Biles on dealing with negativity

Simone Biles' gold on Saturday was won on the same apparatus where she experienced the infamous "twisties" at the Tokyo Olympics, which led to a lot of negative comments directed at her.

"The negative comments, they’re painful after a certain point," Biles said on Saturday.

"They hurt, but I'm still in therapy working on all that stuff to just make sure my mental health is well." She added, "They’re really quiet now."

Biles performed her iconic namesake vault, the Yurchenko double pike, or “Biles II," on Saturday to win gold in the vault.

It’s the most difficult vault in the women’s rulebook, and today’s landing was the best of her performances in Paris, earning her 15.700 points.

Her second vault was a "Cheng," which involves a half-turn onto the table, followed by a 1.5 twist into the air. That scored a 14.900, earning Biles a 15.300 average between the two vaults.

In 2016, Biles became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in vault.

Simone Biles continues to break records, jokes she'll hand it over to Brazil's gymnast Rebeca Andrade

Simone Biles' win in the individual all-around on Thursday, August 1, made her the first American and just the third gymnast in history to win the Olympic all-around gold medal more than once.

The others – Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union and Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia – last competed in the 1960s.

Saturday's vault final was the third time Biles has performed her eponymous "Biles II" vault in Paris.

She was required to do both of her vaults in the qualification round to earn a spot in the vault final, but was originally planning to opt for her more conservative of the two vaults, the Cheng, in the all-around final.

Biles ultimately decided that she would need to “bring out the big guns,” namely the “Biles II” vault, to beat out Andrade for the all-around gold.

“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more,” Biles said on Thursday with a laugh. “I’m tired. She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and brought out the best athlete in myself.”

Biles has not announced her retirement, but she said, “I’m going to hand it to her now — she can have the rest.”