Leslie Jones is continuing her tradition as an honorary sportscaster for the Olympics this summer! After cheering on Team USA in Rio during the 2016 Olympics and live-tweeting the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018, she’s back again for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were postponed from last summer due to the pandemic.
The former “Saturday Night Live” star shared some live reactions across Twitter and Instagram on Friday, June 25, taking the opportunity to hype up Simone Biles among other competitors during day one of the women’s competition at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials. The 53-year-old comedian shared over a dozen videos commentating on the night’s events, focusing her energy on the 24-year-old gymnast as she is poised to make history this summer. (Disclaimer: Some strong language is used!)
Jones kick-started her commentating with the uneven bars, snapping a short clip of Biles’ routine.
“This is supposed to be her least favorite and this is like the worst one that she does she...but it don’t look like that to me!” Jones narrated. “It looks like she’s a motherf—king superstar!”
When it came to the balance beam, Jones had some choice words for the judges who referenced the controversy around Biles’ ability to execute seemingly impossible moves.
“You hear this? Controversy where she made up a dismount that they had to name after her because can’t nobody else do it,” she said. “Let me explain something to you, world! You know there’s a first time for everything, right? Don’t be mad because this girl is so damn talented, y’all can’t even keep up with her flips."
Jones joked, adding, “Just start naming them all after her! Don’t be mad she’s actually doing it because nobody else is doing it, that don’t mean it can’t be done.”
“How do you ‘devalue’ a jump?” she said at one point. “If anything, I’d be like, 'Simone, we’re just going to give you 10, OK? We don’t really know how to judge that cause nobody ever really done that one before but don’t do it again, OK? Cause nobody else can do that. But you won the Olympics, OK, you won.'”
Jones captured Biles’ balance beam routine next, creating sound effects for each of her moves as she executed her routine.
“I’m sorry y’all can’t do that," Jones said. “That's what I would do... I would tattoo across my uniform ‘I’m sorry y’all can’t do this.’ Just go on and give her the medal now, she won the Olympics already at the trials."
Jones shared some words of wisdom about Biles’ skills during the floor exercise. She taped a clip of a side-by-side of Biles executing a similar move to a male gymnast, adding, “They got something named after her on the damn floor. Look at this! Now if you look, she’s higher in the air than homeboy!”
“Yeah, she’s incredible! She worked her a— off!” she said. “She believes in herself, and she had to fall and trip and make mistakes all that s—t to be the best that she is. You got to believe in yourselves, guys!”
During her floor exercise, Jones took the opportunity to make fun of herself when Biles stuck the landing, singing, “All of my knees shattered! Shattered and done and the ACL, throwing it in the garbage because it’s done.”
In addition to cheering on Biles, Jones challenged any critic to try to attempt the moves that she was doing during the routine due to their difficulty.
“I couldn’t do none of this,” she added. “That twist would’ve put me in the hospital.”
Between events, Biles took a moment to touch up her makeup, another aspect of the trials that Jones decided to creatively commentate.
“Let me put on a little bit of rouge because when they give me all of this gold, I’m going to need to look good,” Jones said, pretending to be Biles. “Give my ponytail a name!”
When it came time for the vault, Jones cheered Biles on all the way through, sharing a sentimental message about the moment.
“I’m trying my hardest not to burst into tears, this girl is so good. I’m so proud of you, Simone,” Jones said. “Let me tell you something about somebody who worked their a— off. You can’t penetrate hard work…If you prepared, you’re not that damn scared."
Biles led the pack at the U.S. Olympic Trials with an all-around total of 60.565 points, with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner, and Grace McCallum trailing behind. She even shattered her own high score for the floor exercise with 15.366 points, 0.416 points more than her previous highest score.
As it stands today, she is the most decorated female gymnast of all time. This summer, she is poised to break two more records with the opportunity to become the oldest American woman to win all-around Olympic gold in addition to breaking the American record for the most career Olympic gold medals won by a woman in any sport.