article: The former astronaut cheered as the United States won the women's gymnastics team title on Tuesday and saluted the special quintet, one of whom was the extraordinary Simone Biles. Biles, the innovator, the ground-breaker, is a gymnast who comes along every other generation or so - a 19-year-old hailed as the most talented anyone has seen. She is already a superstar of her sport and, by the time the Olympic flame is extinguished, is likely to orbit the same space as the planet's most recognisable stars. This 4ft 8in gymnast from Texas, placed into foster care because of her mother's struggles with drugs and alcohol and adopted when she was five by her maternal grandfather and his wife, has already won two Olympic golds at her debut Games. She could win five. She is expected to win five. She is almost untouchable. It is the end of June, at the American national championships in St Louis, and the Olympics are fewer than two months away. Biles is in the middle of her floor routine. Watching on is 2008 Olympic all-around silver medallist Shawn Johnson. The reigning champion spots Johnson in the crowd, cheekily winks at her and flashes a smile, before continuing to perform vertigo-inducing somersaults. No-one else would have the chutzpah. No-one else looks like they're having so much fun. The athlete herself says it is her ability to enjoy the spotlight which sets her apart. "It's how it works best for me and how I get success out there," she says. But cheer and calmness are not the only attributes that separate the ebullient American from the rest. It has been three years since Biles, her sport's first black female world champion, entered an all-around competition and did not win. No female gymnast has ever had her power, reached such soaring heights, been so consistent and performed jaw-dropping routines with such joy. "I would make the case that she's the best athlete in Rio," says ESPN's TJ Quinn. The differences between the three-time world champion and the others are not subtle. She is faster, stronger - her powerful run allows the teenager to include more elements in her routine than competitors who have to go further before they can start tumbling. On the floor, the girl described as having legs made by Nasa can leap a foot or two higher than her rivals. Her coach Aimee Boorman has said her pupil has exceptional "air sense", the innate ability to know where she is in mid-air. Biles is also bolder and more consistent, too. Small and light, her compact body is also perfect for her sport. "She's certainly doing the most difficult work we've ever seen," says Christine Still, a gymnastics coach and member of BBC Sport's commentary team. "In terms of performance and her ability to perform again and again, she's the best I've ever seen." As a child, Biles would watch older girls and copy them with ease. According to her coach, she will learn a new skill in three days, while most gymnasts take months or years to
summary: It made sense that Buzz Aldrin, a man who has walked on the moon and lived without gravity, was in Rio to watch a teenage compatriot defy the earth's forces like no other athlete in history.