Two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles is one of the best athletes in the world, but hasn’t always been the most confident.
The 24-year-old gymnast appeared on the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue cover and reflected on her achievement while chatting with PEOPLE. Chiles revealed that she has had challenges with her self-esteem over the years, and her mom has witnessed those struggles firsthand.
“My mom actually cried a few times from some of the photos because she’s been there literally every single moment of my life,” Chiles said, “so I think it was more of her realizing how beautiful her daughter is and what I’ve gone through.”
“I’ve embraced every single aspect of who I am and I’ve embraced the amazing body that I have,” the Olympian continued. “Because she was there when I would cry and be like, ‘Mom, they’re saying this. They’re saying that.’ Or I would look at myself in the mirror and call myself ugly almost every day. I think it was just really cool for her to know that I get this opportunity and that I get the ability to embrace who Jordan is.”
Chiles has been open about how past coaches encouraged her to reduce her calorie intake to 800 a day and how that negatively impacted her. She also admitted that she didn’t find her arms attractive at one point.
“I had to figure things out, and there were certain things on my body that I didn’t like, my arms.” However, Chiles’ arms are now one of many body parts she’s learned to accept.
“Knowing now I get to embrace those, and I have these amazing art pieces that are tattooed on me to really tell my story. Yeah, it’s amazing. I love it. I feel so comfortable. I feel so confident,” she said.
“I feel amazing in that I get to finally say that I’m 24 years old. My body changes every single day. As women, we have to go through a lot. We go through our cycles, we go through body positivity, sometimes imposter syndrome.”
She concluded, “I get the ability to change and hopefully make everybody embrace the same thing because our bodies are our bodies. Nobody can take that away.”
Chiles began gymnastics at the age of six and has achieved several accolades since. Most recently, the athlete earned two medals at the 2024 Paris Games—gold in the team all-around and bronze in floor exercise. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport stripped the bronze medal.