“I just lost $200 to…,” Simone Biles posted in August 2023. It had been nearly two years since she watched her teammate defy gravity, crush the uneven bars, and—true to her word—drop into an unexpected dance celebration on the mat. Simone, ever the competitor, had screamed and hollered with pride, but when the adrenaline cooled, she was left $200 lighter. She couldn’t believe she’d lost the bet. “Never again,” she had vowed silently. Now, in 2025, the time had come. Simone was ready. The plan? Epic. The execution? Flawless. The element of surprise? Impeccable.
Simone knew her gymnastics mate was clever—borderline suspicious. Pulling this off wouldn’t be easy. But she had an ace up her sleeve: she had been quietly plotting the ultimate surprise visit to Zoe Miller’s gymnastics camp at LSU—the Tigers’ den in Baton Rouge. The plan? Simple: 1. Secretly book the trip. 2. Sneak into town without a trace. 3. Shock Zoe at her camp with the ultimate “gotcha” moment. But there was one tiny flaw in the blueprint. Biles had underestimated her opponent’s sharpness—and the power of social media.
Somewhere on her sneaky road trip to Baton Rouge, Simone posted a seemingly innocent Instagram story. It showed her crossing a bridge, with the caption: “road trip [emoji].” She figured it was vague enough—just a casual travel update. Surely, Zoe wouldn’t connect the dots. Wrong. So very wrong.
Unbeknownst to Simone, Zoe was already on high alert. Whether by sixth sense or sheer coincidence, Zoe happened to check Simone’s live location just 45 minutes before the surprise was meant to unfold. And there it was—the giveaway. The map revealed a tiny dot labeled “Simone Biles” crawling suspiciously close to Baton Rouge. And Simone’s cover? Blown. And you can guess the next line of events. Well, when Simone arrived, she got to know about her cover. Meanwhile, she posted a selfie with Zoe on the sidelines of Death Valley, LSU’s iconic Tiger Stadium. The caption read: “tried to surprise her but she happened to check my location 45 mins out 😂.” Busted. Completely.
The 19-year-old gymnast from Hartford had already seen the previous bridge-crossing story, which made the location check an easy confirmation. No FBI skills required—just a sharp eye and the perks of modern-day tracking. Still, despite the failed surprise, the moment was golden. The two friends, reunited at Zoe’s stomping grounds, shared a laugh over the foiled plan. Simone might have lost the element of surprise, but she definitely won the day with friendship, nostalgia, and maybe—just maybe—the spark of a new bet. But there was still something waiting to shock her.
Simone Biles had seen plenty of jaw-dropping sights in her career—gravity-defying routines, Olympic podiums, and world records shattered. But during her 2025 trip to Baton Rouge, she came face-to-face with something truly wild: Mike the Tiger.
While visiting her longtime friend Zoe Miller at LSU, the 11-time Olympic medalist made a detour to Mike the Tiger’s habitat on North Stadium Drive. And let’s just say—she was not prepared for what she saw. The massive, majestic Bengal tiger—the only live tiger living on a college campus in the U.S.—prowled his lush, massive habitat with regal ease. Simone, wide-eyed with amazement, stood by the viewing area, trying to process the sight of a full-grown tiger casually living at a university. Her reaction? Pure awe. Simone quickly took to her Instagram story, capturing the moment with the caption: “this is wiiiillldddd, a whole tiger living on campus 🤯.” Touché. Simone may have lost the element of surprise on Zoe, but she definitely didn’t see Mike coming.
On March 23, 2025, Zoe Miller sent out a tweet that caught her fans’ attention: “I’m not dead or transferring y’all.” Blunt. Honest. And—knowing Zoe—just a little bit sassy. But her next line was more concerning: “I’ve just been horribly sick for almost a month😂.” The words set off alarm bells. What was going on with the former elite gymnast? Was it illness? An old injury? Or something more serious?
The answer, it turned out, was a painful chapter from February 2024. That’s when Zoe, preparing for the Winter Cup, suffered a shoulder injury that would change everything. She tore her labrum, a key part of the shoulder joint, requiring five anchors to repair it. The damage was significant enough to sideline her from both the 2024 and 2025 college gymnastics seasons. In April 2024, she took to Instagram to announce a difficult decision: “As I am 100% prioritizing my full recovery to be ready for college, this now means my elite career ends here.” It was a bittersweet moment. The end of her elite gymnastics chapter—but a determined focus on healing and preparing for her future at LSU.
Fast-forward to March 2025, Zoe was spotted wearing a sleeveless LSU top with Simone Biles at the sidelines of Death Valley—her shoulder fully exposed. No sling. No brace. Just the proud purple-and-gold of the Tigers. The sight was powerful, though. It symbolized more than just her return to campus—it was a quiet but strong statement of her progress. The once-injured shoulder, which had kept her out of competition for so long, was now on full display. No longer hidden. No longer holding her back.
