Paris 2024

The unsung hero of the world-beating US women’s gymnastics team is a very good boy

Beacon, a golden retriever therapy dog, was a crucial part of the Americans’ preparations for the Olympics as he helped soothe athletes’ nerves

US gymnast Simone Biles with Beacon, an emotional support dog . Photograph: X
US gymnast Simone Biles with Beacon, an emotional support dog . Photograph: X
Lauren Mechling
Tue Aug 06 2024 - 17:33

The US women’s gymnastics team is back on top of the world. Three years after the Americans settled for a team silver at the Tokyo Olympics, a five-woman squad of Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera regained the title and finished with eight medals overall. Not bad for the oldest US Olympic squad in 72 years, which played no small part in their nickname: the Golden Girls.

Their rock-star showing over the past week in Paris might have had something to do with the sugar rush from the French pastries that Biles has been raving about on social media. Or one could look to another hack: their time spent with Beacon, the four-year-old golden retriever who has been trotting around with America’s best and brightest gymnasts for the past year with the aim of helping keep their serotonin and stress levels in check.

Beacon, an emotional support dog based in sunny Pasadena, California, was on hand earlier this summer to help calm the nerves of the athletes and coaches at the US Olympic trials in Minneapolis. Along with a selection of local canines, he was called upon to help soothe the passel of jittery aspirants before it was their turn to show their stuff. He stuck around to comfort the athletes who were not selected to compete in Paris.

With his fluffy butterscotch coat, eyes as soulful as Leonard Cohen and the official credential that hangs around his neck and reads “Goodest Boy”, Beacon has earned celebrity standing in both gymnastic and dog-loving circles.

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“This dog has touched Simone Biles” is how a star-struck TikTok about him jumps into action. None other than Tokyo Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, whose journey to the starting line in Paris was anything but straightforward, posted a picture of herself with the shiny-nosed pooch from the trials. “Thank god for Beacon,” read her caption, helping launch him to stardom. The Instagram account @WeRateDogs gave the Covid-era Twitter heavy Room Rater a run for its money when it awarded Beacon a mathematically defying score of 14/10.

Beacon is just one part of USA Gymnastics’ long-overdue mental health programme. In addition to therapy pets, the initiative also includes mindfulness sessions and a team of therapists who are at the ready to work with athletes.

Beacon with members of the US gymnastics team at the Paris Olympics. Photograph: X
Beacon with members of the US gymnastics team at the Paris Olympics. Photograph: X

In light of the sexual abuse scandal involving team doctor Larry Nassar that rocked American gymnastics, and Biles’s momentous decision to pull out of the US team at the Tokyo Olympics in order to focus on her mental health, Beacon’s emergence on the scene, however low to the ground and furry, feels far from frivolous. Elite gymnastics has a lot to make up for.

Beacon is accompanied by his human, the former rhythmic gymnastics coach Tracey Callahan Molnar. In addition to being gentle and patient with young athletes who want to rest their cheeks on his soft, warm coat, Beacon possesses remarkable powers of intuition and empathy. “He picks up on the stress and will pull to that person immediately,” Molnar told ESPN.

After a chaotic and drama-filled Olympic trials, during which three gymnasts widely expected to make the team all suffered major injuries – Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello – Beacon spent about 40 minutes with the team following their routines, making himself available to those who wished to pet or merely lie with him. When they are on the road, Molnar organises groups of local dogs to visit the athletes. And during their downtime, when Beacon and Molnar are home in Pasadena, he provides his services at a local hospital.

Beacon is Molnar’s second golden. Before him came Tulsa, the dog whom she and her late husband took into their home and who served as a therapy dog before his death in 2019. During one of the lowest points of the pandemic, Molnar travelled from California to the same spot in Michigan where she obtained Tulsa.

By all appearances, Beacon is very much his own dog. According to the double-sided business card that Molnar hands out at events on Beacon’s behalf, he likes swimming and hiking. He dislikes celery. Also included is the address of his own Instagram account, which features an avatar of the canine in an official Team USA fleece and offers a window into Beacon’s off-duty personal style.

He is tolerant of sunglasses and Halloween costumes. His favourite accessories appear to include blobby stuffys to chew on and colourful bandanas tied to the scruff of his neck. No book or podcast deal has been announced as yet. But the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are 28 dog years away. – Guardian