Topline USA Gymnastics athletes will be equipped by Nike through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the company said Thursday, announcing the largest-ever partnership in USA Gymnastics’ history as fan-favorite gymnast Simone Biles prepares to compete for the first time since walking out on the 2021 Tokyo games.

What We Don’t Know
What the deal is worth. Nike did not elaborate on the value of the partnership.

Key Background
The partnership comes a month after Biles, the most decorated gymnast in the history of the Gymnastics World Championships, announced she’ll compete for the first time since she walked out on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, citing problems with her mental health. Biles will participate in the single-day U.S. Classic event on Saturday in Illinois, competing against Olympic hopefuls Jade Carey, Skye Blakely, Jordan Chiles and Leanne Wong. The U.S. Classic is a qualifier for Nationals, which are used alongside the U.S. Olympic Trials—to be held next June—to select the nation’s Olympic team. Biles famously left Nike, her longtime sponsor, in 2021 in favor of women’s clothing brand Athleta. She said Athleta, a subsidiary of Gap, stands “for everything that I stand for” in the wake of several scandals surrounding how Nike treats its female employees and sponsored athletes, the New York Times reported. In its announcement of the USA Gymnastics partnership deal Thursday, Nike said a “specific focus will be placed on building a culture of belonging in the sport.”

The return of Biles and Nike’s sponsorship points to a resurgence for USA Gymnastics, which was rocked by a sexual abuse scandal that caused sponsors to drop their partnerships with the organization. Corporate sponsors including Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, Under Armour, the Hershey Company and AT&T all dropped their affiliation, the Chicago Tribune reported, after it was revealed USA Gymnastics failed to report the sexual abuse of coaches and the team’s doctor, Larry Nassar, to authorities. Gold medal-winning Olympians Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber and among those who have all said they were victims of Nassar’s abuse, which started when they were teenagers. USA Gymnastics cut ties with Nassar in 2016 and he is currently serving 40 to 175 years in prison. Last month he was reportedly stabbed in prison multiple times.