Olympic Legend Nadia Comăneci on Simone Biles’ Impact (Exclusive)

One of the greatest gymnasts of all time has nothing but praise for Simone Biles.

PEOPLE caught up with 5-time Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comăneci at an Olympic preview event, and she predicted great things from Biles, who currently has 4 Olympic gold medals.

“Everybody is there to watch her compete,” Comăneci, 62, told PEOPLE at the Gold Meets Golden event in March ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.

When asked about the technical bar that Biles, 27, has raised in the sport, Comăneci explained, “This is what she’s doing now for this generation. She’s somewhere so high that everyone is looking at her and saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to try to do that in my own way.’ ”

Biles brings an arsenal of difficult moves to Paris (including five different skills named after her) — her third Games following Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.

Team USA enters the team all-around final on Tuesday, July 30 with the highest score. Biles leads the qualifiers for Thursday’s individual all-around competition, the event she won in Rio. She’ll be challenged by teammate Sunisa Lee, the all-around champion from Tokyo. Biles is heavily favored despite sustaining a slight calf injury in qualifying.

Her ongoing perseverance, especially after withdrawing from several events in Tokyo after getting “the twisties,” is what makes her a champion, says Comăneci.

“She is given this opportunity to understand who you are and to break barriers and inspire the new generation,” the Romanian-born gymnast said. “Every generation needs someone to inspire them and she is one of them.”

When reminded of her own icon status, Comăneci humbly joked, “Almost a half decade ago, but thank you!”

She also reflected on her own Olympic experience, including the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal as a young teen.

“The first one [1976] is the one I broke barriers at 14 years old, at a time when there weren’t too many sports for women. I was the youngest and the first. Now, we talk about equality; women can do any sports guys can. But many years ago they were like, ‘Girls can’t do that.’ And through my gymnastics, I said, ‘Yeah they can!’ ”

Comăneci participated in Friday’s July 26 Opening Ceremony as one of the athletes in the torch relay. She was aboard the speedboat that brought the torch to land alongside other legends Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Carl Lewis.

While in Paris, she hopes to watch many different events.

“Gymnastics is 12 days, so after it is done, hopefully, I can watch track and field and swimming!” she said enthusiastically.

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