TThe U.S. women’s gymnastics team is back on top of the world. Three years after settling for team silver at the Tokyo Olympics, a five-woman team of Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera reclaimed the title, finishing with eight medals in total. Not bad for the oldest U.S. Olympic team in 72 years, which was no small feat for their nickname: the golden girls.
Their rock star performance in Paris last week may have had something to do with the sugar rush from the French pastries Biles is raving about on social media. Or you could look at another hack: their time spent with Beacon, the four-year-old golden retriever who has spent the past year trotting around with America’s best and brightest gymnasts with the goal of keeping their serotonin and stress levels in check.
Beacon, an emotional support dog from sunny Pasadena, California, was on hand to calm athletes and coaches at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Minneapolis earlier this summer. He and a selection of local dogs were called upon to calm the group of nervous hopefuls before it was their turn to show off their skills. He stuck around to comfort the athletes who weren’t selected to compete in Paris.
With his fluffy butterscotch coat, eyes as soulful as Leonard Cohen’s and the official ID hanging around his neck that reads “Goodest Boy,” Beacon has earned celebrity status in both gymnastics and dog-loving circles. “This dog has touched Simone Biles” is how starstruck 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 easy, posted a photo of herself with her shiny nose from the trials. “Thank god for Beacon,” read her captionwhich helped him become a star. The Instagram account @WeRateDogs gave the Covid-era Twitter heavy Room assessor a run for his money when it beacon a mathematically incomprehensible score of 14/10.
Beacon is just one component of USA Gymnastics’ long-awaited mental health program. In addition to therapy pets, the initiative also includes mindfulness sessions and a team of therapists ready to work with athletes. In light of the sexual abuse scandal involving team doctor Larry Nassar that rocked USA Gymnastics, and Biles’ momentous decision to withdraw from the U.S. team at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health, Beacon’s rise to prominence, however low-key and hairy, feels far from frivolous. Elite gymnastics has a lot of ground to cover.
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Beacon is accompanied by his owner, 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 fur, Beacon possesses remarkable intuitive and empathetic abilities. “He picks up on the stress and will immediately turn to that person,” Molnar told ESPN.
After a chaotic and dramatic Olympic trials, in which three gymnasts widely expected to make the team all suffered serious injuries—Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello—Beacon spent about 40 minutes with the team, following along with their routines and making himself available to those who wanted to pet him or just lie with him. When they’re on the road, Molnar organizes packs of local dogs to visit the athletes. And during their downtime, when Beacon and Molnar are home in Pasadena, he volunteers at a local hospital.
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Beacon is Molnar’s second golden. Before him came Tulsa, the dog she and her late husband adopted and who served as a therapy dog until his death in 2019. During one of the lowest points of the pandemic, Molnar traveled from California to the same place in Michigan where she got Tulsa.
Beacon is apparently 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 doesn’t like celery. The address of his own Instagram accountfeaturing an avatar of the dog in an official Team USA fleece and a peek into Beacon’s personal style in his off-duty moments. He tolerates sunglasses and Halloween costumes. His favorite accessories seem to be Blobby stuffed animals to chew on and colorful bandanas to tie around his neck. No book or podcast deal has been announced yet. But the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are still 28 dog years away.