The actress had an opportunity to watch Biles compete in person as she attended her first Olympics in Paris

Nina Dobrev; Simone Biles. Photo: Marc Piasecki/WireImage; Jamie Squire/Getty

Nina Dobrev is a Simone Biles superfan!

While speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the Shiseido Blue Project’s beach cleanup event on Wednesday, Aug. 7, the actress, 35, reminisced about attending the Olympics for the first time. She says a top highlight from her Paris trip was watching Biles, 27, in action at Bercy Arena.

“Seeing Simone Biles compete in person versus on TV, she’s so much more explosive than the cameras can even register when you’re there in person,” she explains. “To see her jumping and see the height and the difference between the other gymnasts was absolutely insane.”

For Dobrev, the spectating opportunity confirmed that Biles — now an 11-time Olympic medalist — has no equal. “She is the GOAT of all GOATs,” the Vampire Diaries star declares.

Simone Biles competes on the uneven bars at the Paris Olympics on July 30, 2024. Xinhua/Shutterstock

The two did not get a chance to meet in Paris — “but [Biles] did repost my story on Instagram,” Dobrev excitedly shares.

Overall, the Reunion star says her first Olympics experience “definitely did not disappoint.”

“Volleyball was one of my favorites,” she notes, sharing another highlight. “Just the energy in the crowd, everyone cheering and they were pumping the music. It was just a big party. It was so fun!”

Dobrev made the trip to France amid her ongoing recovery from surgery following a dirt bike accident in May that resulted in her tearing her ACL and meniscus and fracturing her tibial plateau. She tells PEOPLE she’s “doing pretty well” so far, and that her doctors are “surprised” by how quickly she is recovering.

“I’m a little ahead of schedule in terms of healing, but it is still a very long process,” she says. “So I’m only one month, maybe three and a half now. So there’s still a ways to go.”

Dobrev notes that she is at risk of re-injuring herself, so she is trying to take things slow. “And a lot of times at this point in the healing process, people get re-injured because they feel fine. And so they start doing normal things. So I have to kind of remind myself that I’m still healing and there’s still a little bit of time to go,” she explains.

Nina Dobrev participates in the Shiseido Blue Project’s beach cleanup event on Aug. 7, 2024. River Callaway/Variety via Getty

She says her trip to Paris proved a bit challenging as she had to do a lot of walking around the city. “All those streets are closed, so you have to walk from venue to venue and do all these things,” she adds.

Fortunately, her boyfriend, Shaun White, joined her in Paris, helping her navigate the physically challenging situation as comfortably as possible.

“He prearranged to have a wheelchair there so that I wouldn’t have to walk as much. We had my canes, and he was there by my side taking care of me the whole time,” Dobrev tells PEOPLE of the former professional snowboarder and skateboarder, 37, who is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

Once she’s fully recovered, Dobrev hopes to get back to some of her favorite activities. When asked what she’s most looking forward to doing, she says “Probably getting back to the mountain, but I think I’ll miss this season, which is a bummer.”