Simone Biles, the USA gymnastics superstar who many dub as the GOAT, withdrew from the Tokyo Games in 2021 due to the “twisties” — a mental block gymnasts face when they lose control of their bodies mid-air — and her mother opened up about the hardship in a recent interview with People.
“Everybody knows Simone’s story, right? All those times were really dark and stressful times.” Nellie said.
“To work through that and be in this place where she enjoys doing what she wants, and she is handling her sport the way she would have liked to four years ago and that never happened.”
During her bout with the “twisties” in 2021, Biles stumbled during the vault competition and did not participate in the team final.
She dramatically returned for the final day of competition and won a bronze medal on the balance beam.
Her teammates took home the silver in the team competition, despite being without their captain and star.
While Biles received criticism following the tournament, with pundits and fans calling her a “quitter” and saying she “choked,” the gymnast became a prominent figure for mental health advocacy.
“It was kind of depressing until I started therapy and got help. I felt like a failure,” Biles said in an interview with Vanity Fair back in January. “Even though I was empowering so many people and speaking out about mental health, every time I talked about my experience in Tokyo — because it obviously didn’t go the way that I had planned — it stung a little bit. But all in all, it was the best decision.”
The 2024 Summer Games in Paris marked the ultimate redemption for the 27-year-old, who remains the most decorated gymnast in the world.
Biles added to her Olympic glory, claiming three gold medals (individual all-around, team all-around and vault) while also taking silver on the floor.
She fell short of a medal in the beam event after a fall, closing out her Olympics with four medals.
Biles now boasts 11 career Olympic medals.
“But this is rewriting her story, and I think it’s great. It’s rewriting it on her terms because she is in this place that she really perhaps wished she would have been for years,” the gymnast’s mother said.
While Biles has yet to rule out the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the gymnast would be 31, becoming the oldest American female gymnast to compete in the Olympics since 1952.
“Never say never,” the three-time Olympian told reporters Saturday. “Next Olympics are at home. So you just never know. I am getting really old.”
