Simone Biles feared the wrath of her supporters following her struggles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when she combated the “twisties.”
During a recent appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the seven-time Olympic medalist recalled feeling a mind-body disconnect in the lead-up to the gymnastics events at the Summer Games, which ended in Biles withdrawing from multiple events to focus on her mental health.
“In training, I was having ‘twisties’ already,” Biles said of the phenomenon, where a gymnast can lose a sense of where they are in the air that can result in a hazardous landing.
“But I’m trying to push past that, and I would literally tell my teammates, ‘I’m fighting demons. I’m fighting demons right now but I’m going to do it for you guys.’ The cords were not connected.”
Biles, 27, ultimately stumbled in the vault competition before withdrawing from the team final.
“So I open landed like that, and as soon as I land, I kind of grin and I’m like, ‘S–t,’ and I salute and I want to run,” the four-time Olympic gold medalist said.
Biles immediately thought she let America down in the aftermath of what transpired.
“If I could’ve got on a plane and flown home, I would’ve done it. But as soon as I landed, I was like, ‘Oh, America hates me. The world is gonna hate me, and I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now.’ That was my first thought,” Biles said.
“… I thought I was going to be banned from America.”
Instead, many rallied in support of Biles as she focused on her emotional well-being.
“Someone said it best. @Simone_Biles already won. She is a class act. Withdrew from team competition after vault… stayed and cheered on her teammates… got them chalk for their hands.. encouraged.. hugged them. She already won,” “Today’s” Hoda Kotb posted on social media at the time.
Former Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman also praised Biles for her vulnerability.
“I think it’s really brave of her to vulnerably share that the reason why she didn’t finish the competition, I think it takes so much courage to do that,” Raisman said, according to People.
Biles withdrew from other events at the Tokyo Games before returning for the balance beam final, in which she was awarded the bronze medal.
The American gymnasts received the silver medal for the team competition.
Biles, who is the most decorated female gymnast of all time, will make her Olympics season debut next month at the U.S. Classic event in Connecticut.
The U.S. Championships will get underway in late May in Texas, with the Olympics team set to be unveiled in June before the Paris Games this summer.
