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Simone Biles reached the pinnacle of the gymnastics world at the Paris Olympics, but it was a long and difficult journey back to the top.
The 27-year-old earned a trio of gold medals at this year’s Summer Games, leading the U.S. team to a team title before taking the all-around gold as well. Biles added a gold in the vault and a silver in the floor exercise to round out the summer competition.
It was not an easy journey, as the gymnast’s mom recalled. Biles had to pull out of several events in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after suffering the “twisties,” a condition that caused her to lose orientation while flying through the air. In the years that followed, Biles worked to return to the Olympics while becoming an advocate for athlete mental health awareness.
Simone Biles’ Mom: ‘Those Times Were Really Dark’
Speaking the People magazine, Nellie Biles said her daughter had to work through some very “dark” times but has been able to make it through to the other side.
“Everybody knows Simone’s story, right?” Nellie Biles told the magazine. “All those times were really dark and stressful times. 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. 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.”
Simone Biles has spoken about the importance of going to regular therapy, saying she even took time out to meet with her therapist during the Paris Olympics.
“Even this morning at 7 a.m. I saw my therapist and there’s a time change,” Biles told reporters after winning gold in the all-around on August 2. “So she is so amazing for allowing me to do that these couple of days in Paris.”
Simone Biles Let Out Her Emotions
Biles said that her return to the Olympics was an emotional experience, though she was able to keep much of it under wraps throughout her week of competing. The gymnast admitted that the emotions came pouring out when she and teammate Jordan Chiles returned to the Olympic Village after the final day of competition.
“Not completely, and I don’t think I will until one day I decide to retire,” Biles said in an appearance on the Today show when asked if she has had time to reflect on the experience. “But yesterday, once we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan and I just started bawling my eyes out. She was like, ‘I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t know when.’ And I think I was just so full of emotion and I finally released all of that.
“I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey is over. It’s like, it’s so crazy, it happened so quick. My third Olympics.”
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