With the 104th Summer Olympic games being held in just a few, short months in Paris, with the opening games being on July 26th, the world waits in anticipation for one of the most televised events in the world. You may not even necessarily care all that much about athletics, but, without fail, you tune in to watch and it’s somehow become part of your routine every four years.
Now, as over 10,000 other athletes prepare to put their years of grueling practice to the ultimate test at the Paris Olympics, former Olympian, Simone Biles, will potentially be watching nervously from the sidelines, determined to make her own return to the games, as it is still unclear whether she will actually compete this time around.
Biles, a powerhouse of a gymnast and one of the most dominant of her generation, didn’t have the Olympic performance she or her fans were expecting in Tokyo. But in a candid new interview, the gymnastics superstar is finally shedding light on the immense internal battle she was facing.
What happened to Simone Biles after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics?
In a revealing conversation on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Biles pulls back the curtain on the “twisties” – the mental block that ruined her chances at a gold medal. It kick-started a barrage of hate on social media and ultimately led to her hiatus from the sport.
“It’s basically like your mind and your body is at a disconnect”
Simone Biles
“Your body is going to try to do something and your mind is going to be like, ‘No, you’re not doing this.” She likened the experience to suddenly forgetting how to drive a car – your limbs simply refuse to cooperate the way your brain is telling them to.
After struggling with the twisties in practice, Biles says she knew something was off as soon as she started her approach.
“In my head I’m standing there and I’m like, ‘I’ll just do a double pike which I haven’t warmed up in like four days,'” she recalled. But when she reached the vault, her body betrayed her. “I open landed like that, and as soon as I land, I kind of grin, and I’m like, ‘S—,'” Biles said.
In that gut-wrenching moment, the mental anguish took over.
“I thought I was going to be banned from America, ’cause that’s what they tell you: ‘Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back,” Biles said, her voice cracking.
The pressure of performing on the world’s biggest stage was crushing – she was convinced the entire country and world would hate her.
Biles made the difficult decision to withdraw from the team final and individual all-around, a move that sparked important conversations about mental health in sports.
Looking back, Biles is proud of how she handled the situation (and we are, too), prioritizing her wellbeing and supporting her devastated teammates from the benches. She became their loudest cheerleader. Her commitment to her team despite her own struggles demonstrates Simone Biles’ overall strength of character and value as a representative of the USA national team. And she has no regrets about her choice, even if it meant not being able to contribute to the team score. “I had to do what was right for myself.”
But, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom. Biles has actually since gotten engaged, had a whole wedding and is now soaking up the matrimonial bliss.
However, the internet is forever thirsty for drama, and it wasn’t long before the mostly private Biles was drawn into another social media fiasco. During the interview, she addressed the backlash her husband, Jonathan Owens, received after his interview on “The Pivot” podcast, where he seemed to imply he was “the catch” in their relationship and didn’t know who Biles was before they got together.
That comment right there had people foaming at the mouth. Biles says she was actually in the room during the interview and thought Owens handled it well, but was surprised when people on social media criticized him and told her to “divorce this man.”
Biles clarifies that Owens never said she wasn’t a “catch” – he was just saying he was a catch himself, which Biles agrees with, as she’s never met a man like him.
While Biles initially thought the controversy was “hilarious,” the public scrutiny eventually got to her, prompting her to set a few finite boundaries with fans. It seems as though that was enough to calm the collective ire of Reddit and Instagram.
It looks like things are finally back to normal for our beloved Olympian after taking the time to focus on her mental health. Hopefully, if we’re lucky, we’ll be seeing Biles at the summer games this year. If any athlete can persevere, it’s Simone Biles – a true champion in every sense of the word.