Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles left Tokyo on Wednesday with her fame intact, but changed from the person she had been before the games.
Suffering from the twisties — a mental condition in which gymnasts lose the sense of where their bodies are in midair — Biles stunned the world by withdrawing from some Olympics events.
“I had no idea where I was in the air,” Biles said in an interview on the “Today” show, speaking of her performance in a team event. “You can literally see it in my eyes in the pictures, like I was petrified.”
Biles, who won four gold medals and a bronze in the 2016 Olympics, went on to win bronze on the balance beam in Tokyo, a medal that meant “more than all the golds, because I’ve pushed through so much the last five years and the last week,” she said in a “Today” show interview.
Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Simone Biles competes in the floor exercise during the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, in October 2019.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles poses after winning the gold medal in the floor exercise at the 2013 World Championships.
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Biles dodges a bee flying near her during the medal ceremony after winning gold in the all-around final of the 2014 World Championships.
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Biles practices in Houston in January 2016.
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Biles competes on the balance beam at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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From left, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Biles, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas celebrate winning the gold medal during the team final of the 2016 Olympics.
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Biles looks on during competition at the 2016 Olympics.
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Biles reacts to a camera after winning the individual all-around final at the 2016 Olympics.
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Biles competes on the uneven bars at the 2016 Olympics.
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Biles’ grandfather, Ron Biles, and his wife, Nellie, watch as she waits on the podium to receive her gold medal after winning the floor final of the 2016 Olympics. They took in Simone and her younger sister, Adria, and then formally adopted them when Simone was just 6 because Simone’s mom was battling addiction to drugs and alcohol.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles competes on the floor at the 2016 Olympics.
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Biles and other Olympic athletes play “Hungry Hungry Humans” on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
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Biles sits with Anna Wintour and Maria Sharapova during New York Fashion Week in September 2016.
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First lady Michelle Obama rests her elbow on Biles’ head as President Barack Obama speaks during an Olympic athletes event at the White House in September 2016.
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Biles takes a photo with a young fan in her hometown of Houston in September 2016.
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Biles speaks onstage during Glamour’s Women of the Year event in 2016.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles competes in “Dancing with the Stars” with Sasha Farber in 2017.
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Biles speaks after receiving the ESPY Award for best female athlete in 2017.
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Biles performs with the Houston Texans cheerleaders in December 2017.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles competes on the uneven bars during the 2018 World Championships.
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Biles rests behind teammates during qualifying sessions for the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles performs on the floor during the 2018 World Championships.
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Biles performs on the uneven bars at the 2019 World Championships.
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Biles celebrates after winning the beam apparatus final at the 2019 World Championships.
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Biles becomes the first woman in history to land a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition during the GK US Classic in May 2021.
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Biles lands awkwardly while competing in the team all-around at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. Biles stumbled on the vault landing and then pulled out of the competition over mental-health concerns.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles wears her warm-up gear after she was pulled from the team all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics on July 27. USA Gymnastics announced the next day that Biles had also withdrawn from the individual all-around competition to focus on her mental health.
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Photos: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
Biles ended her Tokyo Olympics on a high note, winning bronze in the balance beam.
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Biles reacts after her balance beam routine in Tokyo. When she was done, she received a standing ovation.
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The experience, she said, allowed her to realize that she is “more than my medals in gymnastics. I’m a human being, and I’ve done some courageous things outside of this sport,” she said in the interview.
“I don’t think, if this situation didn’t happen, I would have never seen it that way,” she said.
After four Olympic golds and 19 world championship titles, the 24-year-old has brought about a wider discussion on the mental health challenges facing top-performing athletes, an amazing feat in itself.
What’s next for this extraordinary young woman?
Rest and therapy
Biles’ coach, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, said the star athlete is “openly talking about therapy, and that’s what she’s going to go through.”
“Honestly, I think we all should do it,” Canqueteau-Landi told reporters in Tokyo, according to the Dallas Morning News. “No shame on it. I think I might need to. It’s been one hell of a week — some very highs, some very lows.”
Some much-deserved R&R also looks to be in Biles’ future.
She deserves “some vacation,” Canqueteau-Landi said, according to People. “I think she needs a good break. We’re going to go back to work but I’m happy for her that she gets to go back to her family, her boyfriend, her dog. She’s just going to go home and enjoy.”
The Gold Over America Tour
An extended vacation may have to wait until after the Gold Over America Tour that Biles will be starring in starting next month.
She and other star gymnasts, including Laurie Hernandez and Jordan Chiles, will be touring 35 cities throughout the United States to celebrate female athletes.
“I love the sport of gymnastics and wanted to help create a show that celebrates the pure joy of performing,” Biles said in announcing the tour.
The first performance will be in Tucscon, Arizona, on September 21, and the last is in Boston on November 7. The schedule and tickets are available here.
Paris in 2024?
Will Biles compete in the Paris Olympics in 2024?
“I just need to process this whole thing first,” she said at a news conference in Tokyo when asked that question.
Later, in an interview on the “Today” show, she said she’s “keeping the door open” to the Paris games.
Her coaches are French, and Biles in the past has indicated she might compete there to honor them.
Coaching, of course, is another possibility down the line.
“Maybe one day, I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Biles said on the “Today” show when asked about coaching. “I’m just going to take it day by day.”
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