Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics
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Simone Biles shared the emotional impact the Tokyo Olympics had on her.
During his appearance on Wednesday's podcast episode Call her father, The athlete spoke about her mental state while performing on the vault, where she suffered sprains – a term given to when gymnasts lose cognitive awareness of their body position while rotating in the air.
“We already knew my gymnastics were bad, in training I was already getting sprains,” Biles recalls. “but [at the moment]I try to get through it and I would literally say to my teammates, “I'm fighting demons right now but I'm going to do this for you guys.”
She explained that she felt like she was “fighting” her body and mind to perform the tricks and tried some alternative maneuvers during training, but she was still unsure about how her Olympic competition would go.
She recalled second-guessing herself during her performance, saying she “didn't know how many flips I was going to do.” Biles then noted that she “couldn't contort anymore” because it was as if “your body and mind have no idea where you are.”
Once she realized she was having ups and downs, Biles became very disappointed in herself. “If I could take a plane [and] “When I was home, I would do that,” she said. “But once I landed [on the mat]I thought to myself: Oh, America hates me. The world is going to hate me and I can't help but see what they say on Twitter now.
When host Alex Cooper noted that the reaction was as if Biles had “let the country down,” the gymnast replied: “I thought I was going to be banned from America. Because that's what they tell you: Don't come back if it's not gold.”
After the Tokyo Olympics, Biles took a two-year break from competition before returning to the sport in 2023 to compete in the gymnastics championships, where she won gold and became the most decorated gymnast in history. It has not yet been confirmed whether Biles will compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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