Simone Biles took to social media Friday to shed more light on the mental block that’s derailed her Olympics so far and to defend herself against those calling her a quitter.
What You Need To Know
- Simone Biles took to social media Friday to shed more light on the mental block that’s derailed her Olympics so far and to defend herself against those calling her a quitter
- In a Q&A with her Instagram followers, the American gymnast said she felt she had no control over her body during her vault in Tuesday’s team all-around competition and didn’t know if she’d even land on her feet
- Biles is experiencing what gymnasts call the “twisties” — a sudden inability to perform the requisite spins. A bad fall could lead to serious injury
- In her bid to return to the Tokyo Games, Biles said she’s taken her training back to basics and is practicing on soft surfaces
In a Q&A with her Instagram followers, the American gymnast said she felt she had no control over her body during her vault in Tuesday’s team all-around competition, couldn’t tell up from down while she was in the air and didn’t know where she was going to land — or if she’d land on her feet, back or, scariest of all, head.
“(I)f you look at the pictures & my eyes you can see how confused I am as to where I am in the air,” the four-time Olympic gold medalist said about the vault.
She was supposed to complete 2½ twists on the vault, but only did 1½ before stumbling on her landing.
Biles withdrew from the team competition after the vault, the first event of the day. USA went on to win the silver medal without her. The 24-year-old star gymnast also dropped out of Thursday’s individual all-around, which was won by fellow American Suni Lee.
Biles is still scheduled to compete in the other individual events Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but might withdraw from those as well if she doesn’t feel she’s right mentally.
She is experiencing what gymnasts call the “twisties” — a sudden inability to perform the requisite spins. A bad fall could lead to serious injury.
“I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface,” Biles wrote on Instagram.
She said this is not the first time she’s experienced the twisties and that they usually take her two or more weeks to overcome. Biles said her latest bout with them began Monday morning, the day after she competed in the preliminaries.
She added that in the past, she’s dealt with the twisties on the vault and floor exercise, but this time she’s experiencing them in every event.
“Sometimes I can’t even fathom twisting,” she wrote. “I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist. Strangest & weirdest thing as well as feeling.”
In her bid to return to the Tokyo Games, Biles said she’s taken her training back to the basics and is practicing on soft surfaces. A gym in Japan that has the resources she needs has opened its doors to her, she said.
Biles pushed back against critics who have accused her of quitting on her team.
“I didn’t quit. My mind & body are simply not in sync,” she wrote, adding that it was too late for an alternate to replace her on the team after the preliminaries were held.
“We have 4 on a team for a reason. I chose to not continue team competition in jeopardizing losing a medal (of any color) for the girls / US.”
