Simone Biles Describes Her Tokyo Olympics Performance as a “Trauma Response”
Simone Biles is reflecting on her journey to recovery leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Prior to her third Olympics, the most decorated gymnast in the world looked back on her challenges at the 2020 Olympic Games, where she withdrew from multiple events due to mental health concerns and experiencing the “twisties” that almost derailed her career.
Discussing her struggles in the Netflix docuseries Simone Biles Rising, released on July 17, Biles shared, “It’s a trauma response of everything that has happened, just being a survivor and dealing with all the other things.”
In 2018, former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing numerous young female gymnasts, including Biles and her Team USA teammates, under the pretense of medical treatment.
Reflecting on her challenges in Tokyo, Biles, 27, stated, “Everything that has happened, I’ve just pushed it down, buried it, and thought I would address it after my career. And then something like this happened, unfortunately, at the Olympics. I didn’t seek proper care earlier because I believed I was fine.”