AFTER HER VERY PUBLIC (AND HEAVILY SCRUTINIZED) EXIT FROM THE TOKYO OLYMPICS IN 2021 DUE TO A DEBILITATING MENTAL PERFORMANCE CONDITION KNOWN AS THE “TWISTIES,” THE U.S.’ MOST DECORATED GYMNAST COURAGEOUSLY RETURNED TO THE LIMELIGHT THIS SUMMER IN PARIS AND SHE NABBED FOUR MEDALS

BY WILL HARRIS

Simone Biles was already a pretty big deal before the 2024 Summer Olympics, but during the course of the event, she officially took things to a level that makes her a proper GOAT: Biles now has 11 Olympic medals, including seven gold, which makes her the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history.

This is particularly impressive when you consider that Biles went through a swift and scary situation in 2021, when she suffered from something gymnasts refer to as “the twisties.”

Paris -France August 01, 2024, Simone Biles (USA) Floor exercise, artistic gymnastics, women’s all-around final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, France

If a gymnast gets the twisties, it means they’re experiencing a disconnect between their mind and body while in mid-air, which even if you have precisely zero gymnastics experience sounds positively terrifying in general, but particularly so if you happen to be in the middle of performing a routine when it hits.

Thankfully, Biles who was in the midst of a practice session when she felt the sensation didn’t let her ego get in the way of doing the right thing: she sat out the team final after attempting to compete in the first rotation. “It was hard to watch from the sidelines,” she admitted to NBC News. “But I knew it was going to be the best option for myself and for the team if we wanted to medal.”

PARIS, FRANCE-28 July 2024: Simone Biles of team USA competes on the balance beam during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Qualification at the the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena.

That said, her concern about how her actions would be received at home caused her no end of worry.

In a 2024 interview with the Call Her Daddy podcast, Biles recalled thinking, “America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now.” She added, “If I could’ve gotten on a plane and flown home, I would’ve done it. I thought I was going to be banned from America, because that’s what they tell you: ‘Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back.’”

La estadounidense Simone Biles compite en la viga de equilibrio de la gimnasia artística de los Juegos Olímpicos de París, el domingo 28 de julio de 2024. (AP Foto/Charlie Riedel)

Whether or not Biles would participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics was a question that remained unanswered for an extended period of time, but she successfully earned a spot on the team in late June, proclaiming to the media, “This is definitely our redemption tour.”

How right she was.