If Simone Biles had decided to end her gymnastics career after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, she would've been regarded as the greatest athlete the sport had ever seen. Her games did not go as expected, but her legacy was secure by then.
But now Biles is back to competing, and in a surprise to absolutely no one, back to winning. But there were people who doubted she would ever be able to climb back to the sport's pinnacle. Chief among them: Biles herself.
On X (the social media company formerly known as Twitter), Biles responded to a fan asking “remember like five months ago we didn’t think Simone would ever compete again”. To which Biles responded “real talk I didn’t think so either.”
Competing and winning again. On Sunday, Biles wrapped up the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships by winning her fourth gold medal of the competition. She added a silver medal to her four gold ones for good measure.
Biles had not competed in competition for two years. Her return to competitive gymnastics took place in August of this year, at the U.S. Classic in the Chicago. It was a long journey from where she was the last time many people saw her.
Biles finished the 2020 Summer Olympics with one silver medal and one bronze medal, a light haul for her considering the expectations she carried into the games. Citing mental health concerns, Biles withdrew from the all-around, the vault, the uneven bars, and floor exercise events.
The main reason Biles withdrew from the events was her suffering from what gymnasts call “the twisties.” It's a phenomenon in which a gymnast loses air awareness in the midst of performing twisting elements of a routine, an obvious danger. Biles later revealed that an aunt of hers had died unexpectedly just days before the event finals.
Those struggles seem to be in the past, and Biles is back to dominating in a textbook comeback story.
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