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Simone Biles says she still cries thinking about her devastating Tokyo Olympic woes

Sep 28, 2021, 16:13 IST
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Simone Biles. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
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Simone Biles says she still randomly starts sobbing about her Tokyo Olympics saga, which saw her withdraw from multiple events due to a mental issue known as the "twisties."

Speaking to The Cut, the most decorated gymnast of all time said she will sometimes burst into tears when she's at home and thinks of her fraught experience in Japan this summer.

"You know, there have been highs, there have been lows.

"Sometimes it's like, yeah, I'm perfectly okay with it. Like, that's how it works. That's how it panned out and then other times I'll just start bawling in the house."

Biles won a silver and a bronze at Tokyo. Gregory Bull/AP

Biles dropped out of several events in Tokyo citing a mental issue known as the "twisties."

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The "twisties" impacts many gymnasts. The affliction makes it nigh on impossible for gymnasts to know exactly where they are in the air when completing aerial moves. It can be extremely dangerous.

"My perspective has never changed so quickly from wanting to be on a podium to wanting to be able to go home, by myself, without any crutches," she said.

"If I still had my air awareness, and I just was having a bad day, I would have continued but it was more than that," Biles added of her Olympic woes.

The 24-year-old has won 25 gymnastic medals. Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Network

Biles returned to earn bronze in the balance beam event, finishing Tokyo with a silver and a bronze medal, a haul that most gymnasts would be happy with.

However, she told New York Magazine that she should not have competed at the games.

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"If you looked at everything I've gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team," the 24-year-old said.

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