There’s one thing that Simone Biles credits for her return to the Olympics this year: therapy.

Biles is now the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history with eight Olympic medals. And she says it wouldn’t have been possible without consistent mental health support.

“Being in a good mental spot, seeing my therapist every Thursday is kind of religious for me. So that’s why I’m here today,” Biles said in an interview with NBC News last month.

The road to victory wasn’t an easy one for Biles. Three years ago, she withdrew from the team gymnastics competition at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics citing mental health concerns.

She later explained that she was experiencing what gymnasts refer to as “the twisties.” Although the twisties isn’t an official medical diagnosis, the experience is used to describe a psychologically-perceived disconnection between a gymnast’s mind and their body as they’re performing, especially during twists.

The effects of the twisties can range from missing twists or twisting more than one planned to, and landing or falling in a way that can cause injury.

When Biles was completing an Amanar vault at the 2020 Olympics, she noticeably turned 1.5 twists instead of the usual 2.5. Even onlookers noticed that she seemed disoriented during the twist.

“I have to focus on my mental health,” Biles said after pulling out of the Olympics in 2021. “I don’t trust myself as much anymore.”

Biles regained that trust within herself by starting small through practicing on soft surfaces and in ball pits, she shared via Instagram. She trained extremely hard ahead of the Paris Olympics and would sometimes leave practice feeling defeated because she experienced the twisties again, she told NBC.

But she didn’t give up because “I don’t want to be down the road in 10 years, look back, and be like, ’Oh, I wish I would have tried,” she told NBC.

Biles kept practicing and attending her weekly therapy sessions and began to feel more in tune with her body as she performed. On Tuesday, the Team USA gymnastics team won gold in the Olympic women’s team final, and Biles made history as a result.

“I always rise to the occasion,” Biles said in an episode of her Netflix documentary, “Simone Biles Rising,” which was released this month. “Even after all of the traumas and the downfalls, I’ve always risen.”

Simone Biles has seemingly clapped back at criticism from former teammate MyKayla Skinner following the US gymnastics team’s victory at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

Biles, 27, shared photos of herself and teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera celebrating their gold medal performance in the team gymnastics final, with the caption “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”

The Instagram post appears to be a response to controversial comments from Skinner, 27, who criticized the Team USA gymnasts in a YouTube video following the team selection on June 30.

“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” she said in the video, which has since been deleted.

“A lot of girls don’t work as hard,” she added. “The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”

Biles appeared to respond in a post on Threads which read “not everyone needs a mic and a platform.”

Skinner then posted a video defending her comments on Instagram Stories, claiming that she had been “misinterpreted or misunderstood.”

However, she later apologized in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, amid an online backlash.

“It was not my intention to offend of disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work,” she wrote.

“I take full responsibility for what I said and I deeply apologize.”

Skinner and Biles both competed for Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Skinner retired after winning a silver medal on vault at the Games.

After winning the team gold on Tuesday, Biles now holds the most Olympic medals of any US gymnast in history, adding to her title as the most decorated gymnast of all time.

Athletes find motivation from all kinds of places. For Simone Biles, at least some of the bulletin-board material that inspired her in Tuesday’s women’s gymnastics team final came from a familiar face.

Hours after Biles helped the United States to a team gold for the third time in the last four Olympics, the 27-year-old posted a photo to Instagram of herself celebrating atop the podium alongside fellow gold medalists Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.]

The reference might not have landed with those not up on the latest gymternet scuttlebutt. But Biles’ words were a direct response to recent comments by MyKayla Skinner, a former US gymnast who won a silver medal on vault at the 2020 Olympics.

Skinner stirred up controversy after this year’s US Olympic trials when she posted a video to YouTube sharing her criticism of the team’s talent, depth and work ethic beyond Biles.

“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be,” Skinner said. “I mean, obviously, a lot of girls just don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic. It’s hard too because of SafeSport. Coaches can’t get on athletes and they have to be really careful what they say, which in some ways is really good, but at the same time, to get to where you need to be in gymnastics you do have to be a little aggressive, a little intense.”

The US Center for SafeSport is the organization tasked with preventing the sexual abuse of athletes, which has been a pervasive issue for USA Gymnastics for decades.

Skinner’s comments drew immediate backlash from the US gymnastics community, including from Biles, leading Skinner to release another video blaming viewers for having “misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning or had said”. Three days later, she issued a formal apology.

Whether Biles forgave her former teammate was unclear. But it was clear early Wednesday morning the five-time Olympic gold medalist certainly didn’t forget.

Last month, Simone Biles delivered an epic floor routine at the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials—complete with Taylor Swift-inspired choreography and a stunning triple-double. And now, at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the proud Swiftie is paying yet another subtle tribute to the pop star.

In case you missed it, the 27-year-old athlete executed a near-flawless routine on the uneven bars during the qualifying round for the women’s team gymnastics, despite suffering a minor calf injury during her warmups. But as much as I admired her resilience and impressive skills, there was something else that caught my eye after she completed her final event.

Per usual, the proud athlete waved to the crowds and embraced fellow teammates on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, but she also made a familiar heart-hand gesture—one that’s become quite common for Swift and her loyal fans.

The classic hand-heart gesture was popularized by Swift in 2011, when she first tested it out with a live audience at one of her first shows. She told the New York Times, “I was an unknown act playing shows night after night, and I was constantly trying out all kinds of different moves to try and get a response from the audience.”

Fortunately, showing the heart symbol prompted fans to copy the gesture. And now, more than a decade later, it’s being done by major athletes, musicians and even royals, including Kate Middleton.

Biles’s subtle nod to Swift comes as no surprise, given how the pair has publicly supported one another in the past. In fact, this past June, Swift praised Biles’s impressive floor routine, which was set to her song, “…Ready For It?” She tweeted, “Watched this so many times and still unready. She’s ready for it tho.”

Considering Biles’s spot-on performances so far, I couldn’t agree more. She delivered a solid performance on the balance beam, which earned her a 14.733. Then, she put on quite the show for her dazzling floor exercise (14.666), followed by her trademark Yurchenko double pike on the vault (15.300). Finally, she stole the show with her spectacular routine on the uneven bars, scoring 14.433 and pushing her team to the lead during qualifications.

Snoop Dogg had an eye-popping reaction to Simone Biles’ Women’s Gymnastics qualification performance during the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday.

The iconic rapper, 52, was recently named a special correspondent for NBC and cheered on Team USA in a patriotic ensemble.

Underneath his American flag jacket, Snoop Dogg donned a t-shirt with gymnastics legend Simone Biles’ face printed on it.

Snoop Dogg was in awe at Biles’ performance and a hilarious picture captured him lifting up his sunglasses to reveal a wide-eyed look.

Biles earned a 15.300 score between her two vaults, and also finished the Sunday atop the overall leaderboard with a score of 59.566.

A star-studded crowd attended Biles Olympic return including Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain, Greta Gerwig, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Nick Jonas and Anna Wintour.

The 27-year-old gymnast battled through a calf injury on Sunday after an awkward landing during a warmup routine.

The most decorated athlete in the history of gymnastics, Biles made her Olympic return three years after pulling out of multiple finals at the Tokyo Games to protect her safety, which prompted an international discussion about mental health, by powering through discomfort she felt in her calf to lead the U.S. women’s gymnastics team into the finals.

Her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens, wasn’t in Paris on Sunday to support his wife, but the Bears player cheered her on from afar after she nailed her vault routine.

Owens, who has been in training camp with his new team, posted a proud Instagram story of Biles as he watched her late at night back in the USA.

‘Flawless,’ he captioned a photo of her following her vault routine that he posted to his Instagram story.

She won’t have to compete without her husband there in person for much longer, as the Bears are allowing him to travel to Paris from July 29 to August 3.

Snoop Dogg — whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. — has been keeping busy during his time in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Earlier on Saturday, the rapper witnessed Team USA swimmers during the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay take home the gold.

During the NBC broadcast, cameras panned to show the star’s reaction to the big win, as Australia came in second place.

He could be seen on his feet in the stands next to swimmer Caeleb Dressel’s wife and threw his arm out while calling out, ‘One, two, three, gold, gold, gold!’

Snoop Dogg then high-fived Dressel’s wife, Meghan, who was cradling the couple’s baby boy named August.

The music artist also took on a big role on Friday during the Opening Ceremony, and was one of the individuals who had the chance to carry the Olympic torch in Paris.

Simone Biles dazzled on her Olympics return as the world’s most decorated gymnast showed she was back to her best three years after suffering the ‘twisties’.

The American, who has 37 world and Olympic medals, pulled out of several events at the Tokyo Games with the disorientating mental block, and many wondered if she would compete again. But after a two-year break she came back and set her sights on Paris.

She had won more world medals since Tokyo, introduced a new skill and looked sharp in training, but no-one really knew what to expect when she entered the Bercy Arena to an eruption of cheers, with A-list celebrities in the stands and a global television audience of millions.

But we soon found out.

An acrobatic beam routine came before an energetic floor programme that featured one of the five skills named after her. Then she delivered her big Biles II vault but decided not to attempt the new skill she is planning on uneven bars.

She scored a total of 59.566 to top the all-around standings with three sub-divisions still to go. It is hard to see that changing – that score would have won the last three World Championships.

It was not all smooth, though, as she required strapping on her calf before her floor routine. She seemed in discomfort afterwards, limping a little, but still went on to top the standings in the all-around qualifying with three sub-divisions to go.

When her bars dismount marked the end of her work for the day, it was then that it was clear what this had meant to her as the joy swept her face and she waved at the crowd before hugging her team-mates.

The 27-year-old will have to wait until later in the day to find out which finals she has made but at this stage it is looking good for team, all-around, vault, floor and beam.

Sub-division two of women’s gymnastics qualifying was the hottest ticket in town, with rapper Snoop Dogg, actor Tom Cruise, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and singer Ariana Grande among those at the arena to watch Biles.

It seemed fitting that Biles began her day on beam – the last apparatus on which she competed at Tokyo 2020, taking an emotional bronze after skipping her other individual finals to focus on her mental health.

Her warm-up drew excitement from fans as if it was the real thing, while the photographers’ cameras went into overdrive.

But she was not fazed – or at least, not that we saw.

She delivered her acrobatic skills on the 10cm-wide apparatus with confidence, nailed a delightful triple spin and a complex twisting dismount to score 14.733.

She opened her floor routine with her eponymous Biles II – a triple-twisting double somersault – and while she stepped out of the floor area, it did not matter as the performance was packed with so many high-value skills it scored 14.600.

She paused afterwards to sit on a step, raising concerns her left ankle might be bothering her, and she crawled along the runway after a warm-up vault. But she was soon powering down it to perform the Biles II, which she introduced last year. It was not as good as the one she had stuck earlier in the week in training but still earned her a huge 15.800.

Coach Cecile Landi told reporters Biles had “just a little pain in her calf”.

There was a ripple of excitement as the American approached the uneven bars – was she about to become the only active gymnast to have a skill named after her on every apparatus, a sort of gymnastics skills grand slam?

But she played it safer with a routine that scored 14.433, which will probably not be enough to book a spot in that apparatus final.

She is still very likely to have other opportunities in the team and all-around finals to try that new skill though.

Just another reason why she will have left many people feeling excited for what might come next from her at these Games as seeks to add to her seven Olympic medals.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are Simone Biles’ third Olympic Games and she seems poised to add to her already-impressive medal count.

In the days leading up to her first competition in Paris, the 27-year-old superstar has shown why she is the most decorated gymnast of all time. Biles has already submitted a new skill on uneven bars (if she completes it in competition, it will become her sixth eponymous skill) and nailed aYurchenko double pike vault (the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics that has been named the Biles II) during podium training.

Biles has competed in two Olympic Games: the 2016 Rio Olympics and the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, she withdrew from many of her events at the Tokyo Games after suffering from a case of the “twisties,” a term gymnasts use to describe a loss of ability to track where they are in the air.

Biles still won a silver and bronze medal in Tokyo though, adding to her four gold medals and bronze medal from Rio.

Simone Biles at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Biles put the world on notice at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning one bronze and four gold medals. Biles won the team final alongside teammates Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez before going on to dominate the all-around final, vault final and floor exercise final. Biles also earned a bronze medal in the beam final despite receiving an automatic 0.5-point deduction for grabbing the beam with her hand after losing her balance.

Biles’ gold medal haul set the American record for the most gold medals won in women’s gymnastics at a single Games. To mark her achievements, Biles was selected as the flag bearer for Team USA at the Rio closing ceremony, becoming the first American female gymnast to do so.

Simone Biles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Although Biles was the only athlete to qualify for every individual final at the Tokyo Games, which were held in 2021 because of the pandemic, she suffered from a case of the twisties, a term gymnasts use to describe losing their spatial awareness and orientation in mid-air. During the team final, Biles visibly lost her position in the air on vault, completing just 1.5 rotations of a planned 2.5 twists. Biles subsequently withdrew from the rest of the team final, although she did take home a silver medal after teammates Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum and Suni Lee continued in her absence. Biles later withdrew from the uneven bars, vault and floor finals before performing a reduced-difficulty balance beam routine that won her another bronze medal in that event.

Since the age of 16, Simone Biles, now 27, has been known for her ability to win — and keep on winning.

After taking a two-year mental health break from the sport after the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles is now back and better than ever.

From 37 World and Olympic medals to the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the U.S., Biles has won it all. Here is a look at all her wins and records thus far.

How many Olympic medals does Simone Biles have?

Biles has won seven Olympic medals, four of which are gold. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles won three individual golds in the all-around, vault and floor exercise and led Team USA’s “Final Five” to the team gold. She also added a bronze medal on the balance beam.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles added a silver medal in the team event and an additional bronze medal in the balance beam to her hardware collection. Heading into the Games, Biles was the favorite to win gold in the all-around, vault, and floor finals, but she withdrew from competition after suffering from a case of the “twisties,” a term used by gymnasts to describe losing their sense of space and direction in the air.

Biles currently has the ninth most Olympic medals in women’s artistic gymnastics, but she will undoubtedly look to add to this figure in Paris.

American viewers watching the Paris Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony noticed the absence of a key athlete: Simone Biles.

Among over 500 American Olympians introduced on a giant boat, the four-time Gymnastics Gold Medalist was missing.

Speculation quickly spread on social media, especially given that high-profile athletes like LeBron James attended and even served as America’s flag bearer.

The absence of such a prominent figure led to many questions.

Simone Biles is not injured, nor is she making any political statement. Her parents clarified during the NBC broadcast that Biles and the women’s gymnastics team were excused from the ceremony to rest for their first competition on Sunday.

“The first competition is Sunday, which is a women’s qualifier, so of course, she needs to rest up before that competition,” explained Nellie Biles, Simone’s mother.

“I spoke to her this morning, and she’s doing great. She’s just in a really good place.”

During the broadcast, Biles’ mother even FaceTimed her along with Snoop Dogg and NBC host Hoda Kotb, despite the pouring rain, to send good luck wishes ahead of Sunday’s qualifiers.

Logistical Challenges for Gymnasts

Athletes were informed that the Opening Ceremony could keep them on their feet for up to nine hours, a physically demanding duration unsuitable for gymnasts preparing for competition.

The continuous downpour that left attendees soaked only added to the challenges. Consequently, not only Biles but also fellow gymnasts Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey opted out of the ceremony to conserve their energy.

Biles‘ decision to rest also recalls her experience at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she withdrew from several events due to experiencing “the twisties,” a condition that affects gymnasts’ spatial awareness.

Despite the criticism she faced, Biles returned to win a bronze medal in the balance beam final. Critics who accused her of letting her team down were met with backlash from those who understand the sport’s mental and physical demands.

In recent practice sessions, reports indicate that Biles is more focused and determined than ever, ready to prove her doubters wrong.

The women’s gymnastics qualifying round, starting on Sunday at 3:30 am Eastern, will provide her the platform to showcase her readiness and resilience.

Simone Biles‘ absence from the Opening Ceremony was a strategic decision to ensure peak performance, reflecting her dedication and the meticulous planning necessary for Olympic success.