Advertisement

Simone Biles: I should have quit gymnastics way before Tokyo Olympics

 (AP)
(AP)

Four-times Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles says she should have quit gymnastics "way before Tokyo," where she suffered from a case of ‘twisties’ that ruined her attempt at a record haul of six golds.

The 24-year-old American dropped out of the opening event at the Games, the team competition in July, after just one vault and later said she was struggling with the twisties, a serious mental block in which gymnasts lose their sense of orientation.

In an interview with the New York Magazine, Biles told how she struggled with anxiety after arriving in Tokyo.

"If you looked at everything I’ve gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team,” said Biles, citing the time former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar spent in the media before he was given two prison sentences of 40 to 125 years and 40 to 175 years for molesting gymnasts.

"I should have quit way before Tokyo."

The 19-time world championship title-holder told a US senate hearing this month how the FBI and U.S. gymnastic and Olympic officials failed to stop the sexual abuse that she and hundreds of other athletes suffered from Nassar.

Read More

Simone Biles is redefining the meaning of true strength in sport

Simone Biles pulls out of women’s floor final at Tokyo Olympics

Simone Biles: Olympic icon grateful for ‘love and support... I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics’

Olympian Simone Biles praised for speaking openly on mental health struggles