Gymnast Simone Biles has opened up about the first heartbreaking thought she had after botching her vault during the Tokyo Olympics, admitting she was terrified she would be “kicked out of the United States” because of the mishap.
The Olympic gold medalist, 27, withdrew from many events at the 2020 games in Asia after stumbling during her vault after suffering something called “the twists,” a mental block that makes gymnasts feel ” lost in the air.’
Now, she has spoken about the first thing that crossed her mind after landing in the vault, explaining that immediately, the only thing she could think about was what people were going to say about her.
During a recent appearance at Alex Cooper’s calls his daddy In the podcast, which aired this morning, the athlete said she was so mortified that she “wanted to run away” and take a plane home immediately.
Gymnast Simone Biles opened up about the first heartbreaking thought she had after botching her vault during the Tokyo Olympics.
The Olympic gold medalist, 27, withdrew from many events at the 2020 games, after stumbling during her jump after suffering something called ‘the spins’.
Now, he has spoken about the first thing that crossed his mind after landing in the vault during a recent appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast.
She said she was worried that the United States would “hate” her or call her a “failure” for not winning another gold medal, and she even feared she wouldn’t be allowed to return home.
“I wanted to run, if I could have gotten a plane and flown home [right then] “I would have done it,” said the sports star.
“As soon as I landed, I thought, ‘America hates me. The world is going to hate me. Only I can [imagine] what they are saying in Twitter right now.” That was my first thought.
‘I thought, “Shit, what are they going to say about me?” Because normally, if you go to the Olympics and you fail, everyone on their couches eats their chips. [has something to say].
‘I thought they were going to ban me from entering the United States. They tell you: “Don’t come back if it’s not gold. Gold or bankruptcy. Don’t come back.”
“I thought, ‘I’m going to be in one of those videos called failures at the Olympics. “This is horrible.”
The 27-year-old added that she knew immediately that she could no longer compete and needed to step away from the rest of the events.
‘I knew I couldn’t recover. “I knew how long it takes to get over the curves and I knew it wasn’t overnight,” she explained.
She explained that immediately all she could think about was what people were going to say about her and she was terrified that she would be “kicked out of the United States” because of the mishap.
She said she was worried that the United States would “hate” her or call her a “failure” for not winning another gold medal.
Simone (seen at the 2020 Olympics) said: ‘I thought they were going to ban me from entering the United States. They tell you: “Don’t come back if it’s not gold. Gold or bankruptcy. Don’t come back.”
‘I’m immediately going to tell my coach: “I’m done, I’m not doing any more.” [I felt like]If I survived that, I don’t know how much longer I can survive.
‘I always say that I am a cat with nine lives, but I think that was the ninth. I said, “I’m done.”
Simone admitted she was “internally scared” but “didn’t want to be scared in front” of her teammates.
“I stayed as composed as I could. “I didn’t want to scare the girls,” she told Alex.
She recalled that her teammates told her they couldn’t win without her, but she told them: ‘You are here because you are the best in the world.’ Go out and do your job.’
“It was very hard mentally for them, they lost their best player, the veteran,” he added.
‘That’s something I’ll never forgive myself for. I wish I could have been there with them like he was supposed to. But after that, I became his loudest and best cheerleader.
‘At that moment I felt like I needed to take care of myself. It was the right thing for my team. Yo [knew I] I couldn’t let my pride get in the way and try to move forward just to compete in the Olympics again. I need to see what was wrong mentally.’
During the interview, Simone also talked about the moments leading up to the now infamous vault.
He explained that he was already “having twists” during his training, but he tried to “get over them.”
He said he knew deep down he was “fighting demons” but wanted to keep going for his “teammates.”
“I literally felt like I was fighting my body and my mind to do these tricks,” he recalled.
At the Olympics, he said each of them had “a turn to warm up their jump,” and his went horribly wrong.
“I didn’t feel comfortable. I had no idea where I am, but I’m walking around and praying, like, “[Please] I land on my feet,” he recalled during the warm-up.
‘All the gymnasts there from all the countries [could tell]. My teammates were shocked… I’m trying to convince myself that I’m okay.
When asked to describe what the spins felt like, he said it was like a “disconnection between your mind and your body.” She is seen at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Simone previously hinted that the incident had to do with the sexual abuse she had suffered at the hands of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar (seen)
‘But all was not well. But I knew I had to go. I have to get a score no matter what.’
When asked to describe what the spins felt like, he said it was like a “disconnection between your mind and your body.”
‘The best way I could describe it is: every day you drive a car. “If you woke up one day and you had no idea how to drive a car and your legs were going crazy, you had no control over your body, that’s what it feels like,” he shared.
In September, she revealed on the Today show that she wants to compete in next summer’s Games in Paris, France.
‘You’ve been doing something for so long and you’re no longer in control. It’s frightening.
‘Your body will try to do something and your mind will say, “No, you’re not doing it.”
Simone previously He suggested that the incident had to do with the sexual abuse he had suffered at the hands of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar.
She was one of more than 150 gymnasts who suffered abuse from Larry, the former national team doctor, during her 30-year career, and in 2019, she said the trauma of the assaults had left her struggling with suicidal thoughts. .
Simone made a triumphant return to gymnastics in August, after a two-year hiatus from the sport.
In September, he revealed in the Today show that he wants to compete at next summer’s Games in Paris, France, but admitted that he “will have to take care of himself” more than in Tokyo and that he is receiving therapy to “make sure everything is aligned.”
She explained that she’s going to be “a little more cautious about how she does things,” telling the hosts: “I’m making sure that my mental and physical health [states] Both are intact. It will be different but it will be good.’
During her appearance on Call her Daddy, Simone admitted that she was nervous that something similar could happen again in upcoming games.
He recalled asking his therapist: ‘Look, it’s the Olympic year, do we find out why that happened?’ We are sure?
“It wasn’t just the twists, it was compressing all this shit for so many years, it just unfolded. “You can’t compress trauma,” he continued.