Simone Biles opened up about her battles with anxiety during the Olympics in a video of her preparations for Thursday’s stunning all-around gold medal win.
In a TikTok recorded before she won the competition but posted on Friday, the 27-year-old let her fans inside her life behind the scenes in France. She captioned the post: “Get ready with me for the Olympic finals.”
And as the 27-year-old applied her make-up ahead of her second event of the Games, she spoke candidly about managing her emotions while competing on the biggest stage of them all.
“I’m very nervous, which is to be expected,” she said. “I just had therapy this morning, so I’m feeling a little bit better. I’ve worked really hard mentally to get to this point.”
‘Tonight I start with vault and, honestly, I think it’s the event that makes me the most nervous because I don’t want to be too strong.’
Simone Biles opens up to fans about her battles with anxiety at the Paris Olympics
Biles has been one of the stars of the Olympics so far, with two gold medals under her belt.
Biles also explained that she has mostly avoided the Olympic Village in Paris after being ambushed by fans who were desperate to get a selfie with the American star.
“I haven’t done much in the Olympic Village,” Biles said. “It’s because the first day we got here, I went to the cafeteria and so many people kept asking me for pictures and when I sat down to eat, I was so anxious I was shaking.
‘I couldn’t stop shaking, I was so overwhelmed. I went to the cafe to meet my friend, but I hadn’t been to the cafe in five days.
“I just go to the store, buy food and stay here (in her room) because it makes me so anxious.”
Biles has been candid about her mental health struggles around a sport in which she has enjoyed phenomenal success. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she withdrew citing mental health and later explained that she had “twisties,” a perceived psychological disconnect between a gymnast’s mind and body, particularly during turns.
In an interview with NBC in June, Biles said that seeing her therapist every Thursday “is a religious thing for me” and that it was no exception for her before competing this week. On numerous occasions, she has openly and repeatedly acknowledged that therapy helped her get back to the top of her game in gymnastics.
Biles also praised Rebeca Andrade, the Brazilian gymnast who won silver on Thursday. At a news conference after her win, Biles said Andrade’s performances made this the most stressful competition of her career to date.
“Let me tell you, Rebecca is good,” Biles said in her TikTok. “She’s good. I would say she’s my main competitor, we have similar scores.”
Biles waves to the crowd after winning her second gold medal at the Paris Games on Thursday
Biles, 27, has a chance to win her third gold medal of the Games on Saturday on vault.
“But I’m really excited to compete and rotate with her, she’s really sweet. So I’m excited, it’s going to be a good competition.”
She also shockingly revealed that she got Botox for her 27th birthday in March, but didn’t enjoy the impact it had.
“For my 27th birthday I got Botox, like baby Botox, on my T-zone and I didn’t like it,” Biles said.
“I haven’t done it again because I was standing there in training and my eyebrow would suddenly move like that (he raises it). So I won’t do it again.”
Biles will be back in action on Saturday in the vault as she looks to claim a third gold medal at the Games.
She will then compete in the balance beam and floor finals on Monday in France.
