Timeline of what happened with Simone Biles at Tokyo Olympics

Simone Biles, a nine-time USA national champion and a seven-time Olympic medallist, will be back for her third Olympics when she leads her team to the zenith of glory on July 28.

However, Biles’ previous Olympic Games experience could potentially haunt her, as she faced ‘twisties’, a mental block in gymnastics that intensified during the Tokyo Olympics.

From being at her lowest in Japan’s capital to jumping her way back to the top of gymnastics, the American’s journey in these last three years has shown her mental verve more than anything.

Here’s what happened with Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics:

The twist in the tale

Coming into the Tokyo Olympics, the tale surrounding Biles was written before she took to the floor: a near-invincible gymnast aiming to continue her stronghold over events from the mat to the beam.

However, there was a twist in the tale. She didn’t see herself during the team final’s vault event. A face ridden with uncertainty, Biles could only complete about one and a half turns, compared to the expected two and a half.

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After a short while, Biles was seen returning to the arena, huddling with her teammates, and saying something along the lines of how they would have to go ahead and complete the final without her. While Team USA did well to clinch the silver medal behind Russia, all eyes and ears were on the seven-time Olympic medallist for her unexpected withdrawal mid-final.

What did Simone Biles say?

A day after the team final, Biles announced that she would not participate in the individual all-around final and the vault and uneven bars medal events.

Something had found a chink in the once unbeatable gymnast’s armour, but what was it? No, it wasn’t an injury. It was something much more unfathomable than that.

“I just don’t trust myself as much as I used to. I’m a little bit more nervous when I do gymnastics. I feel like I’m also not having as much fun,” the athlete had said in the post-event press conference, citing mental health behind her sudden exit.

“They saw it a little bit in practice…having a little bit of the twisties,” she had added. ‘Twisties’ are a phenomenon where there is a dissonance between the gymnast’s mind and their body that renders them unable to do a certain move or skill.

“I knew it would be a little bit better to take a back seat and work on my mindfulness, and I knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job. Didn’t want to risk the team a medal because of my screw up,” Biles had told the reporters after the event. “No injury, thankfully. That’s why I took a step back. I didn’t want to do something silly out there and get injured.”

A bronze-coloured comeback

Biles nursed that chink in her armour for a week and came back to the competition to win a medal in Tokyo. She clinched a record-equalling seventh Olympic medal after she won the bronze in the beam event.

She’d spent the week leading up to the beam final continuing to train and be evaluated by team physician Dr. Marcia Faustin while doubling as a lead cheerleader for a U.S. women’s team that racked up some serious hardware in her absence.

While she failed to stick the landing during the vault part of the team final, Biles made sure she did it perfectly during the beam final, which she did. Arriving at the arena about 90 minutes before the final and succeeding in pulling off the double-pike dismount — the move that eventually won her the bronze — twice in practice, showed that Biles had shaken off her ‘twisties’ and was back in business once again as if she’d never left.

(With AP inputs)

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