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Gymnast Simone Biles and Aly Raisman came together recently to attend an event in Philadelphia. The former members of the Final Five team met each other after a long time and cherished memories from their competition days.
The duo was spotted engaging in a fun dress-up activity and also took time out to meet other gymnasts.
Biles and Raisman share a strong bond from the days they were a part of the USA Final Five team for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Besides their professional association, Biles and Raisman have backed each other on several occasions outside the gymnasium also.
For instance, in 2018, the legendary gymnast credited Aly Raisman for teaching her how to love oneself. The 29-year-old retired gymnast also supported Biles when she withdrew from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The two of them were also seen testifying for the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case in the same year.
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Recently, the four-time Olympic gold medalist appeared overwhelmed when she spent quality time with Raisman and other gymnasts at a talk show for Comcast in Philadelphia.
Sharing some fun moments from her meet-up with Raisman, Biles posted a TikTok video with her friend. The dress-up video showed the two gymnasts donning their bathrobes and then quickly transitioning into beautiful attires complimented with long coats. Biles captioned the video thus:
“getting ready together again, but not for a competition this time… bittersweet”
One of Simone Biles’ Instagram stories also showed her and Aly Raisman reuniting with another Final Five team member Laurie Hernandez. She shared the picture and captioned it with these words:
“2016,” adding a watery eyes emojis.
Aly Raisman raised concerns about Simone Biles’ mental health
In 2021, Simone Biles made headlines by withdrawing her name in the middle of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She dropped out of events citing her mental health issues.
Biles’ courageous move sparked debates throughout the nation. Amidst several opinions, Aly Raisman raised concerns over whether Biles was receiving proper mental health help at USA Gymnastics.
In her interview with CNN, she shared that, as gymnasts, they have immense pressure to perform and win medals. She suspected that Simone Biles’ mental health situation was a result of her experience training at USA Gymnastics.
In fact, Raisman also called the institution “an absolute disaster for years.” She mentioned the USA Gymnastics team doctor who had been sexually abusing hundreds of gymnasts, including Raisman and Biles for years.
Furthermore, she added:
"Unfortunately, not enough has changed for us to believe in a safer future," Raisman said.
She continued:
"But I think this just really shows the lack of leadership at USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee. I mean, their best athlete is struggling, and is there someone there to help her? I don't know; I'm not there, so I don't know. But I think it's an important question that we should be asking is, does Simone have the support that she needs?"
