"I was crying my eyes out" - When Simone Biles opened up on her struggle while mastering a challenging skill on uneven bars

Simone Biles' career has been nothing less than legendary. Her success can be attributed to her resilience and unwavering determination. However, she once reflected on her struggles while learning Tkatchev on uneven bars.

This particular skill requires a gymnast to swing around the bars, release, and turn hands over to fly backward over the bar in a straddle position before catching the bar again on the other side. In her autobiography, Courage to Soar, published in November 2016, Biles reflected on the training session when she continuously failed to nail the skill.

Despite frequent failures, Biles' stubbornness kept her going and the breakthrough came when she finally executed the skill at the end of the session. Describing the incident, she wrote:

"On a particular afternoon when I was slipping off the bar every time I tried to catch it, I sobbed to Aimee, 'I’m never going to get it!' I was crying my eyes out that day," Biles wrote. “'Aimee, this isn’t working! I’ve been trying to do the Tkatchev for seven months now. Why can’t I learn this release move?' I was so frustrated. During the forty-five-minute bar rotation, I’d try the release and catch over and over, and I’d miss, cry, miss, cry, miss, cry."

Biles added:

"And then, just before practice ended, I said to myself, I’m going to do it this time. And you know what? I actually did! I was so ecstatic that now I was crying from the pure joy of finally catching the bar!"

Simone Biles executed the Tkatchev on uneven bars in her competition

Simone Biles of the United States during the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo via Getty Images)

Although Simone Biles failed to catch the bar consistently during Tkatchev, in her training sessions, her coach wanted her to perform it at the upcoming 2011 CoverGirl Classic, which served as the qualification event for the national championships.

Biles lost her confidence to perform and cried in the bathroom before the event. However, Lexie Priessman, a gymnast, who Biles looked up to, comforted her and shared a key advice, asking her to release the bar even if it felt too early.

Simone Biles followed Priessman's advice and performed the skill for the first time without any flaw in competition. However, she faltered with the rest of her routine, as she hadn't trained to continue with the routine after a perfect Tkatchev.