"I came in and decided I forgot how to do gymnastics"- When Simone Biles opened up about her struggles with twisties after the Rio Olympics

Simone Biles once opened up about her struggles with twisties after her debut appearance at the Rio Olympics in an old interview. The American gymnast revealed how she became completely blank all of a sudden and felt that she could not carry out any routine at all.

Biles has been vocal about her struggles with twisties and encourages other fellow athletes to speak out and seek help for similar roadblocks in their pursuit of greatness. Twisties is a phenomenon in gymnastics when a gymnast loses sense and perception of their body mid-air which can lead to a serious injury.

The disconnect between a gymnast's mind and body mid-air can have a profound impact on their landing as they fail to identify the exact maneuver that they are carrying out.

Simone Biles took to X to reveal her experience with twisties.

"Actually no hahaha the twisties are the ABSOLUTE worse. I walked out of a practice for the first time in my career," she wrote.

Biles spoke about the incident where she walked out of a practice session for the first time in an interview with Olympics.com in 2018.

"So, I did have the twisties. One day, I came in and decided I forgot how to do gymnastics. You know, that’s great. And I could not twist on floor or on beam. For my beam dismount, I just like wouldn’t do it, and we couldn’t figure out why," she said.

"So, then, you know, you take it step-by-step. You start going in the pit and that was pretty hard. I had this happen a little bit before Rio just because I had a little bit of anxiety, I was just really anxious. It was a lot of emotions leading up to it, I was kind of thinking too far ahead. Like, oh, my gosh, the meet’s coming. I’m not ready, but, then again, we still had a couple of months," she added.

Simone Biles on urging people to seek help for mental health struggles

Simone Biles during Gymnastics during the Paris 2024 Olympics. - Source: Getty

Simone Biles urged people to speak about their struggles and seek help if needed. The American gymnast has been an advocate for mental ever since she became outspoken about her struggles. Many people thanked the gymnast for speaking about her struggles as it helped them relate as well as assured them that they were not alone.

“It’s really important to use that support system and know they’re there for you and not against you, because at the end of the day, we as humans, we hate asking for help. We think we can do it on our own, but sometimes we just can’t. So, use every outlet given to you,” she said.

Furthermore, Biles revealed that along with therapy, she enjoys going on walks as well as indulging in shopping to better her mental health.

The 27-year-old had a remarkable 2024, which was culminated by her performances at the Paris Olympics. Biles won four medals at the sporting event, including three golds.