"Wanted to run around like wild turkeys" - Simone Biles on the experience of her 'first night' at the Olympic Village [THROWBACK]

Simone Biles is often regarded as the greatest gymnast in the history of the sport. Simone has won several medals across various competitions in her career, and is currently tied with Sharon Miller for the most medals won by an American gymnast.

In 2017, Simone Biles sat with Daphne Oz of The 92nd Street Y, New York for a conversation. The video was posted on The 92nd Street Y, New York YouTube channel. Simone spoke about various topics with Daphne.

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Simone Biles on her first night at the Olympic Village

Daphne asked Simone to give everyone a walkthrough of what she was doing on her first night at the Olympics. Simone said she and her teammates went to the Olympics two and a half weeks before she competed to get acclimated to the conditions.

She continued:

"But as soon as we saw the village we were all like oh my gosh oh my gosh, I feel like couldn't even believe it. We wanted to run around like wild turkeys. "

It was evident that Simone and her teammates were excited about visiting the Olympic village. Simone quipped that they were in a lab (her room). Daphne surprisingly asked if they were locked in their room and Simone confirmed it. The ace gymnast said they had to train that day immediately after their ten-hour journey (from Houston to Brazil).

Despite all the excitement, her main focus was on the Olympics, which resulted in her first ever Olympics becoming a successful one. She won four gold medals and one bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Her performances at the 2016 Olympics earned her the honor of becoming the flag bearer for Team USA during the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. Simone Biles was the first American female gymnast to earn this honor.

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What does Simone Biles do now?

Simone Biles hasn't participated in competitive gymnastics since the Tokyo Olympics due to mental health reasons. Simone even withdrew from four out of the six events she was supposed to participate in during the Tokyo Olympics, due to the same.

Simone Biles during the 2020 Olympics at Tokyo

Biles competed only in the team events and beam finals. She won the silver and bronze medals respectively. Due to her absence from the gymnastics arena, many of her fans were pondering whether she has retired from the sport.

However, she quashed those rumors in one of her most recent tweets when she replied to a fan tweet on Twitter. She said that she hadn't retired but was simply working on her mental health.

Every now and then, Simone has hinted at participating in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

"I'm still taking time for myself just to work on myself, mentally and physically."

She is not sure what role she'll be participating in, but added that she will be there, regardless of whether it would be as an athlete or an audience member,

"But if I do decide to train, obviously, I'd have to go 100 percent, So I probably wouldn't hold back. I'd still try to give it my all."

During her time off from the sport, Simone was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Joe Biden in July. Simone Biles is also the youngest person to win this award aged 25.

Simone Biles receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from USA President Biden

She got engaged to Jonathan Owens during her time off. The couple began dating two years ago and announced their engagement in February, 2022.

Although Simone is not competing at the moment, her fans are always eager to see their favorite gymnast compete once again.