“Will my parents be with me when I wake up?” - When Simone Biles opened up on her anxiety during ankle surgery  

Simone Biles recently opened up on the anxiety she felt when she underwent knife after the 2013 U.S. Secret Classic held in July. Biles suffered a bone spur in her right ankle after landing incorrectly during a routine and the pain followed her to the World Championships held in October of the same year.

In her autobiography, Biles reflected on the fear she felt despite it being a simple surgery, stating it was her first time going under any procedure. Taken over by fear, she asked the doctors if her parents would be with her when she woke up.

"I’d recently undergone surgery on that ankle to remove a bone spur," Biles wrote. "On my final floor exercise at Worlds, I’d felt a sharp pain every time I came down from a tumbling sequence."

"I was way more worried about the operation itself. I’d never undergone any kind of surgery, and to be honest, I was terrified. What if something went wrong and I couldn’t do gymnastics anymore? 'Will my parents be with me when I wake up?' I asked the doctor. 'No,' he said. 'We don’t want anyone talking in the room before you wake up. We want you to come out of the anesthesia on your own,' she added.

Simone Biles earned her first all-around World Championships gold on her tournament debut in 2013

Simone Biles of Team United States at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France. (Image Source: Getty)

Simone Biles collected her first all-around World Championships gold on her debut in 2013 in Antwerp, Belgium after defeating fellow teammate Kyla Ross and Russia's Aliya Mustafina with a significant lead. While Biles collected 60.216, Ross and Mustafina secured 59.332 and 58.856 points, respectively. She defended the title in the 2014 and 2015 editions too.

Further, she also clinched her first gold in floor exercise, which she defended for the next two years. The American gymnast also bagged a bronze medal in the balance beam event after settling behind Mustafina and Ross. So far in her career, the legendary gymnast has bagged 30 medals, making her the most decorated gymnast in World Championships history.

Her most recent championship victory was recorded at the 2023 edition, where she made a return to the same venue she made her debut at, after 10 years. Simone Biles Bagging four gold medals, she once again dominated the all-around event.