Simone Biles leaves Paris with four more Olympic medals after overcoming the ‘Twisties’ she faced at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Speak with NBC’s Today ShowBiles attributed this to the visualization exercises she regularly did with her therapist.
“It meant that I was seeing my therapist pretty routinely,” Biles said Tuesday. “So I saw her about three or four times throughout this whole process, and it didn’t matter if it was before or after qualifying, I would go back to town and call in to do my therapy sessions, because that’s routine for me now.”
The impact was clear. Biles won a single bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago, where she retired after a struggle with twisties—a problem that affects gymnasts’ mid-flight awareness and exposes competitors to the risk of physical harm.
But with the help of regular therapy sessions in Paris, Biles was able to win gold with the team in the all-around and vault events, and won silver on her floor exercise.
Biles shows off the three gold medals and one silver she won at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Simone Biles leaves Paris with four more Olympic medals after conquering the ‘Twisties’
“It just gave me confidence,” she said of her therapy sessions. “We do a lot of visualization before competitions so that I feel comfortable enough and confident enough to compete. But because it’s part of my daily routine, we don’t want to stop that just because I’m halfway around the world.
Biles recently spoke candidly about her battle with anxiety during the Olympics in a video of her preparations for her stunning all-around gold medal win on Thursday.
In a TikTok post recorded before she won the competition, the 27-year-old gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at her life in the Olympic Village. She captioned the post: “Getting ready with meeee for the all-around final @ the Olympics.”
As Biles touched up her makeup for her second appearance at the Games, she opened up about how she dealt with her emotions while competing on the biggest stage of all.
“I’m really nervous, that’s to be expected,” she said. “I had therapy this morning, so I feel a little better. I’ve just been working so hard mentally to get to this moment.
‘Tonight I’m starting with vault and I honestly think that’s the part I’m most nervous about because I don’t want to dominate.’
Biles competes in the women’s balance beam final on day ten
Biles also explained that she has largely avoided the Olympic Village in Paris after being attacked by fans eager to take a selfie with the American star.
“I haven’t done much around the Olympic Village,” Biles said. “That’s because the first day we were here, I went to the cafeteria and a lot of people were asking me for pictures nonstop and when I sat down to eat, my anxiety was so bad I was shaking.
‘I couldn’t stop shaking, I was so overwhelmed. I went to the cafeteria to meet my boyfriend, but I hadn’t been to the cafeteria in five days.
‘I’m just going to the store and get some food and just stay here [in her room] because it makes me so scared.’
Biles has been candid about her mental health struggles surrounding a sport in which she has achieved phenomenal success.
She withdrew from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to her mental health, later explaining that she suffered from “twisties” – a perceived psychological disconnect between a gymnast’s mind and body, particularly during twists.
In an interview with NBC in June, Biles said that it’s “kind of a religious feeling” for her to go to her therapist every Thursday, a practice she had not been unusual for before competing this week.
She has repeatedly and openly said that therapy helped her return to the top of gymnastics.