Simone Biles is the golden girl, interrupted, of the Tokyo Olympics.
America’s beloved gymnast announced Tuesday that she was withdrawing from the team competition following a “stunning breakdown” at the long-delayed 2020 Olympics, citing mental health issues — and not an injury — that were exacerbated by the pressure to be “head star” at the summer games.
After her unexpected departure, the USA women’s gymnastics team ended up taking home the silver medal without 24-year-old Biles, a four-time Olympic gold medalist.
However, the decision to focus on competing for her own well-being instead of medals — while jarring to many US fans — wasn’t a complete shock to some diehard Biles followers.
After a fraught performance at Tokyo prelims on Monday, Biles already seemed to be hinting at a struggle. She opened up on Instagram, saying: “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world upon my shoulders at times.”
She continued, “I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but sometimes it’s hard, hahaha! The Olympics is no joke.”
And at a press conference after her teammates’ silver medal win Tuesday, Biles hinted at a more serious weight on her shoulders.
“Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out. I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being,” she said.
“We have to protect our body and our mind … It just sucks when you’re fighting with your own head.”
But Biles clearly hid the full inner turmoil she was experiencing — a private agony that bubbled to the surfaced on Tuesday when she formally withdrew from the team competition.
“There’s more to life than just gymnastics,” Biles told reporters at a press conference alongside her teammates. “It’s very unfortunate that it happened at this stage, because I definitely wanted it to go a little bit better. [I will] take it one day at a time and we’re gonna see how the rest goes.”
USA Gymnastics released a statement Tuesday declaring that Biles’ withdrawal following her vault rotation was due to an unspecified “medical issue” and she would “be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”
Biles countered that her only injury was “just a little to my pride … physically, I feel good, I’m in shape,” she told NBC’s Hoda Kotb. “Emotionally, that kind of varies on the time and the moment.”
The gymnast also said her main inspiration to “focus on my well-being” was tennis ace Naomi Osaka, who shocked fans by pulling out of this year’s French Open and skipping Wimbledon on the grounds of stress, triggered by the mandatory press conferences after each match.
Biles also follows in the footsteps of 23-time Olympian gold medalist Michael Phelps, who revealed in 2018 that he suffers from depression and crippling anxiety.
Her path to Olympic glory has been a challenging one. Here is a look back at all the times Biles has been open about her mental health struggles, including her childhood experiences, living with ADHD and the abuse she suffered at the hands of disgraced gymnastics trainer Larry Nassar.
She was in foster care as a child
Biles was traumatized during her early childhood in Spring, Texas, when her birth mother, Shannon Biles, became unable to care for her and her three siblings. The foursome went in and out of foster care, but Biles was adopted in 2003 by her loving maternal grandfather and his wife. The pair have long encouraged her passion for gymnastics. In her 2016 memoir, “Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance,” the sportswoman discussed the disruption to her formative years, writing: “my biological mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and she was in an out of jail, I never had mom to run to.”
Her high school peers were bullies
As a teen whose intense training schedule led to peak fitness, she developed somewhat bulky muscles. As a result, Biles was bullied at school. In an appearance on the “Today” show four years ago, she recalled that classmates would make derogatory comments about her athletic figure.
“People would say mean things to me all the time,” she said. “They used to call me a ‘swoldier,’ which didn’t make me feel the best. I wore sweaters or jackets all year to cover my arms.”
She was treated by a sports psychologist at 16
After a poor performance at the 2013 US Classic, Biles’ confidence plummeted. She consulted Houston-based sports psychologist Robert B. Andrews, who helped her manage her nerves and use her excitement to improve her skills.
“After working with Robert, I was able to recover and get my confidence back,” she said in a joint interview with Andrews in 2014. The expert also taught her ways to “calm down” after competing. “I found that I was getting too intense,” Biles admitted. “Working with Robert also helped ease my fears and I found more confidence.”
Her ADHD diagnosis was made public by hackers
In 2016, hackers managed to access Biles’ health records and released unauthorized, previously unknown details about her mental health. They exposed her as having ADHD, a condition for which she was prescribed medication.
Biles came out fighting, taking to Twitter to explain she was not cowed by the diagnosis. She defiantly posted: “Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing that I’m afraid to let people know.”
Discussing the disorder in an NPR interview, Biles said: “At a very young age, I didn’t realize what the diagnosis was. But it was a very good outing for me to get some energy out and then come home tired, do some homework and go to bed easier.” She added that she never saw it as a disability: “Other kids have it as well. And it’s just we’re more active and hyper than them, and I never think of that as a downfall. If anything, I see it as a cool thing ’cause, like, we have more energy.”
She revealed she was abused by Larry Nassar
In 2018, Biles revealed she was one of the more than 100 female gymnasts who accused team doctor Larry Nassar of molestation.
Besides saying the abuse brought about suicidal thoughts, she released a lengthy statement on her social media platforms. It was posted the day before a sentencing hearing at which Vassar heard victim impact statements.
“Most of you know me as a happy, giggly and energetic girl. But lately … I’ve felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams,” Biles wrote.
Her brother almost went to jail
If 2018 wasn’t bad enough, Biles endured another family crisis. Tevin Biles Thomas, the golden girl’s older brother, was charged in the fatal shooting of three people at a New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland, Ohio. He was ultimately acquitted this spring after a judge agreed with defense lawyers that there was insufficient evidence to justify a guilty verdict.
The pandemic put her ambitions on hold
Like many athletes with their hearts set on competing in the 2020 Olympics, Biles’ dreams were dashed when the country locked down in March 2020.
In an interview with Glamour, Biles “sat idle” for seven weeks and became depressed and thought of quitting.
“I wanted to give up,” Biles told the mag. “But it would have been dumb because I’ve worked way too hard.”
