“Today was not my day (cries). I feel really sad. I feel like everything I did in the last two or three years did not work out today. I’m very sad (cries). I feel like I’ve worked for nothing the past few years. I’m sad.” The world witnessed a broken version of this French gymnast after the 2024 Olympics. As a four-time European champion, expectations were high, especially competing at home with two years spent training alongside Simone Biles in Houston. But things did not roll her way.

Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos had a tough time, starting with a fall on the uneven bars despite recovering for her dismount. Her struggles continued on the balance beam, including a moment when she had to grab the apparatus to keep from falling off. She then failed to land a double flip cleanly on the floor, hitting the mat with her knees and hands. Tokyo was also medal-less for her, as she could only manage a 6th-place finish on the uneven bars and an 11th-place result in the all-around final. However, in both of these Olympics, she had fought through something.

The 25-year-old gymnast took to her Instagram to drop a health update. “Hello everyone, well I’m catching up on the questions I was asked, I didn’t take the time to answer them, sorry… I actually had surgery a little over three months ago now for a venous issue that has bothered me for years. For a long time, I took a treatment (Xarelto) that allowed my blood to flow, because I suffered from vascular malformation and blood clots had formed in my veins,” she wrote. In an interview on Olympics.com, she revealed that alongside emotional healing after Paris 2024, she’d also undergone surgery to repair a wrist injury.

For a long time, she was under medication before she was told to stop before the Tokyo Olympics because, as she wrote, “It was not advisable to take it while practicing my sport! It was then from this time that the pain became less bearable!” Yet she managed her workout for two more years up to the Olympics in Paris. She also revealed how the surgery became apparent, writing, “After Paris, I went back to this treatment, but the effects of the medication were difficult to manage… So I decided to consult and therefore we concluded that surgery is necessary.”

The French gymnast informed that she is doing well now, while the gymnastics community has also been sending their prayers to her. This recovery would also feel good after she received a four-word message from Simone Biles days before she gave this update.

Simone Biles’ 4-word message for Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos

Two weeks ago, Inside Gymnastics Magazine took to their Instagram handle to share a fond memory of dos Santos. Talking of her recovery after Paris, they quoted her interview with Olympics.com, “In a new feature from Olympics.com, the French superstar says her run on Simone Biles’ Gold Over America Tour (GOAT) was a saving grace. ‘Knowing myself, if I hadn’t had the tour, l would have shut down. I would have just stayed home doing nothing,’ she says. ‘Doing gymnastics without pressure was something that really helped me.'” 

She was the only international gymnast invited to join Simone Biles’s touring crew—a two-month showcase across the U.S. from September to November 2021, then again in 2024. She had paid her tribute to Simone Biles once before, and this time it was the GOAT’s chance. Taking to the comment section of the post, the most decorated gymnast of all time commented, “WE LOVE YOU MEL 🫶🏾“. Biles has been supportive of her. While in Paris, Simone even took a moment to comfort Mélanie post-routine.

That’s the bond the two gymnasts share, and the fans can’t help but dig into this energy. What do you think about them?