Tokyo 2020 was supposed to be Simone Biles’ coronation; instead, it became her crucible. Remember when the world watched her withdraw mid-team final? That was the “twisties” striking: a terrifying disconnect between mind and body where “my mind and body are simply not in sync,” as she confessed on Instagram. One training video showed her bailing mid-dismount into foam pits, a half-turn short of safety. “Nor do I have to explain why I put my health first,” she declared, prioritizing survival over medals. For the GOAT, walking away was harder than any vault.

What followed was three years of rebuilding, weekly therapy every Thursday, relearning skills from scratch, and setting fierce boundaries. She even skipped family Sunday dinners to preserve energy for the gym. That journey led to Paris 2024, where she soared to all-around gold and team glory. But beneath those flawless routines? Tokyo’s ghosts still whispered.

In a raw Olympics.com interview marking her Paris anniversary, Biles reveals how the twisties haunted her daily prep. “I thought about that every single day,” she admits, “but not in a negative way… that I’ve put the work in and that this will not happen again.” That “what if?” anxiety lingered, especially during fatigue spells. She describes pleading with coach Laurent Landi: “Can we please do those [double-doubles] tomorrow?” when exhaustion threatened her focus. Their solution? Radical honesty and scaling back- “We didn’t freak out… Let’s go back to basics.”

This wasn’t just physical training- it was mental rewiring. She credits Landi for spotting her limits and adjusting instantly: “Communicating with him was easy.” Even during Paris’ all-around final, nerves spiked when she opted for the risky Yurchenko double pike vault. “There was just literally no way that it could happen,” she insisted, yet “the little voices in my head” still murmured. By choosing boundaries over burnout, she didn’t just win gold; she reclaimed her confidence and her pride.

She faced “What if?” anxieties and handled bar mishaps without spiraling. “Not that I wasn’t worried,” she said of that day in August 2024, “but I just knew if I didn’t regulate my emotions and my anxiety… then it could potentially not go the way I wanted it to.” That blend of boundary-setting, communication, and self-advocacy turned Tokyo trauma into Paris triumph. And now, as she closed that chapter, Biles signaled something new. A pause to celebrate life beyond gymnastics. Now, she’s trading leotards for luxury, proving rest is part of greatness.

Simone’s post-Paris pause: celebrating life beyond the mat

After Paris, Biles launched the Gold Over America Tour- a 32-city extravaganza blending gymnastics showcases with fan events. Touring alongside Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey, she shared her Paris story in arenas once echoing only competition. Each stop let her revel in the crowd’s energy without the pressure of perfect routines. By the tour’s November 2024 finale, she’d processed her Olympic journey and eased out of daily training, ready to savor a well-earned break.

Her break has been more than selfies on exotic beaches; it’s been strategic self-care. In January 2025, she told Good Morning America, “I’m taking time to just be Simone, not Simone the gymnast.” Yet she kept weekly Thursday therapy sessions sacrosanct, crediting them for mental clarity. Between sessions, she prioritized rest, trusting that stepping back now would fuel future excellence rather than diminish it.

Summer 2025 saw Biles trading mats for yachts and runways. In July, she jetted to the British Virgin Islands with close friends, posting passport selfies with “& we’re off🌴👙🍹🐠💛” and deck shots captioned “Home for the week😍😍😍”– her signature “No crying on the yacht.” Then she and husband Jonathan Owens graced the Met Gala in a custom bright-blue Harbison Studio dress, with Biles admitting on Vogue that walking the red carpet was “more stressful than Olympic finals.” A week earlier, she revived Churchill Downs’s “Riders Up!” call at the Kentucky Derby, seamlessly blending athletic poise with social flair.

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