In the world of gymnastics, Simone Biles is hailed as a trailblazing athlete who is revolutionizing the sport. She will teach you a lot from her setbacks, including the denial of mythical age in her sport, placing mental health on priority, and ticking off personal goals. When discussing Biles, one is talking about an ongoing American and global unprecedented streak comprising 25 victories from the Worlds and Olympics. Ditching the ultimate goal of sweeping gold before hanging the leotard, Simone took command and walked the talk.

Since her “twisties” incident at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the serious danger of mid-air maneuvering has gained significant attention. Many athletes, including gymnasts, related to her story, which resonated with the mental “hang.” In order to understand the situation better, one must know the science behind twisties.

‘Twisties’ in gymnastics

A twistie is a mental block that a gymnast can experience when they are in the air during a twisting skill. It can cause them to lose their sense of where they are in the air and to lose control of their body. This can lead to falls, serious injuries, or even death.

Strictly going by definition, a mental block is an uncontrolled suppression of painful or unpleasant thoughts. When an athlete experiences this, it’s much more than the dizzy sensation. They appear to lose control of their muscles in the middle of a movement and become “lost”. Particularly for gymnasts taking a leap defying gravity, the condition can pose a threat of terrible landings.

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Let’s dissect the process: Primarily, the vision processes information; then the proprioceptive nerves which let the brain know the body’s in motion; then transmit information to the brain; a sophisticated balance mechanism in the ear helps the brain analyze information. Then, based on prior experiences, muscular motions happen automatically. This procedure needs to happen in a split second for elite gymnasts.

Where does the malfunction happen? Even during a regular day or exercise, the techniques take ridiculous amounts of practice. With mounted pressure, a slightly off mindset, and even a change of surroundings, the gymnasts fail to do the required spins — or even any spins/leaps. The recovery is a daunting effort, as the individual is already “off ” physically. However, the incident is not limited to only gymnastics but is known as “yips” in other sports.

Simone Biles’ history with the mental block

One of the gymnastics’s all-time greats, Biles has a history of suffering twisties in the past. In her debut Rio Olympics in 2016, the gymnast suffered a mental block in the run-up to the trial before the global event. Biles said, “At the start of 2019, I lost how to twist and flip. It was fantastic.” The next year grew worse for Biles who was in the limelight as named “Olympics returnee” during the pandemic postponed Olympics Games.

It only got worse for Simone, who seemed disoriented while completing in vault routine in the Tokyo Olympics two years back. Biles lept aiming to complete her signature Yurchenko double pike vault, which is an advanced move of her named “Biles” vault move of two-and-a-half twists. However, she finished with just one-and-a-half mid-air rotations and slipped as she landed. She later confessed, “I kind of see it coming,” even her teammates agreed to witness early symptoms during practice.

Following the tragic turn of events, she withdrew from the following five Olympic finals before returning to the Games to win a bronze medal on the balance beam. Notably, after the twisties one might recover practicing in the loose foam pit which was unavailable at the Tokyo Games venue. Biles later thanked Japan’s Junetendo University and the gymnastics coach Wataru Kawai for their prompt help with a private training space, which made her BB return possible. Biles is not the only one to have these bad days. Her experience is shared by many other gymnasts,

Other athletes who have faced twisties

Many gymnasts have spoken in the past about their encounters with the gymnastics “twisties” since the Tokyo Olympics incident.

Aleah Finnegan, a former athlete of the US national team, shared her story on X. “I’ve had the twisties since I was 11. I cannot imagine the fear of having it happen to you during competition,” she said. “You have absolutely no control over your body and what it does. The more you psych yourself [out] about it, the worse it becomes.”

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Laurie Hernandez, who shared the Rio Olympics team with Biles, also chimed in and explained, “I’ve had the twisties before. It’s painful, it actively makes you feel like you’re not the caliber of athlete that you are.”

Since Simone made a statement advocating mental health, more athletes have joined in harmony, as evidenced by the related stories. 17-year-old member of the US Gymnastics Team who qualified for the 2023 World Championships also spoke about “the weirdest feeling” from twisties this year. Redirecting fellow gymnasts to the right path, how did the legend make her comeback from the major setback?

How did Simone Biles return to gymnastics after a long break?

Simone returned to gymnastics after seriously starting with her practice at the onset of this summer. First, at the US Core Hydration last month, she came at the top of all four apparatuses easily taking the much-anticipated top spot. Following this, she took up her pending assignments from the Tokyo Olympics year to earn her eighth all-around title breaking America’s 90-year-old record. Biles said afterwards, “[My teammates] said, ‘You stuck every pass!’ I did?”.

She nailed it in her third event appearance—securing an automatic place in the upcoming World Championship which takes place October 1-8. Taking the team’s lead once again at the Worlds, Biles is vying in another league as she might step up to become the only gymnast with maximum golds and continue America’s team gold win streak.

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