As the 2024 Olympics is around the corner, Simone Biles is steadily preparing herself. Earlier, when Biles withdrew from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she was afraid that America would hate her or even ban her from participating further. But she made a strong comeback in 2022 and won her eighth U.S. individual title and has been performing well since then. 

To begin this season, initially, the seven-time Olympic gymnast was poised to join the US women’s first national team camp, with a total of 26 participants. But, in a surprising turn of events, Simone didn’t participate in the Team USA camp. Despite missing it, a recent social media video of Simone Biles showcased some of the stunning shots of her performing in various competitions.

Reposting this video on her story Biles captioned, “almost that time again, 😅🤸🎉👀 t-2 weeks.” She further wrote, “I Could Vomit” along with the clip. The original post carried the caption, “Got to shoot one of the greats 📸🌟.”  Apparently, with that comment, she referred to the nervousness of starting the season. Biles is set to make her Olympic 2024 season debut, starting May 17th and 18th, at the U.S. Core Hydration Classic in Hartford, Connecticut. 

When USA Gymnastics announced the full lineup for the event on April 12 via Twitter, it was reported that Simone Biles will be joined by 2021 Olympic teammates Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles. However, the participation of 2012 Olympic champion Gabby Douglas is expected to be confirmed later. As the event nears, many might recall last year’s Core Hydration Classic where Simone made a smashing comeback after a hiatus post-Tokyo. 

Biles took away the win in all-around (59.100), floor exercise (14.900), and beam (14.800). Alongside, she added a bronze (14.000) on the uneven bars. But the highlight of that 2023 night in NOW Arena was probably her performance. Shattering her twisties horror, she performed a beautiful Yurchenko double pike; the signature dreaded vault of Simone Biles. That brought her a massive score of 15.400. Moreover, the Yurchenko double pike was named after her.

The 7,200-strong crowd of the arena roared in excitement to welcome their queen back. When Simone takes the stage at Hartford this year, enthusiasts will undoubtedly be looking forward to an action replay of her last year’s performance. Let’s take a look at how she reigned.

This event will also serve as a crucial qualifier for the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in May and the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. Both will be essential steps in Biles’ quest to secure a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. However, on the way, Simone very much knows the importance of mental wellbeing apart from training. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics made her learn it the hard way.

Last year, one day before the team final for the competition was announced, Biles wrote on Instagram she felt “like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times.” Eventually, that pressure of expectation completely broke her. Recently, she once again opened up on the Tokyo days, when she was “fighting demons” of the twisties.

Laurent Landi told Simone Biles to start from scratch 

During the Tokyo Olympics, Simone was already having twisties when she was training, she revealed in the recent Call Her Daddy podcast. But she decided to compete for the sake of the team. But that push did not make her overcome the situation, rather her mental crisis became clearer to her. “I literally felt like I was fighting my body and my mind to do these tricks… it looks like I’m going like this in the air and it doesn’t feel comfortable. I have no idea where I am, but I’m twisting like praying land on my feet,” she expressed about her feelings back then.

Not only this, but instantly, she had a feeling that her country was going to reject her for not performing well. “As soon as I landed, I was like, oh, America hates me. The world is gonna hate me. And I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now… I was, I thought I was gonna be banned from America because that’s what they tell you. Don’t come back if it’s not gold, gold or bust, don’t come back,” Simone revealed on the podcast. The entire situation warranted lengthy healing.

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So Simone moved away from the mats for nearly two years. But even then she could not come back to her usual self. So much so that she was not sure of her competing in 2023. But her two pillars came forward to get Biles back on her feet. Cecile and Laurent Landi brought Simone out of those traces of twisties horror. Recalling that, Simone said, “Whenever Laurent (Landi) last year, he told me I was competing. I was like, how can I compete? I’m not over the twisties yet. Because every time I went to bars or beam or floor, I was praying that I did the amount of twist I was supposed to.” But the Core Hydration Classics gave Simone the boost she needed. The momentum pulled her further at the US Championships.

Simone captured the title for a historic eighth time with a combined score of 118.450, nearly four full points better than the runner-up (Shilese Jones: 114.550). This feat also broke a 90-year-old set previously by Alfred Jochim ( 7 titles) and earned her place for the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. In 2013, that was the place from where Simone’s rise had started.

 Now that Simone is back on her winning way once again, the world will wait to witness more of such history-making and breaking records by her.