When the Oklahoma Sooners opened the second session of the 2024 NCAA Gymnastics Championships semi-finals, fans were eager to see what K.J. Kindler’s athletes had in store to bag their third straight national title. However, the number of falls soon made fans look at each other, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. But amid this debacle, it looks like the athletes have Simone Biles in their corner with her unwavering support for the stars on their big night.

In her recent Twitter post, the country’s most decorated gymnast stood firm behind the NCAA stars. She noted that fans should know better than to mock them for losing their nerves with so much pressure for them to be perfect en route to national glory. “yeah the most important day of our careers is a ke ke ha ha to you….“, Biles commented with a tone of sarcasm that cannot be ignored.

Many gymnastics connoisseurs tuned in to watch the country’s top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on April 18 with hopes of witnessing their historic three-peat. However, with five falls during their routines, the favorites soon proved to be lacking the motivation and determination to keep their heads in the game. But what exactly struck the chord for Simone?

For someone like Simone Biles, the tremendous pressure of high expectations is nothing alien. Having competed in the highest levels most of her life, Biles knows how difficult and unprecedented some days can be. And her own troubles weren’t limited to the domestic scene either, instead it was on the grandest stage where she had to face her demons.

Simone Biles’ camaraderie stems from her tryst with misfortune

After a stellar run throughout the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles decided to sit out on the finals because of the “twisties”, a condition when the coordination between a gymnast’s body and mind wasn’t at its best. While her teammates managed to overcome the adversity, the celebrity gymnast completely lost her mind during that time. She started contemplating the worst. “As soon as I landed (the vault), I was like, ‘America hates me, the world is going to hate me”, Biles opened up recently in an interview. The crushing pressure to bring glory to the US did not work as an inspiration to her, rather, it became a demon.

“That was my first thought … I thought I was going to 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 recently about her situation back then. It wasn’t just the experience at the Olympics that swamped Biles with negative thoughts.

The friction she has had with the national coach Laurent Landi was also a significant contributor to her blues. With her latest statement in favor of the NCAA gymnasts, Biles lends a personal touch to the entire situation. There could not have been anyone better than her the budding gymnasts could have got beside them during this misfortune. We can only hope that instead of just criticizing, fans also act more compassionately.