Exclusive: Full Q&A with Simone Biles as she seeks to make more history at World Championships 

A decade ago, U.S. gymnast Simone Biles made her global debut at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, setting off a career that has transformed and defined the sport.

A decade from now, Biles says she wants to know that she gave the sport her all.

“I think mostly it was [thinking about] in 10 years, whenever I look back, do I want to have any regrets? Do I want to be watching say Worlds or Paris on the TV and be like, ‘Wow, if I would have just gone into the gym and just put a little effort in…’ Because I will always get to do whatever I want to do after my career is over,” a reflective Biles told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview just prior to leaving for the 2023 Worlds back in Antwerp. “But I won’t be able to do my career forever.”

In just two days of competition back on the global stage, Biles has already made history, adding a fifth named element to the sport's rulebook (the Yurchenko double pike vault) and taking a 20th World gold medal as Team USA won an unprecedented seventh-straight team title Wednesday night (4 October).

Hear from the 26-year-old American on coming back to gymnastics, changing perspectives and life as a newlywed to NFL player Jonathan Owens.

Below is the complete transcript of our exclusive conversation with Biles, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

• Simone Biles on letting go, twisting again, and having no regrets: 'What success means to me is different than before’
• Simone Biles: "I came to the realization, I can still be a wife and be out here."
• World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023 preview: Full schedule and how to watch live Paris 2024 qualifying action

Olympics.com: World Mental Health Day is [in October]. Obviously, you've been at the forefront of that conversation. How has mental health been a bigger part of your training in the last few months than it was last time around?

Simone Biles: Well, I think I'm making a bigger effort into taking care of my mind and my body, which includes going to therapy, um, once every week, usually on Thursday is kind of like my therapeutic day and try to take a day for myself. And it's usually also our half day at the gym. So I think just keeping that aligned and keeping a good schedule and all that stuff because even tomorrow I'll see my therapist via online. So I think it's just really important that I'm taking care of my mind as much as I do my body, especially in this sport and outside of the sport. So just being real active in that.

Olympics.com: I talked to Nellie [Biles] earlier. She told me she wasn't sure this was going to happen again. So, you've obviously accomplished everything in the sport, multiple times. What brought you back?

SB: I don't know. I think we've realized along this journey that I can keep doing this and I can keep improving. And if I'm not the one to say, 'Hey, like, I don't want to do this,' then obviously we won't. But I haven't really said anything. We've just kind of been trailing along the journey and seeing what's to come, which is very rare for us because usually we have a set plan like, you know we're a planner, that we do my short term and my long term goals. But this year I think I'm even shocked by myself by doing Classics, [U.S.] Championships, now, here, Worlds trials.

So I think it's just a bunch of surprises and I kind of like it because I have expectations, but I won't be let down if I don't achieve something. So I think this is almost a better way to go, and I like to plan out everything. I like to know everything, like, even my husband will tell you like, 'Simone, just calm down. You don't have to pack for this, this and this. Just go with the flow.' And I'm not that type of person, but this year has kind of been like that, just like professionally and [in] life. And I've just tried to go along with the flow just so I enjoy the journey. So if I look back in ten years, I could be like, 'Wow, that year I really had a good time, you know?'

So I think just making an effort in that because I didn't know if I was ever going to be able to compete again because there was multiple times this year where I was in the gym and I was like, 'You know what? I'm actually terrified of this full-in like I'm not doing it again, never going to do it.' And then I was like, 'You know what? I'm just going to come back another day, another day.' But I also think the girls on the team really helped me with that because they were like, 'No, Simone, just come in, like, come on.' And I'm like, 'Okay, you're right. I can't like give up now because then I'll forever be afraid of it.' So I at least knew that if I were to walk away from the sport, I could come in the gym and at least do a full-in, a double-double, a triple-double. And I'd be good. And I feel like right now, if I walk away, I know that I can do that so that helps me.

Olympics.com: You've never been focused on [records or accomplishments]. I feel like I'm always the one that's like, 'You're the first to do...' and you're like, 'I didn't know that until you said that.' So what constitutes success for you this time?

SB: Yeah, I think just showing up and whatever happens, happens. But I think what success means to me is a little bit different than before, because before everybody defined success for me, even if I had my own narrative that I wanted. So now it's just like showing up, being in a good head place, having fun out there, and whatever happens, happens, you know? So, yeah.

Olympics.com: When you were kind of thinking about, I do this, or just go be a wife. What were the factors that you were thinking about most? 

SB: I think mostly was like in 10 years whenever I look back do I want to have any regrets? Do I want to be watching say, Worlds or Paris on the TV and be like, 'Wow, if I would have just gone into the gym and just put a little bit of effort in' because I will always get to do whatever I want to do after my career is over. But I won't be able to do my career forever. And at that point it's like, you know, people think about if you're a wife, you can't be a professional athlete, you can't be a gymnast, you can't do whatever. And I just came to the realization like, yeah, I can still be a wife and be out here. Does it look a little bit different? Like if we're talking chalk talk? Yeah, because I'm like, 'Well, I'm married, like, I live with my husband,' and they're like, 'Oh, I live with my parents.' You know, it looks a little bit different, and I have a dog and they're like, 'Well, what are your next steps after this?' I was like, 'Well, I have a wedding coming up. I have this.' And they're like, 'Well, I'm going to prom. So it just looks a little bit different.' So I knew I could still do it. It's just age is just a number at this point, and I think we're also propelling the sport and realizing that U.S. gymnasts can go beyond 16 and 18 and you can also be a collegiate athlete and do elite gymnastics. So it just looks a little bit different now. 

Olympics.com: I think you're told Hoda something like you're being a lot more intentional. What does that look like to you day-to-day? 

SB: First, it would be showing up in the gym, having fun, but even being intentional outside of the gym, making time for me and my husband, making time for my family, making time for those vacations, which before I wouldn't say necessarily I skipped vacations because y'all know I have my vacation time, but I feel like before it's just like you put relationships and all of that on the back burner.

I was, like, married to gymnastics, and now I feel like I'm attached to so many other things in gymnastics is just a part of my day because at the end of my practice, I'm like, 'Woo! I get to go home to a house, to my husband, to my dogs, to all this stuff,' where before it was like, man, gym, gym, gym, gym. And so I think I'm just being a little bit more intentional in what I enjoy outside of the gym.

I was even thinking about that today because I was like, 'Man, what do I really want to do?' And it's like talking to my agent and stuff like that. It's like, I really want to do a fashion week overseas and I really want to do this. So it's just like stuff like that excites me. Even with everything going on in the gym.

Olympics.com: And now you're not married to gymnastics, you're married to Jonathan Owens. So, what's it like having two professional athletes in the house? Because you guys got married, and then, all of a sudden he moved to Wisconsin! 

SB: I know, I know. We're a long distance relationship right now. It is pretty crazy because he left, like, right after the wedding. But it is so much fun having two professional athletes and people think that we would like compete so much. He's competitive. I'm not competitive. If we're playing a video game or whatever or cards like, I think that's so much fun, and I don't care if I win or lose. Like he has to keep going until he wins because he's just like, that's his type of personality. But I think that's why he's so good on the field and why he's made it so far, because he was... He went to a D2 school, and he was undrafted. So I think that shows a lot about who he is.

But I think we like to have a lot of fun, but we also like to relax because at the end of the day, we both work out so much and our schedules just look so different. But it is really fun. It's not as crazy as you think, like we'll be doing therapy together or go get massages together or our like nails done and people are like, 'What do you guys do at home?' 

Olympics.com: What did Jonathan say to you after Classic?

SB: Oh, he was really proud because they had family night that night, and he was like running to the locker room to check the stats and all of that stuff. But he was really, really proud and he was like, 'I love you so much. Good job today. I'm proud of you.' So just the basic stuff. 

Olympics.com: My last question is, the most important. I always save the most important for last... You haven't had your honeymoon yet. What's your dream honeymoon? 

SB: I think right now, our dream honeymoon would be... Okay. I think there's two... Okay, three, we're not sure. We would really love to go to Bora Bora and just relax there or go around, let's see, like St. Martin and all of that and do a boat and do all the islands or I feel like 2 to 3 weeks in Europe. I think we're teeter tottering those and what looks best in the schedule because then again next year is really busy, and then, he starts seasons. So it just depends. But I think that's like the top three. But I think he really wants to do Bora Bora, and I want to be mad at it because we could always see the others during the off seasons.