Exclusive - Simone Biles on letting go, twisting again, and having no regrets: 'What success means to me is different than before’
The seven-time Olympic medallist spoke exclusively with Olympics.com prior to heading to Antwerp, Belgium, for the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships, where she will once again be a favourite for gold.
Artistic Gymnastics
In early August, a few hundred fans dotted the upper bowl of Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, to watch official practice ahead of the 2023 U.S. Classic gymnastics competition.
The event was to be seven-time Olympic medallist Simone Biles’ first since the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021, where she had pulled out of the women’s team final and four subsequent individual finals to priortise her health as she dealt with a case of what gymnasts call the ‘twisties,’ where the body and mind fall out of sync.
That Friday morning outside Chicago, the arena was mostly quiet, the sounds of top 40 hits faintly audible overhead between run-throughs of floor exercise routines.
There were no cheers, no applause, no young girls screaming to their gymnastics idols… until there was.
Biles was on the uneven bars taking her fourth turn of the workout and performed the dismount she had done so many times, including throughout her Rio 2016 Olympic campaign that netted four golds and a bronze.
Those on hand, there to see even a glimpse of Biles during training after the event sold out nearly the second her participation was announced, broke the silence and erupted.
Simone Biles was twisting again.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to compete again because there were multiple times this year where I was in the gym and I was like, ‘I’m actually terrified of this full-in, like I’m not doing it again, never going to do it,'" Biles told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview at the U.S. Women’s World Championships Selection Event.
"And then I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to come back another day, another day.’”
Simone Biles opens up on her return to competition
The familiar ease with which she performed her trademark acrobatics that day in Illinois and in three subsequent competitive outings - including the 2023 U.S. Championships in late August where she won an unprecedented eighth all-around crown - belie the struggle it took to get back what had always been so natural.
She’s quick to say she had help from those around her, including her training mates at World Champions Centre where she trains with coaches Cecile (née Canqueteau) Landi, a 1996 Olympian, and her husband Laurent Landi.
“The girls on the team really helped me with that because they were like, ‘No, Simone, just come in. Come on.' And I’m like, ‘Okay, you’re right. I can’t give up now because then I’ll forever be afraid of it,'” Biles explained.
Eventually, she overcame her fear and found a sense of comfort in doing 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, or triple-double and I’d be good,” explained Biles. “I feel like right now, if I walk away, I know that I can do that, so that helps me.”
“I can keep doing this and I can keep improving”
Two months after her return, Biles is headed back to where it all began: Antwerp, Belgium, the site of her first global championships in 2013, which is set to host to the 2023 edition. Competition begins Saturday (30 September).
The 26-year-old has won everything gymnastics has to offer - and most of it more than once. With 25 world medals, including 19 golds, she already holds most records in the sport in nearly every category.
She could have walked away from the sport after the Tokyo Games, where her act of self-care started a global conversation about mental health in sports and her triumphant return in the balance beam final garnered a bronze she’s said means so much to her.
But as Biles got on with her life following Tokyo, including a nationwide arena tour and her nuptials to NFL player Jonathan Owens, something brought her back to the sport.
“I think we've realized along this journey that I can keep doing this and I can keep improving," she said. "If I'm 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.”
Biles has been more casual in her approach this time.
She told reporters that she hadn’t really thought about competing at the Classic in August until her coach Laurent said she was.
The next thing she knew, her leotards were arriving at the gym.
“We've just 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... we do my short-term and my long-term goals, but this year, I think I’m even shocked by myself doing Classics, [U.S.] Championships, now, here, World trials,” Biles told us.
“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,” she continued. “I like to plan out everything. I like to know everything. 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.’ I'm not that type of person, but this year has kind of been like that, just like professionally and [in] life. I've just tried to go along with the flow 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.'”
Having no regrets
Biles’ focus on the future is motivating her in the present.
“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,” said a reflective Biles.
“But I won’t be able to do my career forever.”
So, here she is. Back like she never left, dominating the sport just as she has for a decade.
But while her daring acrobatics may be the same, her approach to the sport and all the implications surrounding it have changed.
“I think what success means to me is a little bit different than before because before everyone defined success for me, even if I had my own narrative that I wanted,” said Biles. “So, now, it’s just showing up, being in a good head place, having fun out there, and whatever happens, happens.”