Simone Biles: "Last year was a crazy year."

Eight months removed from a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that no one could have predicted, seven-time Olympic artistic gymnastics champion Simone Biles is reflecting on how she changed the conversation around mental health in sports.

"Honestly, last year was a crazy year. But I think pushing mental health to the forefront was a huge thing. I honestly didn't realise in that moment the impact that it would have," Biles said in an interview with USA Today.

The newspaper selected Biles as one of its Women of the Year.

"It still blows my mind to know that it wasn't spoken about before as much as it is now, and we're not open about it and people don't perceive it the same way as an injury," she continued. "So I'm happy that we had that conversation and we can now talk about it."

Biles entered the Tokyo Games as a five-time world all-around champion. She captured five gold medals at the 2019 world championships and was expected to win four or five titles at the Games.

But after getting lost in the air during an attempt at a two-and-a-half twisting vault in the women's team final, Biles chose to withdraw from the rest of that competition as well as four individual finals. She had what gymnasts call the 'twisties' where the mind-body connection breaks down, and she needed to focus on her mental health.

That decision sparked a global conversation about mental health in athletics. Biles returned to competition in the women's balance beam final, the last of the competition in Tokyo, and claimed a bronze medal.

Biles proud of opening the conversation

Since winning that medal, the 25-year-old has been clear: it means more to her than any of the dozens she's collected throughout her time at the top of her sport. Biles says she's seen the impact of putting herself first.

"I've actually had a lot of people in person tell me how much I've done, and they thank me for my efforts because before that, they only ever said, 'Congratulations and thank you for gymnastics.' But now with mental health being a huge topic that we talk about basically on the daily now, they're always telling me, 'Thank you so much. You've done so much for me and my family, my friends. Now I'm going to go get help,'" explained Biles. "So, it really does mean a lot to me that a lot of people are now trying to get the help that they not only deserve but that they need."

Biles, herself, has been taking some much needed time off after the COVID-19 pandemic meant she was training an entire season longer than planned. She hasn't decided what the future in the sport holds, but has plenty to keep herself busy as she plans her wedding to fiance Jonathan Owens, who plays in the NFL for the Houston Texas. The couple were engaged last month.

She returned to the sport after winning five medals - four of them gold - at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to see how far she could push herself and her sport. She hasn't ruled out seeing just how much further it could go.

"I want[ed] to see how much I'm capable of, how talented I can be. And that's why I came back, just to not have any regrets if I look back in 10 years," said Biles. "So now I can really say I have no regrets, but maybe I might push it a little bit more to see."