Simon Biles returned to competition this weekend for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics.Photo:Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Simone Bilesis back in the game!
For the first time since the 2020 Olympic games, held in Tokyo in 2021, the four-time gold medalist, 26, took the stage at the Core Hydration Classic in Illinois on Saturday.
The Core Hydration Classic is the final qualifying event for the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, which will be held in San Jose, California, on Aug. 24-27. Bileshas been crownedthe USA Gymnastics all-around national champion seven times, with her most recent victory being in 2021.
A serene looking Biles kicked off Saturday’s competition with a solid uneven bars routine that earned her a score of 14. After finishing the event, she flashed a big smile for the cameras as the crowd cheered.
In the second rotation, Biles competed on beam, clinching a 14.800. Her only error was a large step on landing out of her full-twisting flip. As she waited for her score to post, she could be seen chatting and laughing with her teammates.
She nailed her floor routine — which included a double layout with a half-turn — earning her a 14.9. She ended the competition with vault, one of her strongest events. After she landed her Yurchenko double pike, the hardest women’s vault in the world, she excitedly pumped her first in the air. She scored a 15.4 to cap off her triumphant return to competition.
Biles, who eventually returned to win a bronze medal in the balance beam final, said her departure was due to something gymnasts call “the twisties." The term is best described as a phenomenon where athletes lose their understanding of where they are in the air during flips, putting them at risk of injury when they land.
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A few weeks after the gymnastconfirmed she would be competingat the Core Hydration Classic, she participated in a“Let’s Chat” Q&Aon her Instagram Story. In one post, Biles said she was “petrified” to twist after experiencing the phenomenon.
“When the twisties happen, you go right into the gym and work on it…” the athlete wrote. “I took over a year off and THEN came back… So I was petrified.”
She continued, “But I’m fine. I’m twisting again. No worries. All is good.”
In her Instagram Q&A, a follower asked Biles what the hardest event to come back to was following her Olympics experience. She responded, “It’s always bars … mentally and physically.”
During another July Q&A,a fan asked Biles via Instagramhow she was “handling the mental side” of her return to gymnastics.
“Lot’s of therapy, I go once a week for almost 2 hrs,” she shared. “I’ve had so much trauma, so being able to work on some of the traumas & work on healing is a blessing.”
source: people.com
