Simone Biles reveals the key factor that will decide her participation in the 2028 Olympics.
Simone Biles is performing mental acrobatics. The 11-time Olympic champion stressed that her mental health comes before competition as she continues to consider competing in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
In an interview with CNN that was released on April 29, Biles acknowledged that she is "going to have to make these decisions pretty quickly," but she also stated that "mental health plays a big role in it because, physically, my coaches will get me in shape."
The gymnast has been candid about the feared "twisties," a mental block that causes an athlete to lose spatial awareness in the air, which hindered her efforts at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, despite the fact that she can make winning appear effortless, winning three gold medals and one silver at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 20 (June 8 – Sept 5, 2026).
Register for Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab.
“I feel like it showed the realness to me because everyone thought I was a robot, she’s not real,” the 29-year-old added, “but it’s like, down to the core, I’m just like you guys. I’m real.”
Following Tokyo, she described how the twisties were a "trauma response" to the assault she endured at the hands of former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician Larry Nassar, who was found guilty in 2018 of sexually abusing young female gymnasts and sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.
“Everything that has happened, I’ve just like, I'll push it down, shove it down, wait until my career’s done, go fix it.’ And something like this happens and unfortunately, to me, it happened at the Olympics," in her 2024 documentary Simone Biles Rising, Biles provided a clarification. “I didn’t get the proper care before because I just thought I was OK."
The athlete, who is currently in therapy, informed CNN that she hopes more athletes will be more forthcoming about their mental obstacles during competition.
“There was Naomi Osaka, Kevin Love, but there were very few in between that would speak about mental health and what they were going through,” she clarified. “Those were my guides, and that really helped me speak out about it.”
She went on to say, “So now hearing these athletes mention my name, it’s like, ‘Wow, we’re making progress, we're making change, we’re being a voice and leader,’ so it means the world to me.”
Despite hardship, Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, has achieved so much.
Uploaded files: