Tokyo Olympics: Simone Biles reveals truth about the twisties in training

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By Georgia Goulding

Published Aug 12, 2021

The four-time Olympic gold medallist has responded to a tweet with an open and honest statement

Simone Biles was a huge talking point during the Olympic Games after she withdrew from five events including the team and individual all-around finals.The 24-year-old admitted she was suffering from a case of the 'twisties' – a mental block experienced by gymnasts that limits spatial awareness while in the air. Since her decision to pull out of the respective Olympic events, Biles has been extremely open about her mental health and the struggles she experienced in Tokyo.A video with more than 400,000 views on social media has been used as a talking point to shed more light on the severity of the twisties.The clip shows gymnast Émilie Le Pennec suffer a painful fall during a floor routine in 2002. A Twitter user has posted the video alongside the caption: "If Simone Biles' Olympic team finals vault was terrifying, idk what to call Emilie Lepennec's full out attempt from 2002 jr euros floor finals."This is an obvious case of the twisties, and I guarantee something similar would have happened to Simone had she continued."

Biles struggled in the Tokyo Olympic team all-around final – recording her lowest ever score on the vault after an awkward landing. She has responded to the video of Le Pennec, yet again being completely honest with the world about the reality of being a professional athlete.

"Oh yeah this happened more times than I would’ve wanted in practice at the games…" she tweeted.

Biles' honesty about her situation is not only helping other gymnasts learn about the risks of competing with the twisties but it's also a refreshingly open approach.

Mental health is often viewed as a taboo subject and treated as an alien concept. Since household names like Biles and Naomi Osaka have opened up on their own mental battles, they have been credited with helping more people talk and feel comfortable about reaching out for help.

Despite withdrawing from five events in Tokyo, Biles returned for the balance beam final, where she came third. Her bronze medal is now her seventh Olympic medal, alongside her four golds from Rio 2016.