Like every fan of gymnastics, I’ve followed the rise of Simone Biles for many years. I was in awe of her during the 2016 Olympics. Her floor routine was especially captivating. Her confidence unwavering. Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, who provided commentary during the last Olympics, even said that Simone winked at her during one of her competition floor routines. To have that kind of talent and confidence must be amazing.
Biles took home five medals in the 2016 games – four gold and one bronze. She won the World Championship title every year since 2013, except for 2017 when she took a break from the sport. She won the World Championship in 2019 by 2.1 points, a wide margin.
High hopes
In fall 2019 the excitement of her return to the 2020 Olympics was all over the news. Expectations were high. Everyone knew that, barring any injuries, it wasn’t a question of if she would win medals, it was how many. It was expected she would retire from competition soon after that. When it was announced last year that the 2020 Olympics would have to be postponed, my first thought was of Biles. After all of the training she’d already done, and all of the sacrifices she’d already made, I didn’t think she’d continue training. So I was surprised when it was announced she planned to continue training so she could compete this year.
But for the past year, every time a news person would talk about how great Biles was, and ponder how many Olympic medals she’d win, I felt apprehensive. In gymnastics, there’s always a potential for injury. If she twisted her ankle, or broke a wrist, all the years she spent training would be for nothing.
Under pressure
All through the winter and spring, she looked great in every video I saw of her training and in competition. It seemed a given that she’d dominate in the Olympics. However, when I watched her at the Olympic trials in June, she seemed different than she had in the 2016 competition. She seemed stressed, and less confident. It was heartbreaking when she felt off the beam at the Olympic Trials in June, especially when I saw her crying after the routine. But she kept competing and did well, and of course made the team.
But as most people now know, in Tokyo after qualifying to compete in every Olympics event, she stopped competing during the team competition because she was losing her place while in the air. Obviously that is very dangerous for a gymnast. They can literally die or become paralyzed if they land wrong.
I’m sure that no one is more upset than Biles herself that that happened right before the Olympics. She trained hard for thousands of hours to prepare for that competition.
Opening the door
As painful as it was to see Biles lose her chance at additional medals, it was fantastic that she opened the door for other gymnasts to win medals. After the qualifying events, we thought we saw MyKayla Skinner’s Olympic run end. But it was exciting to see that she was able to compete on vault in Simone’s place. Skinner barely missed being on the 2012 Olympic team, and was an alternate that didn’t get to compete in 2016. Seeing her finally fulfill her dream by winning a silver medal on vault was thrilling. Seeing Biles’ excitement and support for Skinner was heartwarming. In fact, the way all of the team members seemed to root for each other was wonderful to see.
Replacing expectations with unexpected lessons
I was nervous when I heard that Biles would compete on balance beam, but relieved when reports said no twisting moves were needed for it. And she earned a bronze medal. The mental problems she had during the Olympics certainly weren’t what anyone expected, but I feel like she’s taught a valuable lesson about taking care of oneself. That is worth more than any Olympic medal.
Gina Parsons - Writer 