?I?ve Had So Much Trauma?: Years After Twisties and Larry Nassar Nightmare, Simone Biles Gives an Update on Her Mental Health

When Simone Biles forwent her place at the Tokyo Olympics to take care of her mental health, she became a messiah for the masses. She was heralded by fellow sportspersons for openly admitting she needed time and space to work on herself. Yes, she received some criticism from naysayers, but her actions made several realize that athletes are more than just entertainment, they are humans as well.

The gymnastics legend has come a long way from that day when she had to leave mid-routine. This was due to a mental phenomenon called ‘Twisties’ experienced by gymnasts. A lot has happened in her life, including getting married to the love of her life, Jonathan Owens. Simone Biles has also recently announced her comeback to competitive gymnastics. With all these changes taking place in her life, people are curious as to how she is managing her mental health along with her much-awaited return to the mats.

How Simone Biles Combats the mental blues?

The 7-time Olympic medalist is known to be exceptionally active on her social media. She has a constant habit of interacting with her fans and keeping them abreast of all the developments in her life. Recently, she took to her Instagram stories to organize a question-answer session with her fans, inviting them to inquire about anything they wish from her. One of her followers replied, asking the question, “How are you handling the mental side of gymnastics this go round?” The well-wisher received the following reply from Simone Biles, “lots of therapy, I go once a week for almost 2 hrs.”

In addition to this, she talked about the issues in her past, and added, “I’ve had so much trauma, so being able to work on some of the traumas & work on healing is a blessing”. There is no doubt about the fact that the 4-time Olympic gold medalist had to face a lot of problems during the past year. It all began during the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to COVID-19. Simone Biles kills every time she gets on the mats. After all, she is the first woman to capture five All-Around World Championship titles. However, when Biles got on the mats in Tokyo, something was off from the beginning. Ultimately, she chose to recuse herself from all other gymnastics events after managing to win bronze on the beam.

Read more: Video: Days Before Her Grand Return, Tiny Simone Biles? Upsetting Moment Goes Viral

After the Olympics debacle, Simone Biles also testified during the Larry Nassar trial. Larry Nassar was a doctor who was accused by several gymnasts of systematic abuse spanning several decades, a crime he was later convicted of. Biles came forward as one of the victims of the exploitation perpetuated by Nassar and gave lengthy testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to NBC, in her statement, she said, “I don’t want another young gymnast, or Olympic athlete, or any individual to experience the horror that I and hundreds of others have endured…” Both these events have served to hurt Biles emotionally, but she seems to be on a healthy path to recovery from past tribulations.

A much-awaited comeback

After her hiatus from the sport that lasted nearly 2 years, Biles recently announced that she will be getting back to competitive gymnastics. She recently announced that she will be participating in the 2023 U.S. Classic which will take place in Chicago in the Now Arena on August 5. Her announcement came as a surprise to her fans, as there has been some speculation. However, biles remained conspicuously silent about her comeback in the media, until now. Earlier, after she let go of the events at Tokyo Olympics, Biles revealed that she was unsure about her future in gymnastics.

She told Olympics.com, “I really feel like I haven’t fully got to process Tokyo yet. So, once I fully understand and process that, I’m sure it’ll lead me towards which direction I want to go towards.” After taking her much-needed break, and regularly indulging in therapy to deal with her mental trauma from past events, it seems like Biles is ready to rumble once again.

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