Simone Biles’ “Selflessness” Admired by Gymnastics Legend After Saving Suni Lee’s All-Around Comeback at US Championships

Simone Biles’ approach and subsequent help to Suni Lee has drawn glances from the gymnastic veterans. Biles couldn’t let her Tokyo Olympic compatriot feel alone in her transitioning moment. On Sunday night, while huddling for the all-around title in the Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships, Suni Lee fell off-footed in her opening vault. In fact, she failed to complete her planned two twists and landed abruptly after finishing a one-and-a-half twist in the air. Soon, an agony filled her, expecting a possible heartbreak in the event. After February 24, 2023, the Xfinity game was her first all-around competition. 

However, Simone Biles appeared in the vicinity to give her solace and save the evening for her. Furthermore, she stood steadily when Suni Lee attempted her uneven bars routine later. Subsequently, Simone extended the help with additional motivation before Suni’s floor exercise. As a result, the Tokyo Olympic all-around champion earned fourth place in Fort Worth on Sunday night. Seeing such camaraderie between the two gymnasts has satisfied Kathy Johnson Clarke as she penned, “…it was the raw and very real heart hug of the night. It was such sweet selflessness.” So, what actually drove Simone Biles to rush to Suni Lee defying the competition? As per Suni Lee’s admittance, her failure in the vault table could turn into ‘twisties’, the mental battle Simone Biles has fought. 

Furthering the description of her failure, Suni Lee blamed her ‘overrunning’ on the vault table, which resulted in missing the steps afterward. At that moment, Lee realized that it could have been because of ‘twisties’ and it could jeopardize her later performance while a ticket to the Paris Olympics trial was at stake. Then, Simone Biles entered the scene. 

The 27-year-old gymnast knows the feeling of losing the track, so she proved herself as the best hand to help Suni Lee. “I just knew that she needed some encouragement and somebody to trust her gymnastics for her and to believe in her,” Simone Biles said in the post-match conversation. Later, in the balance beam, Suni Lee scored a staggering 14.900 and continued her flare. Meanwhile, Suni Lee earned her qualification for the gymnastic trial by ranking 4th, just 0.150 points short of a podium finish. 

After having such an achievement, Sini Lee acknowledged the ‘sweetest’ part saying, “it was really nice having her in my corner, and she’s just been so supportive…I don’t think I could have done it without her.”  However, Simone Biles’ tale of selflessness is not new. 

Simone Biles prefers to choose the greater good 

Simone Biles’ gymnastics upbringing witnessed several contrasting episodes. In her den, WCC in Texas, she used to have a better environment with the company of known faces. However, in the national training camp, she had to face the tougher Soviet-style training approach, where Marta Karolyi never allowed the gymnasts to mix up freely among themselves. Meanwhile, the solace had been presented by Dr. Larry Nassar, the team doctor. However, later the sexual offenses muddied the entire picture. But in this scary show, Simone Biles came out for every suffering gymnast in the camp. 

She raised her voice against Karolyi’s brutal practice session and Nassar’s sexual offenses and drove USA Gymnastics to implement changes to nip such problems in the bud. Later, her bowing out from the Tokyo Olympics midway faced a lot of flak from famous faces like journalist Piers Morgan and Texas Deputy Attorney General Aaron Weitz. But that couldn’t shake the world champion from talking about the mental state and dismissing the surrounding taboos. 

On that estimate, Simone Biles could easily stand up and say, “I got to process all the emotions. I got to go through being angry, sad, upset, happy, annoyed. I got to go through all of it by myself, without anybody telling me what to feel.” On Sunday evening, she taught Sun Lee some tidbits regarding it, and Suni Lee won the world.