Simone Biles turned heads at the Tokyo Olympics when she made the bold decision to step back from competition to focus on her mental health, citing the ‘twisties’ as a major factor. Since then, she’s become a huge advocate for mental health in gymnastics, openly sharing how therapy helped her bounce back and get to Paris with a clearer, healthier mindset. Now, it seems one of her old teammates has taken a page out of Simone’s playbook.

Aly Raisman, who competed alongside Biles in Rio, has just opened up about her own mental health struggles. Aly’s been vocal before, sharing that she’s battled anxiety for most of her life, and she’s been a strong advocate against abuse in the sport, particularly in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal. But this time, she’s revealed dealing with a condition—something that, as she explains, needs to be addressed differently from other mental health challenges.

Talking in the ‘Get my OCD’ podcast, Aly Raisman opened up about her gradual journey of therapy because of the condition. The gymnast said that she attended a lot of sessions with various therapists until she realized that she needed a specialist. When she opened up to the usual ones about her condition, the psychologist gave her solutions. Aly Raisman said, “If I said I’m having anxiety, did I shut the stove off? They would say, well, you should take a photo of it so that when you get nervous later, you can go back and check.” However, when she finally met a specialist for her condition, they weren’t too keen on this idea.

“When I saw an OCD specialist, she was absolutely horrified that they told me to do that,” said Simone Biles’ former teammate. This is because OCD is a disorder where a person does the same task over and over again because of excessive thoughts. Taking a photo or writing a sticky note would only worsen this condition. It could also lead to confusion, like what if the note was written yesterday and not today, triggering even more thoughts. Thus, this method is not effective. Nevertheless, it was great to see Aly Raisman following Simone’s footsteps and advocating for more education on mental health. This is because athletes speaking about their problems do have a lot of impact on people. The Paris Olympics gold medalist is the biggest example of this. 

Simone Biles talking about her mental health problems may have helped save people’s lives

Simone Biles seems to be a lifesaver, in a literal sense. After her decision to prioritize her well-being at the Tokyo Olympics finals, Simone has intensified the conversation on mental health. Many athletes are now opening up about their own struggles. This has also helped the general public a lot, as it has reduced the stigma around the whole thing.

Thus, Simone seems to have begun the creation of a culture of prioritizing mental well-being. A survey conducted by the Child Mind Institute confirmed this. Sharing their findings on Instagram, they said, “Mental health conversations are breaking through. In a recent survey of 1,000 women by @femalequotient, 63% said they felt more inspired to prioritize their mental health after Simone Biles openly discussed taking time off for her well-being. Additionally, 61% reported feeling more comfortable being transparent about their struggles.”

This is an incredible achievement, as it means that Simone directly inspired 630 people to prioritize their mental health and potentially saved lives. While her sporting legacy stands out on its own, these things are no less than that and should be considered at the same level. It is the reason why Simone Biles is one of the most impactful athletes of our generation.