“Wanna See Us Fail”: Simone Biles Shrugs Off ‘Quitter Tag’, Slamming Critics With a Smile Ahead of Paris Olympics 2024

Simone Biles knows a lot about making comebacks and even more about surviving in a world full of critics. However, those fireballs of criticism have never kept her from scoring big on the gymnastics mat. Today, she proved that once again. With an all-around score of 117.225, Simone Biles has secured her spot in the Paris Olympics. As usual, on her path to her third Olympic appearance, she found no one standing between her and the top position. Yet, the critics might come again, hounding her for her personal life or her performances. Simone Biles believes in that probability.

In her post-game presser, the 27-year-old gymnast had a lot to say about the criticism that has made her suffer over the last several years. After a thorough analysis, Simone Biles knows a few things about its basic pattern. Serving a view over that, she said, “They wanna see us fail”. Now, she is not going to sacrifice her positive mental state because of those criticisms. Furthermore, she won’t shed tears over those words anymore, as she knows the ultimatum of those primitive attacks. 

In the same presser, Simone Biles opened her take on that ultimatum. She thinks that the critics come in the guise of positive factors at first. Explaining the entire process, the Olympian mentioned, “It’s they want to see us rise to success. And then as soon as you get it and you kind of take that and run with it and you start running for a really long time, they want to see the downfall which is really unfortunate”. This part of the story could be harmful to an athlete. The most decorated gymnast gave the reason. 

As the basic trend goes, this continuous criticism can attract more harm than good. The result could be worse, like losing the talent forever. At such a juncture, Simone Biles has one request to all the critics out there. The request went ahead as, “You really have to give them their flowers in the sport because once they’re gone, you’re going to miss them.” Simone Biles has a firsthand idea of facing such an experience. 

Simone Biles still remembers her days after facing the Tokyo Olympic debacle 

In the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles had to bow out before entering the all-around final event, because of the mental vertigo, ‘twisties’. But that was not the first time she faced such a mental demon. Rather, in the training session in the Japanese capital, she informed her coach, Laurent Landi, about her discomfort. The ball was on her court to take the final shot. Yet, Simone decided to continue. 

The reason that made her continue was the overwhelming expectations manifested in her. In her recent Call Her Daddy podcast, Simone expressed ample part of that time, “I literally felt like I was fighting my body and my mind to do these tricks… it looks like I’m going like this in the air and it doesn’t feel comfortable. I have no idea where I am, but I’m twisting like praying land on my feet.” Needless to say, the result did not work for anyone’s good. But the critics received few factors to ponder over. 

Among those, the prime factor was her inability to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, as in her absence, the American gymnastics team couldn’t win the top podium. That made Simone Biles worried about her welcome among the communities. Explaining that emotional rundown, she said, “As soon as I landed, I was like, oh, America hates me. The world is gonna hate me. And I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now… I was, I thought I was gonna be banned from America because that’s what they tell you. Don’t come back if it’s not gold, gold or bust, don’t come back.” However, now, after finding a new meaning for her self-life, Simone Biles is not bothered about those factors anymore. Rather, she will enjoy the Paris Olympics with a wide smile on her face.