The day after winningbronze in the balance beam final, Biles, 24, departed Japan for the U.S. and shared a closing message about her time in Tokyo. “Not at all how I imagined or dreamed my second Olympics would go but blessed to represent the USA,” she shared onInstagramWednesday.
On her Instagram Story, the star wrote: “Leaving Tokyo with a full heart.”
Simone Biles competing in Tokyo.Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty
Simone Biles / Instagram
In Tokyo, Biles also earned silver in the team all-around final, during which she pulled out of the competition after her first apparatus (vault). Her bronze in beam was her first individual medal in an event final since withdrawing from four individual finals (all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor).
Simone Biles.Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images
Before she made her return to the Olympic competition on Tuesday, Biles struggled with what she called the “twisties,” a disorienting condition that causes an athlete to lose air awareness and endangers their safety. In addition, Biles previously said that due to the “twisties,” her “mind and body [weren’t] in sync.”
Biles' coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, a former gymnast at the 1996 Olympics for France, recentlytold PEOPLEthat she could not have imagined an athlete withdrawing from an event to protect their mental and physical health back when she was competing.
“I don’t think I would have had the guts to say I’m not okay. I think I would have probably just crashed somewhere, and probably injured myself. I think for me, she’s the first one at a meet at the biggest stage, to say ‘I’m not okay.’ A lot of people don’t understand it, but we do,” Landi said. “I don’t think I would have [imagined], no. I never would have imagined someone saying it, but I know I would have not said a word. I would have just pretended to be okay, and keep going and probably not end well.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
source: people.com
