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Simone Biles Reveals How Therapy Helped Her Going into 2024 Olympics: ‘I Feel a Lot More Free’
Simone Biles reflected on how going to therapy helped improve her mental health amid the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
While appearing on the Wednesday, July 31, episode of the “Making Space with Hoda Kotb” podcast, Hoda, 59, noted that Simone, 27, seems much more open about her mental health than she did when she made her Olympics debut in 2016. “You don’t bury things anymore. You speak them out loud. You talk about therapy, where you are, where you’re going. Tell me about this part of you,” the host said.
“I’ve always tried to stay authentic to myself, so I feel like the new me, I’m a little bit older, more mature, so just being unapologetically me,” the Olympian responded.
Hoda then pointed out that burying things to “appear stronger” can sometimes be “the worst idea.”
“I feel a lot more free, especially going to therapy and doing those sessions so that physically and mentally I feel better, and I know that’s an important part of my routine,” Simone said. “So just staying on top of that, it lightens the load a lot.”
Simone and Hoda went on to discuss when the athlete experienced the “twisties” during the 2021 Olympics. The dangerous phenomenon is when gymnasts lose their understanding of where they are while in the air, which puts them at risk of injury when they land.
She confirmed she had the twisties in a July 2021 Instagram post. “I can’t even fathom twisting,” she said at the time.”I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist. Strangest and weirdest thing as well as feeling.”
After the experience forced her to step back during the Tokyo Olympics, Simone started going to therapy to work through the issue.
“I think, before, I was pushing down my trauma, and now I’ve learned to speak on it and kind of release that,” the Ohio native said. “So that’s really helped me, and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing today.”
While she noted that people “used to think of therapy as a weakness,” she said she now views it as “a strength.” Simone continued, “And if there’s somebody that can help me deal with what I’m going through, then that’s what I need to do. And now it’s a daily part of my routine.”
Simone made a memorable comeback during the 2024 Olympics, and she and Team U.S.A. took home a gold medal in the women’s team final on Tuesday, July 30. The medal made Simone the most decorated female Olympic gymnast of all time.
After Team U.S.A. won gold, Simone told reporters during a press conference that she started the historic day by going to therapy.
“At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy this morning, so that was super exciting. I told her I was feeling calm and ready and that’s kind of exactly what happened,” she shared. “After I finished vault, I was relieved. I was like, ‘Phew,’ because [there were] no flashbacks or anything.”
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