Simone Biles has opened up about her anxiety battles during the Olympics in a video of her preparations for Thursday’s stunning all-around gold medal victory.
In a TikTok recorded before she won the competition but published on Friday, the 27-year-old let fans into her life behind-the-scenes in France. She captioned the post: ‘Get ready with meeee for all around finals @ the Olympics.’
And while the 27-year-old was doing her makeup before her second event of the Games, she candidly discussed handling her emotions while competing on the greatest stage of all.
‘I am really nervous, that is to be expected,’ she said. ‘I just had therapy this morning so I am feeling a little bit better. I have just worked so hard mentally to get to this moment.
‘Tonight I start vault and I honestly think that’s the event I am most nervous for because I don’t want to overpower.’
Simone Biles has opened up to fans about her anxiety battles at the Olympic Games in Paris
Biles has been one of the stars of the Olympic so far, with two gold medals to her name
Biles also explained that she has mainly avoided the Olympic village in Paris after being ambushed by fans who were desperate to get a selfie with the American star.
‘I haven’t done much around the Olympic village,’ Biles said. ‘It’s because the first day we got here, I got to the cafeteria and a lot of people were asking me for photos non-stop and when I sat down to eat, my anxiety was so bad I was shaking.
‘I could not stop shaking, I was so overwhelmed. I went to the cafeteria to meet my friend but I hadn’t been to the cafeteria for five days.
‘I just go to the store and stock up on food and just stay here (in her room) because it gets me so anxious.’
Biles has been candid about her mental health struggles around a sport where she has enjoyed phenomenal success in. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she withdrew citing mental health and later explained that she had the ‘twisties’ – a perceived psychological disconnect between a gymnast’s mind and body, most notably during twists.
In an interview with NBC in June, Biles said seeing her therapist is every Thursday ‘is kind of religious for me’ and it was no exception for her before competing this week. She has openly and repeatedly credited therapy on numerous occasions for helping her return to the summit of gymnastics.
Biles also praised Rebeca Andrade, the Brazilian gymnast who won silver on Thursday. In a press conference after her gold win, Biles said Andrade’s performances made it the most stressful competition of her career to date.
‘Let me just tell you, Rebeca is good,’ Biles said in her TikTok. ‘She is good. I would say she is my top competitor, we have similar scores.
Biles waves to the crowd after winning her second gold medal of the Paris Games on Thursday
Biles, 27, has the chance to win her third gold medal of the Games on Saturday in the vault
‘But I am really excited to be competing and rotating with her, she is super sweet. So I am excited, it will be a good one.’
She also surprisingly revealed that she got Botox for her 27th birthday back in March, but did not enjoy the impact it had.
‘For my 27th birthday I got Botox, like baby botox, in my T-zone and I did not like it,’ Biles said.
‘I haven’t got it again because I would be standing there in practice and my eyebrow would randomly go like this (pulls it up). So not doing that again.’
Biles returns to action on Saturday for the vault in pursuit of a third gold medal of the Games.
After that, she will compete in the balance beam finals and floor exercise finals on Monday in France.
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