by sportswriters Jiao Min, Zhang Xiao
PARIS, Aug.2 (Xinhua) -- Simone Biles added a women's individual all-around title to the team gold she helped to win on Thursday. It's hard to imagine three years ago she dropped out of the Olympics to protect her mental health.
At the press conference after the U.S. took the women's team gold medal, a reporter asked Biles about her calf injury.
"You're so nosy," Biles joked. "Give me a break. It's always one thing after the next."
She just got a gold medal and now the press wanted to know whether the calf was seriously bothering her.
Biles was in fact protesting the obsessive media attention that was shrouding her: After what happened in Tokyo was she mentally prepared for the Olympics? Could she collapse again under the stress? Is there a new injury?
Reporters got that and they laughed too.
And they also noticed the difference. There was a lightness about Biles on and off the competition mat, the way she had a laugh with teammates on the sidelines, the closeness with the coaches, joking with the media, all saying this was not the same Biles, who now has nine Olympic medals under her belt, including six golds.
Yes, she still got the jitters before going on the apparatus. But there was Jordan Chiles, her teammate, jumping up and down in excitement watching her safely through the landing and "all she has to do is to do her normal". Together with others in the team, it felt like a girls' party instead of a gymnastic competition at the highest level.
In Biles' own words "We are out here really having fun and enjoying what we're doing."
"MENTAL INJURY"
After finishing her first vault routine - among the four apparatus competed in the team final at the Tokyo Olympics, she calmly talked to her coach Cecile Landi for several minutes, and then her teammates, before putting the Team USA sweater on her leotard. After that, the gymnast widely considered to be the greatest of all time sat out the rest of the competition and cheered for her team instead.
"Mental injury", as Biles called it. During the vault, she lost her sense of direction in mid-air, known as the twisties, which was very dangerous and could bring serious physical injuries.
With such a successful career, she kept pushing herself and neglected her mental health in the years leading up to the Tokyo Olympics. She eventually pulled out from the team competition and all-around final.
Since then, she has been seeking treatment when in need and whenever she competes. For the all-around final, she talked to her therapist seven in the morning to make sure she was prepared mentally.
"WE JUST DID OUR GYMNASTICS"
Back in the Tokyo Olympics, Biles felt "the weight of the world" on her shoulders. She was expected to lead and to win. For withdrawing the team final, her social media accounts were flooded with abuses, accusing her abandoning the team and calling her "quitter".
For Biles, competition now becomes much simpler. She doesn't need to prove herself to others any longer. "I just want to prove to myself that I could do it," she said.
Biles was relieved when she landed on her first vault on the team final, the same event she withdrew from three year ago. There were no twisties and she knew she should be fine this time. When asked what was different for her in Paris, she answered: "we just did our gymnastics".
"LEANING ON ONE ANOTHER"
Her teammate Sunisa Lee, the Olympic all-around bronze medalist, described how she and Biles had a panic attack before going on the apparatus in the all-around final. She was so nervous that doing math in her head was out of the question. Neither could Biles.
"We're all full of nerves. We're communicating with each other," Biles explained. "It's really hard to do what we were doing. It's easier if we can lean on each other."
The girls had a chat the night before the team final. Chiles was having a bit struggle and reached out to others. They talked about age, what they were going through and how hard the Olympic is.
"So I got Simone up because I need back up. It was really good. It was really needed," said Chiles.
"WE DON'T HAVE TO BE PUT IN THE BOX ANYMORE"
Gymnastics is notoriously known for discipline and rigid training. Athletes went through years of hard work, allowed little space for showing personality, to reach the competition floor.
"They tried to put us in a box. They were like if you weren't like this, then you're not going to be successful," Biles said. But that was not the way she practiced the sport. She liked to talk and laugh with her teammates, and the girls started to show more of their personalities.
This helped their competition too. "Once we got on the floor, we put in the work and we will see the results. And we don't have to be put in the box anymore." ■
