- Simone Biles took to Instagram to explain the terrifying “twisties” that caused her to pull out of the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
- She told followers the mind-body disconnect causes her to get lost in the air.
- After completing a scary vault and barely making the landing, Biles deemed it “unsafe” for her to continue competing.
Simone Biles has remained relatively quiet since she pulled out of the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics, but that changed on Thursday when she took to Instagram to explain why it was “unsafe” for her to continue competing.
The 24-year-old gold medalist is currently facing a bout of the “twisties,” a mind-body disconnect that happens mid-air, causing a gymnast to lose orientation. This leaves them unable to tell where they are, where they’ll land, or how they’ll land—which can be very dangerous for anyone, let alone a gymnast of Biles’s caliber.
“It’s kind of like going into a slump where you can’t hit the curveball,” Jess Graba, Team USA gold medalist Sunisa Lee’s coach told The New York Times. “Sometimes your brain just doesn’t fire right, so it takes time to get back to normal.”
For Biles, the block set in on July 26 in Tokyo, the day before the team final. “I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “Strangest and weirdest thing as well as feeling.”
Biles shared a video from practice (which she later deleted) in which she fell flat onto her back on a bouncy, cushioned surface after attempting a twist.
“For anyone saying I quit, I didn’t quit. My mind and body are simply not in sync,” she wrote. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface. Nor do I have to explain why I put health first. Physical health is mental health.”
She further explained the twisties by saying she “literally cannot tell up from down.”
“It’s the craziest feeling ever. Not having an inch of control over your body,” she wrote. “What’s even scarier is since I have no idea where I am in the air I also have NO idea how I’m going to land, or what I’m going to land on. Head/hands/feet/back.”
Biles’ decision to withdraw came after she experienced a scary vault during the team final on July 27. She was supposed to complete two and a half twists and dropped to the ground after only one and a half, falling forward after landing.
“I also have no idea how I landed on my feet on that vault because if you look at the pictures and my eyes you can see how confused I am as to where I am in the air. Thankfully I landed safe enough,” she wrote, adding, “I only completed 1½ twists before it looks like I got shot out of the air.”
A follower asked if the twisties are worse for her on a certain apparatus, and Biles answered by saying, “it strictly likes floor and vault. go figure 🙄 the scariest two. But this time it’s literally on every event, which sucks... really bad.” She added that it’s “never transferred to bars and beam for me.”
Biles could technically still choose to compete in the apparatus finals but hasn’t announced whether she will.
“I didn’t have a bad performance and quit,” she concluded her series of posts. “I’ve had plenty of bad performances throughout my career and finished the competition. I simply got so lost my safety was at risk as well as a team medal.”
On July 28, she thanked fans for their support and encouragement on Twitter after having to make such a difficult decision, writing: “The outpouring love and support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.”
Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
