Simone Biles to return to gymnastics competition in August after two-year hiatus
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Biles pulled out of several events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, citing pressure and a need to protect her mental health.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – Four-gold former Olympic champion Simone Biles is set to return to competition in August at the US Classic in Chicago, USA Gymnastics said on Wednesday, in what will be her first event since the Tokyo Games in 2021.
The 26-year-old will take part in the Aug 4-5 event, having been completely out of action for the past two years following her withdrawal from several events at the Olympics.
Biles, who won four golds at the 2016 Rio Games, cited the pressure of living up to expectations and a need to protect her mental health for her decision to pull out of her events then.
She won a bronze on the balance beam and a silver in the team competition, from which she withdrew after one vault.
That took her Olympic tally to seven medals, equalling Shannon Miller as the American female gymnast with the most Games medals.
Fans will be eager for her return but USA Gymnastics also warned that nothing is concrete yet.
“Registration... does not guarantee participation,” the organisation said in a statement.
“Every athlete is at a different place in their season and career, and we will support each of them, wherever they are in their journey,” added USA Gymnastics chief programmes officer Stefanie Korepin.
Biles entered the postponed Tokyo Olympics as a heavy favourite to win as many as five titles. However, her campaign was cut short after she experienced the “twisties” – a phenomenon in which gymnasts lose the ability to orientate themselves in mid-air. She said in a video released afterwards that her problems had been building for a while.
“I wouldn’t even say it started in Tokyo. I feel like it was probably a little bit deeper-rooted than that,” Biles said.
“I think it was just the stress factor. It kind of built up over time, and my body and my mind just said no. But even I didn’t know I was going through it until it just happened.”
After the Tokyo Games, in September 2021, Biles testified before a US Senate committee looking into Federal Bureau of Investigation failures in investigating sexual abuse by former gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.
Nassar received a life sentence after pleading guilty in late 2017 and early 2018 to sexually assaulting women and girls while working as a sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.
In recent months, Biles’ popular social media feeds have featured not gymnastics but news of her personal life, including her marriage to National Football League safety Jonathan Owens in April.
Biles has won 25 world championships medals, 19 of them gold, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden in 2022.
Although she has not outlined her plans, the US Classic is roughly a year from the Paris Olympics, and she has used the event to launch a comeback before.
She returned to competition at the meet in 2018, having taken a break after her Rio Games campaign. AFP, REUTERS
