Simone Biles said she closed her time at the Paris Olympics “bawling my eyes out” to her teammates after a glorious run in which she secured four medals — three gold and one silver.
America’s gymnast sweetheart had called this year’s competition her “Redemption Tour” and did not disappoint, leading this year’s team to a heart-thumping performance and a team gold after it took second at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Biles, 27, bowed out of the Olympics on Monday after having won silver in the women’s floor exercise final following multiple penalties and after she fell on the balance beam.
Speaking about how she felt ending her stint at the world’s greatest competition stage, Biles, an 11-time Olympic medalist, said it hasn’t quite sunk in.
“I don’t think I will until one day I decide to retire. But yesterday, once we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan [Chiles] and just started bawling my eyes out,” she said Tuesday on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “And she was like, ‘I knew it was going happen — I just didn’t know when!’”
“I think I was just so full of emotion and I finally released all of that. I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey’s over. It’s so crazy. It happened too quick. My third Olympics!” she added.
But she may not be done with the Games just yet.
“You know, you never say never. The next Olympics is on home turf. I’m just going to relax and see where life takes me,” she told Hoda Kotb about the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Biles reflected on her star career, saying: “If not for my parents and adoption, I wouldn’t be here today.” Ronald and Nellie Biles adopted her and her younger sister, Adria, when she was 6.
Biles appeared for the interview with a boot on her leg, as Kotb noted she had a calf injury during the Games that had been bothering her.
“Right now it’s just precautionary. We’re resting up as much as possible; we have a tour in a couple of weeks. I’m just going to rest and heal,” Biles said.
Biles, who has been vocal about mental health, also spoke about how she handled self-care during the competition, revealing she kept up her routine sessions with her therapist.
“I saw her about three or four times throughout this whole entire process, and it didn’t matter if it was before all-around or after qualifications. I went back to the village and I got on a call with her and did my therapy session because that’s routine for me now,” she said, noting that it made her feel “comfortable and confident to compete.”
Biles took a two-year break from competing after the Olympics in Tokyo, where she grappled with the “twisties.” She cited the emotional toll at the time and became a mental health advocate.
She said that in her future outside the mat, she’d like to have kids with her husband, Jonathan Owens, who was seen in Paris cheering her on.
“He was so excited. He was more excited to pin-trade,” she joked. “Obviously, he loved seeing me complete. He was still keeping score. For him, it meant the world to him because he’s seen the amount of hours that I’ve put in. So to actually see in person, he was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing’ and he was just so excited to be there.”
Biles said she wants to be remembered for more than the gold and the glory. Instead, she simply wants to be remembered as “someone who loved the sport, had fun doing it and was just authentically herself.”
