(Photo: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
DeKalb, IL — Just like many people during the pandemic, Simone Biles struggled both mentally and physically due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and early lockdown orders.
“I got to process all the emotions,” Biles told Glamour Magazine. “I got to go through being angry, sad, upset, happy, annoyed. I got to go through all of it by myself, without anybody telling me what to feel.”
But, the 24-year-old decided to stay in gold-medal shape to train for the Tokyo Games set to begin July 23. In a recent Glamour interview, Biles discussed how stayed motivated for the Olympics, her mental health and her future as a gymnast.
“Before I would only focus on the gym,” she said in the interview. “But me being happy outside the gym is just as important as me being happy and doing well in the gym. Now it’s like everything’s coming together.”
Biles said that over the past year, she’s learned that it’s okay to ask for help, and for her, this meant going to therapy regularly.
“I thought I could figure it out on my own, but that’s sometimes not the case. And that’s not something you should feel guilty or ashamed of,” Biles said in the interview. “Once I got over that fact, I actually enjoyed it and looked forward to going to therapy. It’s a safe space.”
As Biles gears up for the Olympics, she said that while she’s “already done quite a lot,” she’s still trying to reach new heights and see what she’s capable of, including another Olympic run in 2024.
“My coaches Cecile and Laurent are from Paris, so I think that would be a good run to end with them there,” she said in the interview. “I’ll see where we go.”