Simone Biles first confirmed her return on July 5, just a little over a month after marrying Houston Texans football player Jonathan Owens. “Sorry, I’ve been a little MIA since the announcement,” she tweeted at the time. “I’m overwhelmed with all your messages, support & love! Excited to get back out on the competition floor.”
Following the announcement, Biles spoke directly with fans about her return to gymnastics during a July Instagram Q+A. When asked about how she was “handling the mental side” of the process, she got particularly candid. “Lot’s of therapy, I go once a week for almost 2 hrs,” she replied, per People. “I’ve had so much trauma, so being able to work on some of the traumas & work on healing is a blessing.”
Though the national championships will be held in San Jose, California in less than a month, Biles has not yet revealed plans to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. “Right now, I think I should just embrace what happened today,” she told reporters, per the New York Times. “I know everybody is just like—when you get married, they ask you when you’re having a baby. You come to Classics, they’re asking you about the Olympics. I think we’re just trying to take it one step at a time.”
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Simone Biles Finds Her Balance
Thanks to a global pandemic, the greatest gymnast in history was forced to spend part of the last year finding some equilibrium in a life that had previously been all about the work. Now, as she prepares for the 2021 Olympics—maybe her last (!!!)—the 24-year-old is approaching her sport with a new sense of joy.
