"My body is a ticking time bomb"- Simone Biles opens up on her struggles while competing in Paris Olympics as a 27-year-old

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Oct 04, 2024 01:53 GMT

Olympic champion Simone Biles is currently touring the United States of America along with several other gymnasts for the second season of the 'Gold over America Tour'. The American gymnast will also be seen in the second season of the documentary 'Simone Biles Rising', which will be streaming on the OTT platform from October 25 onwards.

In one of the promotional clips posted by Netflix on their Instagram account, Biles is seen talking about her journey at the Paris Olympics, and how it was extremely tough for her, given that she was one of the oldest female American gymnasts to compete at the Olympics since the Helsinki edition of 1952. In her words,

"With everything that I've done and been through, I do feel like it gives me more confidence. But since I am older, I am a little bit more afraid."

The 27-year-old gymnast elaborated on the excruciating experience at the Paris Olympics, and how it wasn't as simple as people would have thought.

".......I've worked 27 years for this. Since I'm older, my body is on a ticking time bomb. Whenever I'm like out on the streets, I'm young. But in the gym, I'm like...."

Simone Biles will perform on October 4 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as a part of the 'GOAT' tour. She will then head to New York to perform her 14th show at the Barclays Center on October 5.

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Simone Biles on becoming the oldest all-around Olympic champion since 1952

Simone Biles waves to the crowd at the Paris Olympics [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source : Getty]

Simone Biles gave a phenomenal performance at the Paris Olympics. Apart from a silver medal, the American gymnast won three Olympic gold medals in the team all-around, the individual all-around, and the vault event. She broke Shannon Miller's record, who had won seven Olympic medals overall, to become the most decorated female American gymnast of all time.

However, in the individual all-around event, Biles created a new record. She became the oldest all-around champion at any Olympics since Helsinki in 1952 when Maria Gorokhovskaya from the Soviet Union won gold in the individual all-around event at the Helsinki Olympics. Gorokhovskaya was 30 years old when she achieved this feat.

When asked about how she felt after achieving this feat, Biles simply said,

"Personally, tonight, it means the world to me.” [via Los Angeles Times]

Biles had withdrawn from the individual all-around finals at the Tokyo Olympics due to her mental health issues. She had edged out Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade with an overall score of 59.131, as well as the defending champion and her teammate, Sunisa 'Suni' Lee. While Andrade scored 57.932 overall to claim a silver medal, 21-year-old Lee scored 56.465 overall to win a bronze medal.

With a total of seven Olympic gold medals, two silver medals, and three bronze medals, Simone Biles is now joint second with former Czech gymnast Vera Caslavska in terms of the most number of Olympic medals.