"So Blessed"- Simone Biles turns nostalgic as she shares memorable moments from all her Olympic appearances

Olympic champion Simone Biles turned nostalgic on the occasion of Olympic Day. The Olympic champion shared some memories from all her Olympic appearances till date.

The 27-year-old gymnast uploaded multiple pictures to her Instagram story, featuring moments from her dream debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics and her strong comeback at the quadrennial event held in Paris last year. Biles also shared some personal moments with her family after her victories at the Paris Olympics.

In one of the Instagram stories, Biles wrote in the caption,

"Okay, I'm done. So blessed to go to 3 Olympic Games with Team USA"

Screengrab of Simone Biles' Instagram stories about her Olympic appearances [Image Source : Simone Biles' Instagram]

Simone Biles was not old enough to compete at the London Olympics in 2012. She hadn't turned 16 yet, and thus had to wait.

Simone Biles won five medals on her debut at the Rio Olympics, including four gold medals. She returned for another shot at glory with her second appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the 'twisties' ruined her golden chance, and she had to return with just a silver medal and a bronze medal. Biles made a strong comeback at the Paris Olympics, winning three gold medals and a silver medal in the floor exercise.

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When Simone Biles revealed her motivation behind starting gymnastics

Simone Biles talks about the motivation behind pursuing gymnastics [Image Source : Getty]

Simone Biles once recounted the motivation behind pursuing gymnastics, and how her journey evolved overall. In an interview with Fox 26 Houston, the 27-year-old gymnast remarked,

“My 'Why' was to just really have fun and brace it and see how far I could go and hopefully one day get a college scholarship. And that evolved over the years as I started progressing through the sports pretty quickly. Like, 'oh maybe one day, I can go the Olympics' and then I was training with some girls I had gone to World and been to an Olympic team. So, that's kind of why it changed but other than that, it was to embrace who I am, to be strong, to be beautiful and bold."

In another interview with Vanity Fair, the Olympic champion gymnast talked about her emotional struggles post the Tokyo Olympics. In her words,

“When I took a break after 2016, I had the time of my life. I was doing anything and everything. But after 2020, it was kind of depressing until I started therapy and got help. Even though I was empowering so many people and speaking out about mental health, every time I talked about my experience in Tokyo—because it obviously didn’t go the way that I had planned—it stung a little bit. But all in all, it was the best decision,” she told Vanity Fair’s, Leah Faye Cooper.

Simone Biles has actively raised awareness campaigns about athletes' mental health following her appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. She has been lauded by athletes like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps for this initative.

Edited by Pratham K Sharma