BarcelonaAt the age of 24, Simone Biles is due to write her last page as an Olympic athlete on Tuesday. In recent months, the American gymnast had warned that after the Tokyo Games she had to close this folder to start a new stage in a life in which she has lived in all colors. A few times before a woman had revolutionized the sport twice. The first thanks to his movements, the second stopping. In the first part of her work she won four gold medals in Rio de Janeiro, where she took gymnastics beyond what any woman had ever imagined until then, with jumps that no one had ever done, which is why they now carry his surname. But in the second part of the play, the one in which the stage is Tokyo, Biles has revolutionized the sport by stopping: putting mental health first. “A lot of people say I’ve retired, but I haven’t retired. My mind and body weren’t in the state they should be and that’s why I didn’t compete these days. People don’t get the idea of how dangerous it can be to compete in this sport when you’re not good “, wrote Biles herself on social media, where she has not stopped being active these days, putting hearts to the millions of messages of support he has received and ignoring those of those who believe they are capable of giving lessons to a woman who has proven to be braver than them.
Biles, who aspired to win five gold medals in Tokyo, qualified for six finals in his debut at the Japanese event: the team final, the individual final and those of the four apparatus: ground, parallel bars. leles, colt jump and balance bar. On the day of the qualifiers she was already a little nervous, when she did not finish controlling two jumps in the ground exercise. An exercise in which he jumps faster and higher than his rivals. But, unlike in recent years, he did not know how to slow down in time. Biles did not feel comfortable. And when the first final came, the one for teams, he decided to stop after jumping once. And the world stopped, when she stopped. The woman who was to be the big name of the Tokyo Games was news for a reason and very different, for her mental health. Since then, Biles has not missed a single training session. And every day he has appeared to cheer on his teammates in the stands of the brand new Ariake Gymnastics Center, the modern pavilion erected in an area of gained islands in the Tokyo Sea. In fact, the ground exercise champion, Jade Carey, explained that “Simone’s advice” had been key just before she acted.
Biles gave up all finals, to the last. Yesterday the United States Gymnastics Federation announced that it would participate in the final of the women’s program, the balance bar (10.50 h / TV1), along with the champion of the individual competition, the 18-year-old Sunisa Lee. “It’s an exercise in which you may feel more comfortable because you have to do fewer jumps,” says former gymnast Gervasio Deferr. In the qualifying rounds his most difficult jump in this apparatus was a double twist in the air that could be modified if necessary. “It’s a 10-centimeter-wide bar. And once you’re on top, it looks even narrower. It’s hard to keep your balance, ”adds Deferr.
Interestingly, the only final in which Biles will participate will be in one of the apparatuses where in 2016 he failed to win. Although she was the best in the qualifying phase, a small mistake left her with the bronze medal, behind the Dutch Sanne Wevers and the American Laurie Hernandez. In this case, he achieved the seventh best mark, far from the Chinese Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing, and his friend Sunisa Lee. A significant return, to a device where it has a thorn in its side. Where more than defending the title, you can win it.
Little is known about how Biles really is. It has only been known that these days he has trained with a pool full of foam underneath to avoid injury, surrounded by members of the Federation who have accompanied him. New faces in a Federation that did not know how to protect her or her teammates when doctor Larry Nassar abused them.
This should be his last dance at a Games, although he has admitted he could be in Paris in 2024 just in foal jump as a tribute to his French coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi. But if Biles says goodbye to the Games this Tuesday, he will be faithful to the Olympic spirit, in which the important thing is to participate. He may not win a medal, but the lesson he leaves us is more important: that you need to ask for help when you know inside that you are not well. It’s always better than pretending and hurting yourself.
.
