Simone Biles Reacts to Claim She "Quit" the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles returned to the Tokyo Games on Aug. 3 after stepping away from the competition to focus on her mental health. See what the athlete shared after her bronze medal win.

By Samantha Bergeson Aug 03, 2021 3:04 PMTags
Watch: Figure Skater Gracie Gold Applauds Simone Biles for Being "Brave"

The comeback is greater than the setback. 

After sitting out of several events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the GOAT gymnast Simone Biles returned to the competition on August 3 to participate in the balance beam final. Biles being Biles, she landed an impressive double pike dismount and racked up a score of 14.000, earning the bronze medal.

"I didn't expect to medal today," Biles said during the Olympics telecast following her win. "I just wanted to go out there and do this for me and that's exactly what I did. I'm just proud of myself for coming out here after everything I've gone through." 

While Biles' win was "definitely sweeter," the support she felt as she sought medical treatment with a sports psychologist is what made her triumph even more memorable. Biles dedicated her win to Team USA as their love "just meant the world." 

However, Biles was also not without her critics.

Simone Biles' 2020 Tokyo Olympics Journey

After scoring the bronze medal, Biles also spoke to TODAY's Hoda Kotb about her 2020 Olympic journey and her choice to withdraw from several finals.


"It wasn't an easy decision so it hurts that people were like, ‘Oh she quit or she did this' because I've worked five years for that, why would I quit?" Biles explained. "Like, I've been through so much over the past couple years in the sport, like, I just don't quit. That's not what I do. But the girls could see it and I knew that they would get the job done and that's exactly what they did so they won silver."

Biles continued, "At the end of the day, we're not just athletes or entertainment, we're human too and we have real emotions. And sometimes, they don't realize we have things going on behind the scenes that affect us whenever we go out and compete." 

Her mental health struggle also was not something that fans "could physically touch or see," so Biles admitted it might be more difficult for outsiders to understand. "It's inside my of head so it's like they can't get a grasp of it because they can't see it so I get that that was hard but for me, I have to take a step back and work on myself," she added.

This was also the first time she ever dealt with something like this. "I feel like I push things under the rug," Biles shared. "I just kind of go along with it, but it was something bigger than me in that moment."

Watch: Simone Biles Explains Olympics Withdrawal: "I Didn't Quit"

Thankfully, the majority of reactions for Biles' were positive, especially from fellow Olympians. "After team finals or so we went to the village and I honestly expected to feel a little bit embarrassed and people were still coming up to me saying how much I meant and done for them in their world and that was just the craziest feeling ever," Biles revealed. "In that moment, I was like okay there's more than gymnastics and medals."

As for Biles' next move? 

"I'm definitely going to take some time and let this Olympics sink in because I don't feel like I did that after 2016 so I'm going to let this sink in," she concluded. "We have tour after this, Gold Over America, we'll be going to 35 cities so I'm super excited about that, so we'll just see." 
