Why Simone Biles Broke Down In Tears After Final Event At Paris Olympics
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on August 6, 2024 at 12:45 PM EDT
On August 5, Simone Bileswrapped up her appearance at the 2024 Olympic Games with a silver medal in floor exercise. With her four medals from Paris, the 27-year-old has accumulated a total of 11 Olympic medals.
Her Parisian haul includes team gold, all-around gold, vault gold, and floor silver.
After wrapping her time at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Simone Biles says she got extremely emotional as everything finally sunk in.
Simone Biles Reflects On The 2024 Paris Olympics
After taking home her final medal of the 2024 Olympic Games, Simone and her teammates headed back to the Olympic Village, where the reality of her recent competition finally hit her.
"Yesterday, when we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan [Chiles], and I started balling my eyes out," she said on the "TODAY" show. "She was like, 'I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't know when.' I was just so full of emotion and I finally released all of that."
But they were proud tears. "I was so proud, happy, and bittersweet that the journey is over," the 27-year-old Olympian continued. "It’s so crazy, it happened so quick. My third Olympics."
Will Simone Biles Be Back For The 2028 Olympics?
Now that she is 27 years old, many wonder if Simone will be back in four years to compete for the gold again. While the athlete hasn’t ruled out the chance of competing in a fourth Games, she hasn't confirmed she would be back either.
"You know, you never say never," she told "TODAY" show hosts Savanah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb. "The next Olympics is on home turf [in Los Angeles] so you just never know."
Simone added, "I’m just going to relax and see where life takes me."
Overcoming The 2020 Tokyo Olympics
This comeback for Simone Biles is one that sports fans will never forget. The 27-year-old dropped out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to mental health and experiencing the "twisties." With the help of her therapist and the support from her family and friends, Simone returned to the sport and proved she is still the G.O.A.T. thanks to her stellar performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"Those times were really dark and stressful times," Nellie Biles told People Magazine of the Tokyo Games. "To work through that and be in this place where she enjoys doing what she wants ... this is rewriting her story. It's rewriting it on her terms because she is in this place that she really perhaps wished she would have been for years."
Nellie Biles Shows Support For Her Daughter Following Historic Olympic Games
During the 2024 Olympics, Simone Biles broke 13 records, including becoming the most-awarded American gymnast with 11 medals and one of just 29 athletes to win more than ten medals at the Summer or Winter Olympics during their careers.
"It's just been an unbelievable week," Simone's mom told the outlet. "I know we came here with our own expectations, but the expectation was whatever, we do want her to medal, but not putting any stipulations on what medals that she will get. And I mean, three golds — we're just elated."
Simone also became one of only three female gymnasts to win the individual all-around artistic gymnastics gold medal at the Olympics two times.
Simone Biles Continued Therapy Throughout The 2024 Paris Olympics
As a way to ensure her mental health stayed on track, Simone Biles made sure to see her therapist multiple times throughout the big games.
“I saw her about three or four times throughout this whole entire process and it didn’t matter if it was before all-around or after qualifications," Simone said. "I went back to the village and I got on a call with her and did my therapy session because that’s routine for me now."
Now that the women's gymnastics events at the 2024 Paris Olympics have concluded, Simone Biles is gearing up for tour. “Right now it’s just precautionary. We’re resting up as much as possible, we have a tour in a couple of weeks. I’m just going to rest and heal,” she said.
The "Gold Over America Tour" kicks off on September 21 in San Jose, California. Simone's teammates Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles will also be part of the tour.
Tickets to every stop of the "Gold Over America Tour" go on sale Friday, May 17.