Simone Biles admits she shouldn’t have been in Tokyo but says “I wouldn’t change anything”

Simone Biles believes she never should have been competing at the Tokyo Games.

“If you looked at everything I’ve gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team,” she said in a New York Magazine interview. “I should have quit way before Tokyo, when Larry Nassar was in the media for two years. It was too much.

“But I was not going to let him take something I’ve worked for since I was six years old. I wasn’t going to let him take that joy away from me. So I pushed past that for as long as my mind and my body would let me.”

Biles revealed in 2018 that she was one of the gymnasts who were abused by USA Gymnastics team doctor Nassar, who is serving what amounts to a life sentence for abusing dozens of athletes over a number of years.

While testifying at a U.S. senate committee hearing investigating the FBI’s handling of the Nassar case, Biles admitted that dealing with being a victim of sexual abuse had added to the pressures she felt heading into the Tokyo Games.

The most decorated gymnast of all time was expected to add as many as five gold medals to the four she won at Rio 2016 but ended up withdrawing from five of her six finals, at first citing her mental health. Biles then revealed she was suffering from the “twisties”, where she no longer had the proper awareness while in the air to safely perform her routines.

In the interview with New York Magazine, the 24-year-old explained just how dangerous the situation was and why she pulled out after her vault performance at the women’s team final in Tokyo.

“It’s basically life or death. It’s a miracle I landed on my feet. If that was any other person, they would have gone out on a stretcher. As soon as I landed that vault, I went and told my coach: ‘I cannot continue.’ "

She was replaced by MyKayla Skinner, and Team USA would go on to win silver in the team finals. Later, Biles returned to compete in the individual balance beam where she won bronze. She owns a combined 32 Olympic and World Championship medals and has won more medals at international competitions than any other gymnast.

“Everybody asks, ‘If you could go back, would you?’ " Biles said in the interview. “No. I wouldn’t change anything because everything happens for a reason. And I learned a lot about myself — courage, resilience, how to say no and speak up for yourself.”