Simone Biles just added another medal to her list of accomplishments and she “wasn’t expecting” it.
On Monday, USA Gymnastics announced that the 24-year-old would compete in the fifth (and final) individual event for gymnastics at this year’s Tokyo Olympics—the balance beam final. And after a difficult few weeks, Biles managed to earn herself a bronze medal with a score of 14.000.
The exciting win comes after the champion had exited the team final last week to focus on her mental health after experiencing the “twisties”, which is a mental phenomenon that results in a gymnast no longer being able to perform a trick (or tricks). The champion subsequently withdrew from all her other individual event finals including all-around, vault, bars and floor.
Luckily, Biles was cleared for this event right before the withdrawal deadline on Monday.
“I wasn’t expecting to walk away with the medal,” Biles said after her win per The New York Times. “I was just going out there doing this for me. To have one more opportunity to be at the Olympics meant the world to me.”
According to the gymnast, this win was “sweeter” than some of her others. “I don't get why people diminish silver and bronze,” she said per People. “We have to focus on ourselves as humans. We lost touch of our human feelings sometimes...I did this for me and me only."
As far as the 2024 Games goes, she’s not ready to think about that just yet. "I need to process this first...it was a lot," Biles continued.
We guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Congrats, Simone!
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