Simone Biles stuck the landing once more—despite past reservations.
The Olympian competed in the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Oct. 8, where she won titles for both floor exercise and balance beam. Simone also received gold medals for the team competition and all-around. However, the 26-year-old revealed that the match—which came after not competing for two years—almost never happened.
In response to a user's Oct. 8 tweet on X (formerly Twitter), which read, "Remember like five months ago we didn't think Simone would ever compete again," Simone replied with a collection of sad face emojis and the comment, "Real talk I didn't think so either."
Nevertheless, the athlete's return to the mat had a significant impact on her career. The competition, held in Antwerp, Belgium, made her the most decorated gymnast in history, with 37 medals at the Olympics and world championships. And out of the 37 awards, 27 of them are gold.
Simone's win comes two years after a series of "twisties," a mid-air disorientation, caused her to withdraw from various events at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The gymnast recently shed light on her mindset when it comes to competing once more.
"I think we have to be a little bit more cautious about how we do things," she said during a Sept. 7 appearance on Today. "So everything that we're doing leading up to this next game or whatever is very intentional. We've kind of been playing it on the down-low this time, making sure mentally and physically are both intact. I think it'll be different, but it'll be good."
And to see every time Simone proved she is the GOAT, keep reading...