Simone Biles’ Hiatus From Gymnastics Wasn’t ‘Glorious’: ‘It Was Kind of Depressing’

Simone Biles is sharing how she truly experienced her break from gymnastics.

"I wish I could sit here and tell you it was glorious. When I took a break after 2016, I had the time of my life. I was doing anything and everything," Biles, who previously stepped away to focus on her health, said in the cover interview of Vanity Fair's February 2024 issue.

She continued, "But after 2020, it was kind of depressing until I started therapy and got help."

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles withdrew from several competitions as she began experiencing what is known as "the twisties," losing awareness of where she was going when airborne.

After the 2016 Olympics, Biles took a two-year competition hiatus that also ended with the U.S. Classic in 2018. She returned to the sport in August with the 2024 Olympics a year away.

"I felt like a failure," she confessed. "Even though I was empowering so many people and speaking out about mental health, every time I talked about my experience in Tokyo — because it obviously didn't go the way that I had planned — it stung a little bit. But all in all, it was the best decision."

Biles has been candid about her ongoing mental-health journey and her decision to go to therapy and take medication for anxiety.

"I've always been in therapy [and] I've always been an advocate for medicine. If you need an inhaler, take it. If you have anxiety, take it. I'm no stranger to medicine," she said.

Now, she's going full swing with the support of her teammates.

"I owe that to my teammates," she told the publication and pointed out that many are younger than her. "I didn't think I'd be having fun like this at my age in the gym, but they keep it fun. They've been bigger rocks to me than they know."