Simone Biles is getting back to competition for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The seven-time Olympic medalist is set to participate in the U.S. Classic in early August.
The event will be her first since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The pattern follows a route similar to the one she took following the 2016 Rio Olympics, after which Biles took a two-year break before using the Classic as her comeback meet in 2018.
USA Gymnastics made the announcement Wednesday. The 2016 Olympic champion has taken the majority of the past two years off following the Tokyo Games. At those Games, she suffered from “the twisties” – which is when an athlete loses spatial awareness while airborne – and did not compete in multiple events.
She watched and cheered as her teammates won silver in the all-around. Biles returned for the balance beam, earning bronze and tying Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals by an U.S. woman gymnast.
Biles has hinted at a comeback, saying in January that a potential return to gymnastics was “up in the air.”
“Obviously, mental health comes first. I’m still in therapy and I’m still doing everything so that I can be the best version of myself,” she said. “So I’ll be in Paris, but don’t know if that is on the floor with those girls or in the stands just cheering.”