Simone Biles Experienced 'Twisties' Prior to 2016 Rio Olympics, Former Coach Says

Simone Biles famously withdrew from multiple events during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics because of mental health concerns and the "twisties," but she apparently experienced the issue ahead of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro as well.

As ESPN's Alyssa Roenigk relayed Monday, Biles' former coach, Aimee Boorman, revealed in the upcoming book The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles that the star gymnast experienced the "twisties" that disoriented her mid-air while performing twisting skills less than six months before the 2016 Olympics.

"Yep, before Simone introduced the world to the twisties in 2021, she had experienced this proprioception phenomenon in January of 2016," Boorman wrote.

"When this happens to a gymnast who is flipping ten-plus feet in the air and they lose body awareness in space and time—not knowing if they're going to land on their back, feet or head—it's much more dangerous [than the 'yips' in baseball or golf]."

Boorman coached Biles from when she was seven years old through those 2016 Games and explained the gymnast "would physically stop herself from twisting during her routines because she was afraid of getting lost in the air. Simone would never crash; she would just stop herself before ever attempting a twist."

The coach said "Simone needed time, support and reassurance that I believed in her," and explained she never pushed her beyond her comfort zone.

The approach clearly worked because Biles cemented her legacy as a gymnastics icon in Rio de Janeiro with four gold medals (team all-around, individual all-around, vault and floor exercise) and a bronze medal (balance beam).

As if the results didn't speak for themselves, Biles had nothing but good things to say about the coach when writing the forward in the book.

"Coach Aimee and I have a special bond," she wrote. "She always did what was best for her athletes personally, even if someone told her it might not work. ... Coach Aimee understands that every athlete works, processes instruction and learns differently, and she caters to that."

While Biles ended up withdrawing from events in Tokyo, she still captured a silver in the team competition and bronze in the balance beam. And then she returned for the 2024 Olympics in Paris and added to her illustrious resume.

Despite fighting through a calf injury, she won gold in the team event, all-around and vault to go with a silver in the floor. She now has 11 Olympic medals in total as the most decorated athlete in the sport's history.