It will be at dawn this Saturday, at 2:00 a.m. in Spain. It will be in Hoffman Estates, a small Illinois town near Lake Michigan. It will be in the US Classic, the competition that gives access to the United States Championship. It will be -supposed- on the parallel bars, then on the balance beam, on the floor and finally on the rack. It will be the return of the best gymnast in history, Simone Biles, two years after the mental block he suffered during the Tokyo Olympics. “I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders,” he said after making unusual mistakes during the exercises and giving up several tests at the last minute appealing to his physical safety.
The American pointed out that she suffered the phenomenon known as twistieswhat causes gymnasts to lose their sense of direction when they exercise and are in the air. Then the risks of falls and injuries increase. “It’s the craziest feeling. Not having a millimeter of control over your body. What’s scarier is that, since I have no idea where I am, I don’t know how I’m going to fall either,” he explained in 2021.
Biles returns and the sport celebrates him despite the many questions that remain around. At 26 years old, enthusiasm puts her back on top at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he can be a star again, to hang several golds, to amaze the world with some unprecedented pirouette. But but but. Her return is a mystery from the start: will she really compete? Can you withdraw at the last minute?
Biles is one of the 40 gymnasts registered for the full program of the US Classic and the United States Federation (USA Gymnastics) confirmed her presence weeks ago, but her entourage has hinted that anything can happen. In fact, you will most likely participate, but save yourself some proofespecially the uneven bars.
“The hardest thing for me will always be the bars, both physically and mentally. But doing laps in any event is still tough. When the dizziness started I worked on it in the gym and a year later it was gone. But they came back. And I was petrified. Now I can say that I’m fine, that I’ve been around again and that everything is going well,” he wrote on Instagram, in conversation with a fan, a rare communication policy, very modern, very empty. Biles has not yet explained, in circles press or interview, how she is. We only know about her through her Stories or her clips on TikTok, where he has shown bits of his training.