Simone Biles has shaken off disappointment over the postponement of the 2020 Olympics to continue working out and preparing herself mentally for 2021.
Biles learned of the postponement when she got a text message in between rotations in her gym, she said Wednesday morning in an interview on “The Today Show.”
“I cried, but ultimately, it was the right decision,” Biles said. “We need to be sure everyone in the U.S. and around the world is safe.”
Though Biles has been in the public eye as a dominant gymnast for seven years, she has only been to one Olympic Games, taking four gold medals and one bronze in Rio 2016, when she was 19 years old.
BILES’ RECORD: Seven years without losing an all-around
In the meantime, Biles is working out at home — ab work, arm work, walking her dog, and something called a “twerkout.”
“Mentally, going another year, I think that’s what going to take a toll on us,” Biles said.
But Biles, who turned 23 years old in March, has come back from a long absence before. She took a year off in 2017, then came back in even better form. She accelerated her medal collection, taking six medals (four gold) in the 2018 world championships and five gold in 2019.
Since breaking through in the 2013 world championships, she has won the all-around title and the floor exercise in all five years in which she participated. Her total world championship medal haul stands at 25, 19 of them gold.
Biles also is finding a charitable outlet, offering a signed leotard as a prize in a drawing for people who donate at least $25 to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
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