Simone Biles Felt ‘So Overwhelmed’ with Anxiety in the Olympic Village: ‘I Was Shaking’

Simone Biles is talking candidly about her nervousness about training for the competition and being in the Olympic Village.

The 27-year-old American gymnast who holds the most awards in history, posted a GRWM video on TikTok on Friday, August 2, in anticipation of the all-around finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Biles talked candidly about her third Olympics while doing her makeup and listening to music.

“Hi, get ready with me for Olympic all-around finals,” she said at the start of the clip, which lasted nearly five minutes.

“I’m really nervous, but that’s to be expected. I did have therapy this morning, so I feel a little bit better,” Biles continued. “I’ve just worked so hard, mentally, to get to this moment.”

In Friday’s TikTok, Biles admitted that the event she’s “most nervous for” is the vault.

After giving Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade a quick shoutout, referring to the 25-year-old as her “top competitor,” Biles discussed her experience up to that point in the Olympic Village.

“I have not done much around the Olympic Village, and it’s because the first day we got here, and I got to the cafeteria and a lot of people were asking me for photos, like nonstop, and whenever I sat down to eat my anxiety was so bad I was shaking,” Biles said.

The gymnast recalled not being able to stop shaking and feeling “so overwhelmed.”

Biles said meeting a friend in the cafeteria the day prior marked her first time returning “in like five days.”

She remarked from her room, “I just go to the supermarket, stock up on food, and just like, stay here because it gets me so anxious.”

Additionally on Friday, Biles posted an Instagram picture of herself taking a minute to reflect following her victory in the all-around competition on Thursday, August 1 at Paris’ Bercy Arena.

She wrote, “Mental health matters,” as the post’s caption.

This past week, the nine-time Olympic medallist opened up to Today’s Hoda Kotb about her mental health and therapy sessions. She said, “I feel a lot more free, especially going to therapy and doing those sessions so that physically and mentally I feel better, and I know that’s an important part of my routine.” Thus, simply maintaining that lightens the burden considerably.

Starting on Saturday, August 3, Biles will participate in three additional individual competitions, starting with the vault final. On Monday, she will also compete in the finals of the floor exercise and balancing beam.