07/29/2021 8:18 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 07/29/2021 8:18 AM
The American gymnast Simone Biles thanked this Thursday "the torrent of love and affection" received since she announced her retirement from, until now, two finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, something that allowed her to understand that she is more than her results.
"The torrent of love and support that I received made me realize that
I am more than my results and my gymnastics
, which I never really believed before," Biles posted on his networks.
The message from Biles, the first to upload to his networks after taking a step aside in Tokyo 2020 and admitting that he has mental health problems, went viral immediately and was responded to with new support samples, especially from people who have suffered the same difficulties.
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A post shared by Simone Biles (@simonebiles)
Biles, absolute dominator of world gymnastics since 2013, made a call in Tokyo
"to protect the body and mind" of athletes
.
Withdrawn from the team and individual finals of the Games,
the evaluation of the doctors will determine if he can play the finals for devices on August 1, 2 and 3
.
Mental health and twisties
On Tuesday afternoon, when Biles decided to leave the team competition to everyone's surprise, he explained that he did not want to
"risk getting hurt or doing something stupid by participating in that competition
.
"
Speaking of his
"mental health"
, he also spoke in passing about
"twisties"
, a phenomenon known in the world of gymnastics, which can also affect golfers (known as yips).
Suddenly,
the athlete's body no longer responds to him and his references disappear
.
A kind of disconnection that leads to disorientation.
This phenomenon of "loss of figure" is "complex"
, explained a French coach to the agency France Presse and is difficult to solve.
It can be "reinforced by pressure."
The gymnast victim of this phenomenon is "absorbed by the fear of being lost" and later to be seriously injured.
Simone Biles barely participated in the qualifying rounds of the artistic gymnastics team event.
Photo: REUTERS / Mike Blake
In these last hours, several gymnasts told on social networks that they had suffered
"twisties"
.
It can be more or less intense and take more or less time to overcome.
"I've had 'twisties' since I was 11 years old. I can't imagine how scary it must be if it happens during a competition. You don't have any control over your body and what it does.
It's difficult to explain to someone who doesn't do gymnastics,
" he said. Aleah Finnegan, American gymnast.
Swiss gymnast Giulia Steingruber, a jump specialist who participated in the final of the general contest in Tokyo, also reported that she had had a similar "mental block" in 2014.
"I was very afraid and could not get rid of it
,
" he
says in a documentary.
"He had to relearn everything little by little," says his coach.
Pressure, stress and anxiety
can favor the appearance of these "twisties".
Simone Biles, five Olympic medals in Rio, spoke of the pressure she has had for months, the year of confinement, the postponement of the Games that puzzled her a lot at first.
Simone Biles of the United States at the final of the women's artistic gymnastics team jumping event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: Xinhua / Cheng Min
And yet
"Simone has an incredible balance in the air,"
Aime Boorman, her historical coach, had told Simone's mother when she was six years old.
"You know exactly where you are in the air when you turn and you instinctively know how to land on your feet to land properly. It's something a coach can't teach," he had told her.
Sources: EFE and AFE
Look also
Simone Biles, athletes and their ghosts: "It's okay not to be okay"
Simone Biles got out of the next competition: Is her continuity in danger?
