Biles: We need to talk more about mental health with athletes 0:58
(CNN) -
Simone Biles tweeted a thank you to a Japanese gym for allowing her to train privately as she tried to regain her form after retiring during the final of the women's artistic gymnastics team at the Olympics.
While thanking Juntendo University in a tweet Wednesday, Biles retweeted a story first published in The Wall Street Journal.
The report says that Biles and his team asked the facility if they could discreetly use the gym in an attempt to overcome their struggle with the "twisties," a mental block in gymnastics where competitors lose track of their position in the air. .
Simone Biles wins bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 0:58
The Wall Street Journal reported that university professor Kazuhiro Aoki received a phone call about 12 hours after Biles withdrew from the team final, asking to use the school gym for a "gymnast."
Why does the Tokyo 2020 Olympics seem more difficult for athletes' mental health?
According to the report, over a four-day period, Biles practiced for hours behind closed doors working on movements that he previously performed with precision.
Last week, Biles posted a series of videos on her Instagram account that showed the four-time Olympic gold medal winner struggling to find her form while practicing on the uneven bars.
Mental health and high competition: can they coexist?
4:10
Biles said Wednesday that she will "always be grateful" to Juntendo "for allowing me to come to train separately to try and regain my skills."
advertising
The Japanese, he tweeted, "are some of the sweetest people I have ever met, if not the most."
After failing to compete as originally planned in four individual finals at the Tokyo Olympics - the full individual competition, the vault, the uneven bars and the floor - Biles returned on Tuesday to claim the bronze medal in the beam final of female balance.
It was his second medal at these Summer Games and his seventh Olympic medal overall.
Simone biles