CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the best athletes in the country prepare to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, many eyes will be on gymnastics and Simone Biles, after she stepped away from the sport to focus on her mental health in 2020.
“Yeah, this is definitely our redemption tour," Biles said of her return.
The four-time Olympic gold medalists is back after a mental-block known as the "twisties" forced her to pull out of several competitions during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which took place at the height of the pandemic.
"When you’re upside down and you’re flipping or you’re twisting and you don’t know where you are, it’s quite dangerous and scary at the same time," Caitlin Cleary, a physician assistant with OrthoCarolina, said.
As Biles' comeback story unfolds in Paris, Cleary, a former collegiate gymnast now working in Concord, will be among those to see her perform in-person after securing tickets.
"Got lucky in the draw and was able to get tickets to the Olympics," Cleary said. "I’m so excited to watch her new vault, her Yurchenko double pike, which is one of the most difficult vaults a woman athlete has every performed.”
Widely recognized as the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles' return is also inspiring Olympic hopefuls in Charlotte at local gymnastics centers.
"She never gives up," Enouch Stewart, owner of Charlotte Gymnastics Academy, said. "We know she had a rough 2020 Olympics and had to withdraw and now she’s back doing it again at 27.”
The gymnasts say they'll be watching the games closely and are also looking forward to seeing gymnasts Sunisa "Suni" Lee and Brody Malone on the world stage.
“I think it’s wonderful to have such wonderful inspirations to watch at the Olympics," Kailey Ryan, a coach at Charlotte Gymnastics Academy, said.
Contact Kayland Hagwood at khagwood@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.