Two years after Tokyo, Simone Biles is coming back from 'the twisties.' Not every gymnast does
For years in gymnastics, the phrase “the twisties” was usually uttered in hushed tones, as if saying the slang term for an athlete’s sudden loss of air awareness during a routine would only deepen the problem.
“It’s almost like a mythical kind of thing,” longtime Oklahoma men’s gymnastics coach Mark Williams said. “When someone says ‘the twisties,’ everyone shudders because it’s bad.”
Then Simone Biles said it in front of the whole world two summers ago in Tokyo, after a sudden onset of the mental block early in the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics forced the sport’s biggest star to pull out of several competitions — including the team and all-around finals — to protect herself.
Biles returned to win bronze on balance beam while doing a slightly altered routine that removed any twisting elements. It was her seventh Olympic medal, and she called the triumph sweet while also admitting the twisties hadn’t really disappeared. She and coach Cecile Landi had just found a way to work around them.
https://apnews.com/article/simone-biles-twisties-olympics-ac79bd5ee9c15abb93f0e337ae027e98
