Olympics 2024: Simone Biles anxious, overwhelmed in Olympic Village

The renowned gymnast spoke of feeling “so anxious” that she was “shaking” whenever she sat down in the village’s cafeteria.

Simone Biles was overwhelmed with anxiety in the Olympic Village.

The 27-year-old gymnast - who won gold in the all-round, vault, floor and team events, and also picked up bronze on the balance beam at the Rio Olympics in 2016 before withdrawing from several events at the Tokyo 2020 games - admitted her anxiety was ramping up because she was the focus of so much attention from her fellow athletes.

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

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

“I just go to the store, stock up on food, and just like, stay here, because it gets me so anxious.”

Nine-time Olympic medalist Biles has already won gold with her USA teammates and individually with the all-round gymnastics title at the Paris Olympics and recently revealed that therapy has helped her “physically and mentally”.

She told Today’s Hoda Kotb: “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. So just staying on top of that, it lightens the load a lot.”