WASHINGTON — Simone Biles has revealed she thought "the world is going to hate me" as she dealt with a phenomenon known as the "twisties" at the Tokyo Olympics.
The record-breaking gymnast had to withdraw from the team final in Tokyo after one rotation and skipped most of the other events she initially planned to compete in.
She opened up about the experience recently during an interview with Alex Cooper for the "Call Her Daddy" podcast.
"I thought I was going to be banned from America ‘cause that’s what they tell you: 'Don’t come back if it's not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back,'" Biles said on the podcast.
After a bad vault attempt in the team final during the last Summer Games, Biles recalled how her first thought was what the reaction would be like online and back home in the states.
"If I could’ve got on a plane and flown home, I would’ve done it. But as soon as I landed I was like 'Oh, America hates me, the world is going to hate me, and I can only see what they're saying on Twitter right now,' that was my first thought."
What are the twisties?
The “twisties” are the sudden inability for a gymnast to make the required spins — or sometimes any spins — for a particular maneuver.
"It's basically like your mind and your body is at a disconnect," Biles described on the podcast. She went on to compare it to a person suddenly waking up and having no idea how to drive a car anymore.
"You've been doing something for so long and you now no longer have control and it's terrifying," she said.
After making the decision to withdraw from the event, Biles said she kept as composed as she could - in order to not scare the other gymnasts. Her teammates continued on without her to win silver in the team final.
Biles returned days later 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.
Biles and reigning all-around champion Sunisa Lee will be part of a talented field at Olympic trials in Minneapolis in late June who will compete for a spot on the five-woman team for Paris.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.