For the first time since experiencing the "twisties" at the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles is set to make her return to gymnastics competition and she'll do it all in a Chicago suburb.
It marks a comeback not every gymnast can make.
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.
That won't be an option on Saturday when Biles competes for the first time since Tokyo in the U.S. Classic in the Chicago suburbs.
Here's what fans should know:
Where is the Classic?
The annual national championship event is slated to be held at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.
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When is the Classic?
The event takes place from Aug. 4-6.
What makes the competition so important?
"As the final opportunity to qualify for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships – the sport’s national championship event – the annual Core Hydration Classic (formerly U.S. Classic) is an important stop on the domestic calendar, attracting the country’s top artistic gymnasts," the website states. "The event was held as a showcase for junior and senior women from 1983 to 2021 before a men’s division was added earlier this year."
The U.S. Classic is one of the marquee events on USA Gymnastics' annual calendar and typically serves as a warm-up of sorts for the national championships, this year scheduled for late August in San Jose.
Biles used the Classic as her comeback meet in 2018 following a two-year hiatus after her record medals haul in Rio de Janeiro. It took her all of two hours to show she remained the gold standard in her sport, setting the stage for another spectacular run that included two more world all-around championships in 2018 and 2019 and three more national titles.
“It is exciting to think about the level of talent and historical legacy of the field that may compete at U.S. Classic,” USA Gymnastics Chief Programs Officer Stefanie Korepin said in a statement. “Every athlete is at a different place in their season and career, and we will support each of them, wherever they are in their journey.”
When will Simone Biles compete?
As of Thursday, the 26-year-old Biles was scheduled to do all four events, including uneven bars, which she acknowledged on her Instagram stories feed this week has been the most difficult discipline to return to "both mentally and physically" because the routines are essentially 45 seconds of uninterrupted flipping, floating and twisting from bar to bar.
Biles could decide at any time what she's comfortable doing and not doing at this point, though the most decorated female gymnast of all time added: “I'm fine. I'm twisting again. No worries. All is good.”
Biles, 27, has still not revealed any plans for the 2024 Olympics, which are set to be held in Paris next summer. She said last summer that she was undecided on a comeback, but that she would be in Paris in some capacity, as an athlete or otherwise.
What happened with Simone Biles?
Biles has taken most of the last two years off following her eventful stay in Japan in the summer of 2021, where her decision to remove herself from multiple events to focus on her mental health shifted the focus from the games themselves to the overall wellness of the athletes.
She served as a cheerleader as her American teammates won the team silver then sat out the all-around, vault and floor exercise finals she had qualified for while dealing with what is known as “the twisties” — a gymnastics term for when an athlete loses their spatial awareness when airborne.
Biles returned for the balance beam final, where she won a bronze medal that tied Shannon Miller's record for most Olympic medals by an American female gymnast. She hinted at the Paris 2024 Olympics but only after taking a lengthy break.
The last two years have been a whirlwind of sorts. She headlined her post-Olympic tour in the fall of 2021 and married NFL player Jonathan Owens — now a defensive back for the Green Bay Packers — this spring.
Biles has also become one of the most vocal advocates for athletes finding space to protect their mental health after her stand in Japan put the issue front and center. While the conversation around the subject is constantly evolving, Biles' return to the sport she dominated for nearly a decade suggests an athlete who wants to go out on her own terms.
Who else is competing?
Sunisa Lee, who won gold in the all-around final in Tokyo, will also be at the U.S. Classic after spending two years competing at Auburn, where she helped spearhead a massive uptick in interest in collegiate gymnastics.
Lee missed the second half of her sophomore year with the Tigers while grappling with health issues but is eyeing a return to the Olympics not necessarily to defend her all-around title but to take another shot at gold on uneven bars, her signature event.
Lee placed third on bars in Tokyo, due in no small part to the attention she received in the immediate aftermath of becoming the fifth straight American woman to win the Olympic title.
Several other top Americans like Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Leanne Wong are also in the competition.
Carey, the 2020 Olympic champion on floor exercise and the 2022 world champion on vault, has spent the last two years at Oregon State. Chiles, who won a team silver in Tokyo and added three medals — including silvers on floor and vault — at the world championships last fall, has thrived at UCLA. Wong, the 2021 world championship silver medalist, has helped Florida reach the national finals each of the last two years.
They will all arrive in Chicago sharpened by having competed regularly since Tokyo.
See the full lineup below:
| Senior Women Simone Biles Skye Blakely Charlotte Booth Jade Carey Dulcy Caylor Jordan Chiles Chloe Cho Melanie de Jesus dos Santos Kayla DiCello Leigh Anne Elliott Madray Johnson Katelyn Jong Levi Jung-Ruivivar Avery King Sunisa Lee Myli Lew Kaliya Lincoln Nola Matthews Zoe Miller Avery Moll Ella Murphy Brooke Pierson Michelle Pineda Joscelyn Roberson Paloma Spiridonova Ashlee Sullivan Tiana Sumanasekera Brynn Torry Leanne Wong Kelise Woolford Lexi Zeiss Alicia Zhou Junior Women Isabella Anzola Sage Bradford Sophia Buechler Charleigh Bullock Payton Chandler Ally Damelio Tatum Drusch Reese Esponda Catherine Guy Jayla Hang Cambry Haynes Jazmyn Jimenez Claire Pease Gabriella Pierson Hezly Rivera Simone Rose Izzy Stassi Tyler Turner Carly Weinberg Trinity Wood Senior Men Saran Alexander Javier Alfonso Ashton Anaya Drake Andrews Michael Artlip Arthur Ashton Danny Beaupre Fuzzy Benas Jeremy Bischoff Cameron Bock Ethan Boder Crew Bold Brandon Briones Hunter Brunett Syam Buradagunta Matt Burgoyne Taylor Burkhart J.R. Chou Kelton Christiansen Asher Cohen Matt Cormier Tate Costa Clayton Cunningham Aidan Cuy Brando Dang Alex Diab Isaiah Drake Carson Eshleman Luke Esparo Will Fleck Mike Fletcher Colin Flores Tyler Flores Nicky Franz Jack Freeman Brigham Frentheway Kristian Grahovski David Grossman Ian Gunther Tas Hajdu Dallas Hale Jacob Harmon Jackson Harrison Will Hauke Kazuki Hayashi Christopher Hiser Asher Hong Patrick Hoopes Evan Hymanson Alex Istock Johnny Jacobson Michael Jaroh Ayden Johnston Paul Juda Leo Koike Nikolai Kolesnikov Jordan Kovach Charlie Larson Andrew Layman Sam Lee Toby Liang Troy Lipis Riley Loos Youssef Mahgoub Evan Manivong Zachary Marckx Christian Marsh Connor McCool Evan McGrath Ronan McQuillan Izaiha Mlay Yul Moldauer Stephen Nedoroscik Kameron Nelson Brandon Nguyen Troy Nuesca Zachary Nunez Maxwell Odden Maddox Pabellon Jesse-Lee Pakele Caden Peacock William Pearce Adriel Perales-Valencia Vahe Petrosyan Curran Phillips Samuel Phillips Micah Puckett Dominic Ramalho Kellen Ryan Garrett Schooley Amari Sewell Mac Seyler Tyler Shimizu Daniel Simmons Landon Simpson Caden Spencer Brendan Strom Blake Sun Ryan Swatscheno Parker Thackston Ethan Thomas Tyler Tran Matthew Underhill Colin Van Wicklen Ryan Vanichtheeranont Kyle Walchuk Cailen Walker Colt Walker Nate Warren Evan Wenstad Donnell Whittenburg Shane Wiskus Tucker Yasunaga Nick Yeatts Ignacio Yockers Khoi Young Will Young Gavin Zborowski Junior Men Emilio Bracken Serra Tyler Burgess Nick Deng Joseph Hale Jesse Hanny Conor Heary Kyler Hinson Xander Hong Will Horenziak Gage Kalley Maddox Kinderdine David Moroney Wade Nelson Tristen Nye Eli Osuna Divier Ramos Wyatt Reynolds Dean-o Roberts Misha Romo Lukas Ross Michael Scheiner Oleksandr Shybitov Grey Westmore |
