Simone Biles had 'twisties' pre-2016 Olympics, ex-coach says - ESPN

Simone Biles experienced the «twisties» ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, five years before she withdrew from the team competition at the COVID-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games with the same mental block, according to a new book from Biles' longtime coach Aimee Boorman.

The seven-time Olympic gold medalist became disoriented mid-air while performing twisting skills less than six months before the Rio Games, Boorman writes in «The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles.»

«Yep, before Simone introduced the world to the twisties in 2021, she had experienced this proprioception phenomenon in January of 2016,» Boorman writes. «When this happens to a gymnast who is flipping ten-plus feet in the air and they lose body awareness in space and time — not knowing if they're going to land on their back, feet or head — it's much more dangerous [than the „yips“ in baseball or golf].»

In the book, Boorman, who coached Biles from age 7 through the Rio Olympics, chronicles how she first noticed Biles was feeling pressure in October 2015 at her third world championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Three months later, «Simone couldn't twist — on basically anything!» Boorman writes. «You might be asking, 'How did she get rid of it?' I wish I had a silver bullet, but I didn't.»

When Biles realized her mind and body had become disconnected, Boorman writes that she «would physically stop herself from twisting during her routines because she was afraid of getting lost in the air. Simone would never crash; she would just stop herself before ever attempting a twist.»

According to Boorman, she never pushed Biles to attempt twisting before she was ready. «She was already the back-to-back-to-back world champion,» she writes. «Simone knew how to twist.» Instead,