Star gymnast Simone Biles returning to competition for 1st time since Olympics

Simone Biles is back.

The gymnastics superstar plans to return to competition at the U.S. Classic outside Chicago in early August, her first event since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

USA Gymnastics announced Wednesday that Biles, a seven-time Olympic medallist and the 2016 Olympic champion, is part of the women's field for the single-day event set for Aug. 5 at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.

Biles has taken most of the last two years off following her eventful stay in Japan, 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.

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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.

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