The world’s gaze was on Simone Biles as fought to make Paris her redemption ground. And after the USA squad snagged that team gold, her spirit sure hit an all-time high. But then, came the day when Biles was meant to shine alone. This time, her own teammate Suni Lee was a competition, let alone the Brazilian superstar, Rebeca Andrade. Yes, this day was none other than the Paris all-around finals, the day when Biles’ comeback could have been a near miss.
The all-around finals in Paris mean the day Simone Biles, at 27, became the oldest winner of her sport’s blue-riband event for 72 years and the only third one in history to win it more than once. The finals also meant the day she pulled out her oh-so-expensive and chic ‘goat’ necklace, establishing her supremacy in the sport. However, had it not been for this one piece of advice she gave herself, all of this could have possibly been lost in a split second.
Simone Biles’ mantra to the Paris all-around success
As reported by Sports Illustrated, before stepping onto her third rotation for the night, the beam, Simone Biles took a steadying breath and whispered to herself an energizing mantra, “You kind of have to go up there and tell yourself, I’m a boss a** bi***.” She knew this would be a make-or-break rotation. After all, the first two rotations hadn’t exactly gone off without a hitch, and now the pressure was on her shoulders like a ton of bricks.
Biles had sure entered the Bercy Arena for her all-around finals with a set intent, she wanted that gold. And the way she kicked things off on the vault, it looked like she was on the right track. After all, she’d established a clear lead ahead of Andrade on the opening apparatus, the vault. A stunning Yurchenko double pike, the hardest vault in competitive gymnastics won her a 15.766, which was 0.666 ahead of the Brazilian.
But the next part is where things turned. Simone Biles lost the buffer points lead when she made an uncharacteristic mistake on the uneven bars that evening. Traditionally known as her ‘weakest’ discipline, Biles’ uneven bars routine looked quite rushed on the big day. Also, she put a lot of power and elevation into her Pak Salto to lower bar transition, which led her to bend her knees and earned her a deduction. As a result, a 13.733 was all she was left with.
This meant that the beam had to turn out near perfect, or else, Simone Biles would have to settle for a silver. She pulled off a beam routine that had a great difficulty level and bagged a 14.566 on the apparatus. This was despite two minor wobbles since her aerial series and clean landing on the dismount bridged the gap. As she flashed her ear-to-ear smile and blew kisses to the crowd, she knew, her advice to herself had worked wonders.
Well, the sight of Simone Biles advising herself is hardly a rare one. It happens quite often. And it did before she embarked upon another apparatus at the Paris Olympics. Turns out she’s truly big on positive self-talk!
Biles’ 3-word advice to herself
The pressure of the world was on Simone Biles’ shoulders as she entered the Bercy Arena for the Women’s Gymnastics Team qualification rounds at the Paris Olympics. The Americans had a point to prove, especially Biles who wanted to pen the ‘redemption’ chapter in her book. Thus, before the 27-year-old stepped onto her first event for the night, the beam, she uttered a classic 3-word advice to herself.
“You got this,” was all she said. However, in 2016, she’d accepted that her motivational vocabulary also included mantras like ‘Confidence’ and ‘You have this,’ which she often tells herself before stepping onto the mats. And well, its a widely believed theory that speaking positively to oneself before high-pressure situations can help calm the nerves and limit the negativity. Looks like, that truly works out for America’s most decorated gymnast too! What do you think? Let us know below!
