Over the summer, the world tuned in to watch the “GOAT” Simone Biles compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics only for her to withdraw from the competition early. 

    Biles chose not to compete in the uneven bars and vault individual finals after pulling out of the team and all-around finals to focus on her mental health. 

       Biles, a black woman dominating a majority white sport, said she felt a lot of pressure heading into the international competition. “It’s like the weight of the world on your shoulders,” she told Hoda Kotb on NBC’s TODAY. “It’s a little bit too heavy to carry, but it helps to take a step back and focus on her mental health.”

   Biles received an outpouring of support after revealing she felt as if she was not in the right headspace mentally to compete, and was dealing with a dreaded phenomenon known as the “twisties”. The “twisties” refer to the sensation where gymnasts feel lost in the air, preventing athletes from completing skills at their normal ability.

     “That the support has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics, which I never truly believed before,”Biles said. 

     In an interview with New York Magazine, the 24-year-old Olympian reflected on her time at the Tokyo Games and the tumultuous road there, which included surviving abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar. 

     Nassar was a  doctor for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team from 1978–2016. He has since been convicted of sexually assaulting girls and women when he was supposed to be providing them with treatment. Over 250 girls and women came forward to accuse him of abuse. 

     “I should have quit way before Tokyo, when Larry Nassar was in the media for two years. It was too much. But I was not going to let him take something I’ve worked for since I was 6 years old. I wasn’t going to let him take that joy away from me. So I pushed past that for as long as my mind and my body would let me,” Biles told New York Magazine. 

       Biles is among one of numerous gymnasts who have come forward to speak out about Nassar’s abuse. In Sep., Biles, along with former Team USA gymnasts McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman, testified at a senate hearing concerning the FBI’s handling of the Nassar case. 

     The FBI has been accused of failing to act after receiving numerous complaints about Nassar, thereby allowing him to abuse more than 100 girls and women after agents had already been made aware of his sexual misconduct, according to an earlier NPR report.

    “To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,” Biles told the Committee. “The scars of this horrific abuse continue. The impact of this man’s abuse will never be over.”

   Nassar is currently serving a life sentence in prison after he was convicted on sexual assault and child pornography charges.

      The gymnast will now represent and work towards a shift toward advocating for more safety and better treatment of athletes and coaches while being a spokeswoman for mental health awareness.