The 24-year-old U.S. gymnast got open and honest about the danger of the physically disorienting experience and pushed back on critics who said she quit the team finals.
00:00Simone Biles is explaining what happened during Tuesday's gymnastics team finals that led her to withdraw from both that competition and Thursday's All-Around.
00:08The U.S. Olympian took to Instagram to answer questions around what is known in the gymnastics community as the twisties, which sees athletes suddenly and inexplicably unable to complete spins.
00:18According to Biles, the quote, petrifying experience has happened to her before and can be caused by stress.
00:23She wrote on Instagram,
00:30When the twisties have happened to her in the past, Biles revealed it's typically been two or more weeks until she's back to normal.
00:45There can be dangerous consequences if an athlete can't orient themselves in time to land, which is what Biles says drove her decision to remove herself from both the team and individual competition.
00:55She wrote on another story slide,
01:00Thankfully, I landed safe enough, but I also don't think some of you realize I was supposed to do two and a half.
01:29And I only completed one and a half twists before it looks like I got shot out of the air.
01:33Biles can still compete in the individual event finals taking place on Sunday as she qualified for all four.
01:38But the four-time gold medalist confirmed that she's still having trouble orienting herself while completing twists and is currently, quote,
01:44going back to the basics to practice routines in a gym in Japan that has soft surfaces and pits.
01:49For more on this story, go to THR.com.
01:52For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
01:59For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Benjamin Taylor.
02:03For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm sencill out of the and a half stories.
02:04And I've been walking on three and a half stories.
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