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| Biles says she has experienced the 'twisties' before but never in all her four events. (Photo by=AP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] US gymnast Simone Biles says she is still struggling with the 'twisties', raising doubts over her participation in her remaining Olympic finals, BBC Sports reported that the 24-year-old withdrew from the team and all-around finals in Tokyo, saying she was prioritizing her mental health.
"I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist," she said during a social media Q&A session on Friday. She’s due to compete in all four individual apparatus finals, starting on Sunday. The four-time Olympic champion posted videos on Instagram of her training session, in which she attempts twisting dismounts from the uneven bars but fails to land on her feet both times. The gymnast said she had experienced the 'twisties' before but never on all four pieces of apparatus. She added that it could often take more than two weeks to overcome the issue.
The vault and uneven bars finals are on Sunday, with the floor event on Monday and the beam on Tuesday. Gymnasts have described the twisties as a kind of mental block. In some sports a sudden mental block - like the 'yips' in golf - may cost you a missed putt, or a lost game. The twisties can happen to a gymnast even if they've done the same manoeuvre for years without problems.
