The best-known quotes from Simone Biles come from the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021, after she withdrew from the team final. The most-shared one is “Put mental health first. Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to.” Others from that week include “There’s more to life than just gymnastics” and “We have to protect our minds and our bodies, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.” Each quote below comes with its setting. Lines we couldn’t trace to a primary source are listed separately.
Simone Biles’ most famous quotes
- “Put mental health first.” She said this to reporters in Tokyo on July 27, 2021, the day she left the team final.
- “We have to protect our minds and our bodies, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.” Same press conference, Tokyo, July 27, 2021.
- “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times.” Instagram post, July 2021, the day before the team final.
- “I blame Larry Nassar, and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse.” Testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, September 15, 2021.
One thing to know before you copy any of these: news outlets transcribed the Tokyo remarks a little differently, so small wording changes are normal. If exact wording matters, for a speech, a printed program or a school assignment, check it against video of the press conference.
What these quotes mean, and why they spread
Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, with more than 30 combined Olympic and World Championship medals. When the favorite in the sport pulled out of an Olympic final in front of a global audience and said plainly that her mind wasn’t right, people saw it as a break from the old “push through it” attitude in elite sports.
She called the problem “the twisties.” Gymnasts use the term for a sudden loss of air awareness: in the middle of a twist, the athlete can’t tell where they are relative to the ground. On a vault or a double-twisting dismount, that is a serious injury risk, not a slump in confidence. Biles described it at the time as not being able to tell up from down. That context matters. Without it, her mental-health quotes read like general motivation, when they were really about stopping before she got hurt.
One caution: these are an athlete’s descriptions of her own experience. They are not clinical statements. We don’t diagnose her, and her words shouldn’t be read as medical guidance for anyone else.
Simone Biles quotes about mental health
Tokyo Olympics press conference, July 27, 2021
“Put mental health first. Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to. So it’s OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself.”
What it means: Taking a step back is part of performing well. She isn’t saying effort doesn’t matter.
“We’re not just athletes. We’re people at the end of the day, and sometimes you just have to step back.”
“I didn’t want to go out and do something stupid and get hurt.”
What it means: She made the decision for safety reasons. People who call the withdrawal “quitting” usually miss this line.
Instagram, July 2021
“I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times.”
She posted this before the team final, so in hindsight it reads like an early warning. It’s also the quote people most often share when they talk about pressure on high achievers.
On therapy
Biles has said many times that she sees a therapist, and she kept talking about it during her comeback through the Paris 2024 Games. Her point has stayed the same: therapy is routine maintenance, the same way physical therapy is for her body, not a last resort. Her Netflix documentary series Simone Biles Rising (2024) covers this period, and you can watch it if you want her words in her own voice instead of second-hand.
Inspirational and confidence quotes from Simone Biles
This is where quote sites get careless. The verifiable confidence material falls into two groups:
- Her memoir, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance (Zondervan, 2016). It’s the primary source for her early-career thinking about faith, family, adoption by her grandparents, and work ethic. If a quote site lists the memoir as its source, find the passage in the book before you print it.
- Her Senate testimony (September 15, 2021). It isn’t motivational in the poster sense, but it’s her most fully documented public statement, and it’s in the official Senate record. The line about blaming “an entire system” is a strong choice for a speech on accountability or courage.
Since Paris 2024, her comeback is often summed up in a short social media post she made after the U.S. team won gold: “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champion.” She was answering a former teammate’s criticism of the team’s work ethic. If you use it, give that context, because without it the post reads as random.
Gymnastics quotes from Simone Biles
“There’s more to life than just gymnastics.” — Tokyo, July 2021
Her quotes about the sport itself tend to stress having fun and competing for herself instead of for the crowd. In Tokyo she said she felt she had been doing it for other people. Her return in 2023 and her Paris results (all-around, team and vault gold in 2024) are what made her later comments about enjoying the sport so credible: she said she needed to compete for herself, and then she won that way.
| Theme | Best quote to use | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mental health | “Put mental health first.” | Tokyo press conference, Jul 27, 2021 |
| Pressure | “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times.” | Instagram, Jul 2021 |
| Perspective | “There’s more to life than just gymnastics.” | Tokyo, Jul 2021 |
| Accountability | “I blame Larry Nassar, and I also blame an entire system…” | Senate Judiciary Committee, Sep 15, 2021 |
| Resilience / comeback | “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champion” | Social post after Paris team final, Jul 2024 |
Quotes attributed to her that we couldn’t fully verify
We couldn’t find a primary source for these lines when we checked:
- “I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I’m the first Simone Biles.” News outlets widely reported it from the Rio 2016 Olympics, and it may well be real. We didn’t find a transcript or video. Label it “widely reported” and don’t present it as an exact quote.
- “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” Quote aggregators credit it to Courage to Soar. We haven’t matched it to a page in the book, so check a copy before you use it.
- “Hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made.” This one is credited to Biles and also to fellow Olympian Gabby Douglas. A quote credited to two athletes at once usually hasn’t been sourced.
How to check a quote yourself: (1) Search the exact wording in quotation marks and look for a news report from the same week, not a quote site. (2) Look for video of the press conference or interview. (3) Check her verified Instagram and X accounts, and the memoir for book quotes. If all you find is quote sites copying each other, consider it unverified.
How to use Simone Biles quotes
- Social captions: Short lines work best, such as “There’s more to life than just gymnastics.” Add “— Simone Biles, Tokyo 2021.”
- Speeches and graduation remarks: Use the longer “Put mental health first” passage, and spend one sentence on the setting. Telling the audience she said it on the day she withdrew from an Olympic final is what makes it land.
- Coaches and youth teams: The “do something stupid and get hurt” line is a good, concrete way to start a talk about speaking up when something feels wrong.
- School essays: Use quotes from the Senate testimony or the Tokyo press conference. They’re the easiest to cite, with a date and outlet.
Mental health resources
Quotes can start a conversation, but they aren’t treatment. If you or someone you know is struggling, talk to a licensed professional. In a crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which is free and open 24/7. The National Institute of Mental Health’s help page explains how to find care and what to ask a provider. Athletes can also check the USOPC mental health resources. For more evidence-based coverage, browse our Health section.
A Florida note
Florida has a large club gymnastics scene and a lot of youth sports, so the Tokyo quotes come up often in local gyms and locker rooms. If a young athlete in your family is dealing with pressure, 988 works anywhere in Florida, and NAMI Florida can point you to local affiliates that run free family support groups.
FAQs
What is Simone Biles’ most famous quote?
Her most-shared quote is “Put mental health first. Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to.” She said it to reporters at the Tokyo Olympics on July 27, 2021, after she withdrew from the women’s gymnastics team final.
What did Simone Biles say about mental health?
In Tokyo in 2021 she said athletes “have to protect our minds and our bodies, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do,” and that “we’re not just athletes. We’re people at the end of the day.” She has also said publicly that she sees a therapist regularly.
Why did Simone Biles withdraw from the Tokyo team final?
She said she was dealing with “the twisties,” a loss of air awareness during twisting skills, and that she didn’t want to “do something stupid and get hurt.” She put her safety and mental health ahead of competing. She came back later in the Games and won bronze on the balance beam.
What are the twisties in gymnastics?
“The twisties” is gymnasts’ term for suddenly losing track of where they are in the air during a twist. It can make landings dangerous. Biles described it as not being able to tell up from down. It’s a sports term, not a formal medical diagnosis.
Did Simone Biles say ‘I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, I’m the first Simone Biles’?
News outlets widely reported the line from the 2016 Rio Olympics, but we couldn’t find a transcript or video confirming the exact wording. If you use it, call it “widely reported” and don’t present it as a verified direct quote.
Has Simone Biles talked about therapy?
Yes. Biles has openly said she sees a therapist and treats it as regular maintenance, much like physical therapy. She kept talking about it during her comeback through the Paris 2024 Olympics, and the Netflix series Simone Biles Rising covers this period.
