Simone Biles - Suni Lee Were ‘Freaking Out’ During 2024 Olympics All-Around Final
Simone Biles - Suni Lee Were ‘Freaking Out’ During 2024 Olympics All-Around Final
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00:00Will Grace, Associated Press. Congratulations, you guys. Simone, after bars, your bar routine,
00:05and cameras kind of caught you on the side. I don't know if you were meditating or standing out or whatever.
00:10Sort of curious, what was going through your mind in that moment? Is that something that you've been
00:13practicing and is that sort of maybe a sign of just how you're a different athlete you are in
00:172024 than you were in 2021? Yes, I'm not sure what the camera caught or what I was doing. I was probably
00:22praying to every single God out there, trying to refocus and recenter myself because that's not
00:28the bars that I've been training. Out of all the events, I think bars is the one that I haven't
00:32messed up on like once the whole entire training here or back in Houston. So just refocusing and
00:38making sure that as soon as we go to beam, since I'm first up, I can just recenter myself and
00:44finish the rest of the competition because it's not over till it's over. But I was a little bit
00:48disappointed in my performance on bars. That's not usually how I swing. I'm not the best bar
00:52swinger. I'm not like senior Kaylea, but like I can swing some bars, you know. So yeah, just
00:59recentering and refocusing. So yeah. We'll take a woman in the gray here at the front.
01:07Nate Salmer, USA Baseball. Congratulations. You're the third woman to win two all-around
01:13titles, first one to do it in non-consecutive games. Given where you were three years ago,
01:17what does this mean to you and the goat necklace? Where would you rank yourself now in the list of
01:23all-time goats? Well, three years ago, I never thought I'd step foot on a gymnastics floor again
01:29just because of everything that had happened. But with the help of Cecile and Laurent, I got back
01:34in the gym and worked really hard mentally and physically. Even this morning at 7am, I saw my
01:39therapist and there's a time change. So she is so amazing for allowing me to do that these couple of
01:45days here in Paris. So just making sure I'm mentally well. I think you see that out on the
01:52competition floor. And then my goat necklace is just kind of an ode because the people love it
01:56and then some people hate it. So it's like the best of both worlds. And I was like, OK, if it
02:01goes well, we'll wear the goat necklace. I know people will go crazy over it. But at the end of
02:06the day, it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes because I just still
02:13think I'm Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip. I'm going to take the gentleman
02:18in the second row in the Navy and then I'm going to take a few questions for SUNY.
02:24Scott Bregman, olympics.com. Congrats to both. My question is actually for SUNY. Excellent. You told
02:29me a couple of months ago you were rotting in bed and now you have an Olympic bronze medal in the
02:33all-around. What has it taken to get here? It has taken so much. I mean, I was telling everyone
02:38today like I really didn't think that I would even get on the podium. So it's just like crazy
02:43that I was here and I did everything that I could. I went out there and I just told myself not to put
02:47any pressure on myself because I didn't want to think about the past Olympics or even trying to
02:53prove to anybody anything because I wanted to just prove to myself that I could do it because
02:57I didn't think that I could. But it has taken a lot. I mean, I'm so grateful that I had my coaches
03:02and having Simone here today definitely helped me a lot because we were both freaking out. So
03:07it just felt nice to know that I wasn't out there freaking out by myself. We were literally like
03:14I was like I don't even know how to do math in my head. She was like me either.
03:21Yeah, we were like trying. But yeah, so it was great to be out there with her and
03:26do it the right way this time. We'll take another question for SUNY if you've got your hands up.
03:30Okay, this gentleman here in the front. Black coat, please.
03:38You already know. You already know. You know how much you know how real the love is for the
03:42both of you just with the rest of the Golden Girls watching you guys do this incredible
03:47competition. And I told Jade that I felt like y'all needed the shirts made for
03:55Bad Folk. You know what I'm saying? So I got them the shirts. I've got shirts for you. But
03:59my question to the both of you is Fafo for life or not? No, absolutely. We've been through so much
04:05together. So all of these memories we'll cherish forever. So super excited. Yeah, this was definitely
04:11a special one. So Fafo for life. There's a there's a lady at the back, the blonde haired lady. Put
04:17your hand up again. Yeah, there we can go back. We'll go back to the question there, please.
04:22Alyssa from ESPN. Simone, you know, you've been saying you came back for yourself and team final
04:27was obviously I think, really, you all talked about coming together and it really being for the
04:32returners and all of you. How much was tonight for yourself? And how much does this one feel
04:37different from all of the all round titles you've won in the last decade?
04:40Yes. So a team competition is always my favorite because we all get to go out there and compete
04:45together. And it's just such a great feeling to be able to be a part of a team. And it's
04:50compete together. And it's just such a fun time. But for me personally, tonight, it means the world
04:56to me. And it's just so crazy. I don't want to compete with Rebecca no more. I'm tired.
05:02She's way too close. I've never had an athlete that close. So it definitely put me on my toes.
05:06And it brought out the best athlete in myself. So I'm excited and proud to compete with her. But
05:12I don't like it no more. I'm being uncomfortable, guys. I like that feeling. I was stressing.
05:19I swear I've never seen you that stressed in my life.
05:23But I knew if I did my work, it would all be fine. But after the bars,
05:27and then I saw the score come up, I was like, Oh, goodness. I was like, Oh,
05:30thank God we did the double pike today because I wasn't planning on it. But I just knew how
05:36phenomenal of an athlete she is. And on each event, we're very similar in scores.
05:42So I was like, Okay, I think I have to bring out the big guns this time.
05:46But all in all, I'm super proud of my performance tonight. And the fight that I've had for the last
05:51three years mentally and physically just to get back competing on a world stage Olympic Games is
05:57an amazing experience. So I couldn't be prouder. Simone, this obviously was so different from
06:02Tokyo. How much were you able to soak in the atmosphere tonight? You know, I think everyone
06:06in the arena could could name you first name, obviously, but to have your family there first
06:12off, and then the US men's basketball team, I know you saw KD and Steph Curry, what it means
06:17you to have those guys supporting? KD told me after that he thought it was just an incredible
06:22feat of what you're able to do. No, it's amazing to have our village out there and supporting us
06:26because they didn't get to do that in Tokyo. So for us all to come together and be able
06:31to cherish this memory together forever is super special. And then seeing the guys out there,
06:37it's amazing. I think you don't see crossovers in sports that much unless it's the Olympics.
06:42So hopefully, I mean, we have a lot of competition days and we're trying to see what we could go to
06:47for how long we're here. But it is amazing that we have that support from them and that gymnastics
06:52is on such a big stage during the Olympics because it truly shows how much hard work we put in.
06:58And everybody usually only watches every four years, but I think you get to see
07:02the work that we put in whenever we get to compete on a stage like this.
07:06And my family, yes, I love having my family here. They're super excited. I knew that I probably made
07:12them nervous after bars. So I was like talking to my husband like, what place am I in? And how far
07:17am I behind? And he's like, you're fine. You're in third, because I've just never been so stressed
07:22before. Thank you, Rebecca. But it's good. I'm going to hand it to her now. She can have the rest.
07:32Your journey has been just remarkable. I've been lucky, Rio, Tokyo here. Can you talk about,
07:39obviously, we know the athletic accomplishments. You are the coach. You've also been transformative
07:44in other aspects of life. What message, not to athletes, not even to little girls,
07:50but what message do you hope your journey, the ups, the downs, the struggles, what message
07:57you hope extends to just people in general? And has it been worth it? Yes, I think it's been moving,
08:05but always I try to have fun. And you know, what's so crazy is like a couple of years ago,
08:10before Tokyo, I had been so blessed with a career that I've had. And leading up to Tokyo,
08:16I was so nervous about getting injured, like physically, that I kind of neglected my mental
08:21health. And so I put that on the back burner. And then I was injured, except it was a mental
08:26injury. And I think that was almost harder than physical, because whenever you go to the doctor,
08:30and you have a physical injury, they tell you like, three to six weeks, three to six months,
08:34all of that stuff. And so this, it was like, no time tells. And so I've been in therapy
08:39religiously every Thursday. And now whenever I need it, whenever I'm at big competitions.
08:44So to just keep that up, and just to see where I've grown, even from Tokyo, and even from
08:51the 19 year old from Rio is amazing. So I'm really proud of the work that she's put in,
08:56because I never thought I'd be on a world stage again competing. So
08:59just proud of Simone for putting in the work and never giving up.
09:03Is there a message? I don't know, you're putting me on the spot. I think I think I'll have to
09:08look. But for me, it's just learning to not give up and to just keep pushing and striving.
09:13And laying it all on the floor.