By Rory Carroll
PARIS (Reuters) – Simone Biles fans witnessing what may have been her final turn on the Olympic stage in Paris on Monday praised her as a trailblazer in the sport and thanked her for her courage and perseverance.
Biles leaves the French capital with three gold medals, plus a silver and the deep appreciation of her devoted fan base, who have followed every step of her groundbreaking career.
“All the trials and tribulations she’s gone through, to be able to witness maybe that last performance here at the Olympics, it’s pretty amazing,” said Katie Waege of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Biles thought she might never compete again after withdrawing from the Tokyo Games three years ago with a potentially dangerous mental block known as the “twisties”.
The American took a two-year break from the sport to work on herself and returned happy and healthy to qualify for a third Games, where she increased her total medals tally to 11, seven of them gold.
A countless parade of celebrities made the trip to the Bercy Arena to catch a glimpse of her greatness over her six days of competition and her diehard fans were equally motivated.
“We wanted to witness it in person,” said Rachel Redmond of Washington DC.
“To be in the same space as her and everybody else instead of stuck to the TV.”
Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, has also sparked a conversation about mental health, talking openly about her struggles and encouraging people to seek help when they need it.
She has not ruled out competing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028 when she will be 31 but if Monday does indeed mark the end of her Olympic journey, her fans are more than satisfied.
“I would just say Simone, we want to thank you for being a good ambassador for women, for women’s sports, for young girls and for people who struggle,” Waege said.
“That perseverance has been amazing. Thank you for doing the best you can every day.”
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Karen Braun and Rory Carroll; editing by Clare Fallon)
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