US superstar Simon Biles Owens is making a comeback in gymnastics two years after her spectacular retirement from the Olympics. This was announced by the US association on Wednesday.
Accordingly, the four-time Olympic champion and multiple world champion will compete again on August 5 at the US Classic Gymnastics Festival in Hoffman Estates near Chicago.
On Wednesday, USA Gymnastics left open whether Biles Owens is seriously considering participating in the Olympic Games in Paris in just over a year.
Biles Owens, as the 26-year-old has been called by her full name since her marriage to US football player Jonathan Owens last April, had left Tokyo in 2021 in the middle of a competition. Mental problems had caused the three-time world athlete of the year to block turns around the longitudinal axis.
The delayed clarification of the allegations of abuse against the former US team doctor Larry Nassar had put too much strain on the record world champion’s psyche. Her return to competitive sport seemed very unlikely for a long time.
“I should have stopped long before Tokyo,” Biles said in an interview after her return from Tokyo.