What Was Simone Biles’ Injury? She Opens Up About A Calf Tear In ‘Simone Biles Rising’

The strain nearly derailed Simone’s competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Part two of the Netflix docuseries Simone Biles Rising just dropped, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at what happened in the gymnastic G.O.A.T.’s life at the Paris Olympics and beyond. But it also explored a calf injury that Simone suffered during qualifiers, revealing that it was much more serious than she let on at the time.

The 27-year-old, who won four medals in this Olympics, revealed in the series that she was worried this injury would sideline her yet again. (If you remember, she struggled with the “twisties” during the Tokyo Games, forcing her to to bow out of several competitions.)

But what was Simone’s injury and how is she doing now? Here’s what she’s shared.

Simone totally crushed it at the Paris Olympics, which was basically a redemption tour for her after the Tokyo Games.

This time around, she won three gold medals—the team all-around, individual vault, and individual all-around competitions—and one silver medal on the floor. Her total medal count is seven golds, two silver, and two bronze.

What was Simone Biles’ injury?

Before Simone Biles Rising, all fans knew was that Simone’s calf was wrapped in athletic tape at one point, and she could also be seen wearing a boot after the competitions ended. Her team brushed it off as no biggie at the time, but the docuseries reveals that it was, in fact, a biggie.

During day one of the gymnastics qualifiers, Simone did her triple-double vault (a.k.a. the Biles II). But as soon as she took off, she felt pain in her leg.

“I was like, ‘Ooh, oh. That hurt really bad. That didn’t feel right.’ I just felt, like, a weird sensation in my calf muscle,” she said in the docuseries. “Whenever something like that happens, you’re so terrified. An injury can happen to any of us at any point.”

Simone was worried that she had torn her Achilles, a muscle that connects your ankle to your calf. “Ugh. It was so annoying. And I think that’s what irritated me the most,” she said. “As soon as I got off the floor, I was like, ‘People are gonna think I’m quitting again.’”

In the docuseries, Simone’s old teammate Aly Raisman repeated a similar sentiment. “She said something to me after the competition that will always stick with me and really broke my heart,” she said. “I asked her, ‘How did you do it when you were in so much pain?’ And she said, ‘I couldn’t have people tell me I was a quitter again.'”

Ultimately, Simone was diagnosed with a “strain slash tear,” according to her coach Cécile Landi. So, she stretched and wore a compression sleeve on her calf to compete.

Simone joked that she’s “old for a gymnast” which makes her a “ticking time bomb” for injuries. She also revealed that she had other injuries in the lead-up to Paris, including a hyperextended knee and a calf muscle tear.

“Most of the time, I can still walk normally and do everything,” she said. “On every single punch and take off, I could definitely feel my calf. But we’re doing so much, you can’t really focus on it.”

Simone said that continuing therapy was helpful for her. “I knew I could do it physically,” she said. “The part that was hard for me was if I could last mentally.”

How is Simone Biles doing now?

Simone seems to be thriving. She’s currently showing off her skills on the Gold Over America tour, and recently revealed that her husband, Jonathan Owens, joined her on tour during his bye week from the NFL.

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She also just released a new collection of leotards:

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During the docuseries, Simone also gave cameras a tour of her new house in Texas and touched briefly on the idea of retirement.

But Simone added that she feels really good about her Olympics experience. “I truly did try to enjoy each and every moment, but we took it one day at a time,” she said. “And for that, I’m grateful.”