Simone Biles Says She Should've Quit Gymnastics "Way Before" The 2020 Tokyo Olympics

    "I should have never made another Olympic team."

    Joyann Jeffrey
    by Joyann Jeffrey

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Simone Biles got real about what she thought her future in gymnastics would be during a new interview with New York Magazine.

    "If you looked at everything I've gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team,” she said.

    Biles said the abuse she experienced from Larry Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics, made her want to end her career and never look back.

    “I should have quit way before Tokyo when Larry Nassar was in the media for two years,” she said. “It was too much.”

    “But I was not going to let him take something I've worked for since I was 6 years old,” Biles continued. “I wasn't going to let him take that joy away from me.”

    “So I pushed past that for as long as my mind and my body would let me."

    After revealing in a letter she shared to Twitter in 2018 that she was sexually assaulted by Nassar, Biles said that her mental health has never been the same.

    "My perspective has never changed so quickly from wanting to be on a podium to wanting to be able to go home, by myself, without any crutches," she said.

    Biles has been through so much and she continues to show that you should never let another person bring you down.

    You can read Biles' full interview with New York Magazine here. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search your local center here.

    The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.