Simone Biles shares insights on mental health and anxiety

By Rochelle Thompson, Link Communications, LLC

Simone Biles was the keynote speaker at the ATD 2025 International Conference & Expo in Washington, D.C., the world’s largest, most comprehensive event for talent development and learning professionals.

She dazzled the audience with elegance, humor and authenticity. Biles spoke to an audience of more than 8,000 that included participants from 83 countries including Greater China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Brazil, Republic of Korea and Canada to name a few.

ATD is the international association for learning and development professionals who provide services in organizational development, executive coaching, career planning, instructional design, safety training, human resources and other similar industries.

ATD stands for the “actual time of departure” for a package shipment, food delivery vehicle or service technician.

Biles spoke about many issues relating to her learning and development in the gymnastics arena. She also shared information about her coaches and the best cultures in which she flourished.

As Biles explained, she was exploring her surroundings at a gym; she peaked into a room and noticed kids in the room doing gymnastics: flipping, tumbling, and maneuvering on bars. She described that the energy in the room from the kids captured her attention. “It looked like fun!” Biles said, and she was hooked.

She said that she was at her best when having fun while training and socializing with other team members. Her initial coaches provided this friendly atmosphere, and she thrived in this relaxed environment. Having the opportunity to go to the gym and flip with friends was a good motivator for Biles in keeping good grades. 

In addition, her foster mother taught her the value of having goals at an early age. Biles explained each year in January she had to share her goals. The consistent goal (among others) was always to be the best Simone Biles she could be. It was always about giving 120 percent.

Biles said that training culture required seven or eight hours a day, plus training sometimes was without other team members, which was difficult for her. This environment was not conducive to her performing her best because the fun had been removed.  Also, these coaches were more focused on winning and less focused on her as a person. “I had to perform with kidney stones and broken toes when I was on team USA.” 

Biles described the politics she faced as a child where the judges’ decisions were sometimes purely based upon body types and what country you were from. One coach who didn’t want Biles on her team because she found Biles difficult to work with, changed the top age for team members to 13 when Simone turned 14. “That was the year I won everything,” Biles joyfully proclaimed.

Biles’ takeaways for her audience included the following:

• Proper communication and respect are key for good coaches.
• Remember to keep things in perspective. 
• Provide positive feedback and plant seeds of belief.
• Be trustworthy!
• Play to one’s strengths.
• Active listening is very important.

Biles, who competed in three Olympic games (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024) stated that her personal goal was always to “show up better than what she did the last time.” She added, “I was not pushing for medals.” She explained she was okay if she came in third or fourth place if she had given her best. She mentioned that she’s won first place in some competitions that she felt were not her best performance.

While Biles has often dealt with anxiety before competitions, what she was experiencing in Tokyo went beyond a little anxiety. Simone was transparent about her mental health incident at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Most of the emphasis was on her mental health in the media. However, Biles said she was also concerned about her physical state. She explained that the mind and body must be in sync.

Biles added that knowing that her mind was not at its best could have been dangerous for her physical body if she made a wrong move and landed on her neck due to poor concentration. She said the first time that she ever felt “worth more than gold” was when her mother told her it was okay to sit this one out if she did not want to perform.

One of Biles’ goals is to get more diversity in gymnastics. Her mother (who is really her biological grandmother), Nellie Biles, owns a gym in Texas. They are training more children of color and bringing more representation of African Americans into gymnastics. Biles said more representation is needed. 

Beyond her involvement with gymnastics, Biles serves as Ambassador for Friends of the Children, a charity that supports foster care. She is married to Jonathan Owens of the Chicago Bears and is hopeful to expand her family one day. She joked about being too old for gymnastics at the age of 28, but ensures her future is still bright. 

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