Home safe and sound. Simone Biles is back in the warm embrace of her family.
The celebrated Olympic gymnast took to Instagram on Thursday where she shared a snapshot of her sweet family reunion upon touching down in Houston, Texas. The iconic Olympian was greeted with a hero’s welcome upon her arrival by both her adoring parents, Nellie and Ronald Biles, and a crowd of people holding American flags.
“Houston, I’m home,” Biles wrote. “Thanks for making sure I didn’t have to wait one more minute to see my family @united”
The celebratory post came one day after Biles appeared on the Today show, and said she’s “keeping the door open” to competing in the Olympics again in the future.
After leaving Tokyo on Tuesday, the 24-year-old gymnast spoke with Today’s Hoda Kotb about her possible plans for the years to come.
After withdrawing from four competitions due to mental health struggles that affected her ability to safely perform her routines, Biles said she was so “happy” to be able to “get back out there and do one more routine” on the balance beam, for which she won the bronze medal.
“It just felt really amazing. I’m proud of myself for the way I pushed up and even learned that dismount that I haven’t done up in years and just put up a good set,” she explained. “That’s all I really wanted, I wasn’t expecting to walk away with a medal or anything. I just wanted to go out there, do it for myself and I did.”
“I think I have to relish and take this Olympics in and kind of recognize what I’ve done with my career. Because after 2016, I didn’t get to do that,” she added. “Yeah, keeping the door open.”
Apart from her bronze, Biles also left Tokyo with a silver medal for the team event, making her a seven-time Olympic medalist.
