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‘This was one of, if not the scariest experience of my life,’ the Olympic gymnast wrote Saturday on Instagram
Amber Raiken in New York Saturday 06 June 2026 22:20 BST- Bookmark
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Simone Biles has revealed she’s in the midst of recovering after a recent health scare.
The Olympic gymnast, 29, posted a statement Saturday on her Instagram Story, alongside a picture of multiple hospital bracelets on her wrist. However, she did not disclose what landed her in the hospital.
“I’m not one to normally share things like this because I value privacy in today’s age. But almost dying wasn’t on my bingo card earlier this week,” she wrote.
“This was one of, if not the scariest experience of my life. Especially since Jonathan [Owens] was in Indy for practices,” she continued, referring to her husband’s preseason NFL training for the Indianapolis Colts.
Biles concluded: “I’ve been in bed resting this week, I’ll explain sooner or later, but s/o to my close circle who reached out, checked in, visited or sent flowers. Love y’all.”
open image in gallery‘I’m not one to normally share things like this because I value privacy in today’s age. But almost dying wasn’t on my bingo card earlier this week,’ Biles wrote on Instagram (@simonebiles / Instagram)
open image in galleryBiles called the recent health issue the ‘scariest experience’ of her life (Getty Images)“I’ll be here,” she captioned another picture of her bed, alongside a screenshot of a monitor that read her current resting heart rate, 126 beats per minute.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Biles for comment.
Biles has previously spoken out about navigating health conditions throughout her career. Last year, she recalled how competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won three gold medals and one silver, took a toll on her body.
“I went back to the village, took the elevator, and my body literally collapsed,” she told L'Equipe, the Associated Press’s French sports outlet, in April 2025. “I was sick for 10 days.”
“The other day, we were sprinting in the garden with friends,” she added. “I had aches and pains for three days.”
Biles withdrew from some of the finals events during the 2021 Summer Olympics after suffering from “twisties,” a condition in which athletes experience a loss of spatial awareness mid-air, leaving them at risk of injury when they land.
“It doesn’t feel comfortable, I have no idea where I am, but I’m twisting, praying I land on my feet,” she said of the condition on a 2024 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. “I felt like I was fighting my body and my mind to do these tricks.”
After she changed the difficulty of her rotation midair — correcting her body position to avoid an accident — there was speculation about what might have been causing her struggles. However, she insisted that she didn’t have a physical issue, adding, “No, no injury, thankfully. That’s why I took a step back, because I didn’t want to do something silly out there and get injured.”
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