Olympics

Simone Biles returns to Olympics for balance beam finals

Simone Biles is putting the “twisties” behind her — and jumping back into the Olympics gymnastics competition on the balance beam.

The 24-year-old, who pulled out of the meet last week to focus on her mental health, will compete in the balance beam finals Tuesday in Tokyo.

“We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow — Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.

The four-time gold winner and 2016 all-around champion in Rio de Janeiro won the bronze on the beam in Brazil and qualified for the eight-woman final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on the first weekend of the Tokyo Games.

Simone Biles on the balance beam during Olympic qualifications.
Simone Biles on the balance beam during Olympic qualifications.NurPhoto via Getty Images

Biles removed herself from the team final on July 27 after a shaky performance on vault during the first rotation.

In the first event of the team competition, she tried to perform an Amanar, one of the most difficult vaults being done by women, but fell out of the air one twist short.

She watched from the sidelines as her three US teammates completed the meet without her and took silver behind the team known as the Russian Olympic Committee.

The six-time Olympic medalist later said she was suffering from the “twisties,” which cause a gymnast to lose a sense of where they are in the air and often leads to dangerous landings.

Last week, she went into extensive detail about the condition, explaining that she lost the confidence of knowing what her body was going to do in midair.

“Honestly petrifying trying to do a skill but not having your mind & body in sync. 10/10 do not recommend,” Biles wrote Friday in an Instagram post.

“I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface,” she wrote. “Sometimes I can’t even fathom twisting. I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist.”

Biles, the face of the US Olympic movement when she arrived in Japan, qualified for all five individual event finals but pulled out of four of them — the all-around, vault, floor exercise and uneven bars.

She has been a fixture in the stands, where she yelled support for Lee, who won the coveted gold in the all-around, MyKayla Skinner and Jade Carey in the event finals.

Ending her second Olympics – and perhaps her career – on the beam is poetic justice of sorts for Biles, who won the bronze in the event in Rio despite grabbing the 4-inch piece of wood when she almost slipped mid-routine.

It was her fifth medal at the Games. She won the gold in the all-around, the team, vault and floor exercise.

Biles has said she’s most proud of her bronze from Brazil and has pushed back against those who called it a disappointment, using it as proof to the double standard she believes follows her whenever she competes.

Biles appearance on the beam can be seen starting at 4:50 a.m. Tuesday on NBCOlympics.com or the NBC sports app or recorded later Tuesday night on NBC, the network said.

With Post wires