Simone Biles Says She Was 'Relieved' Not to Have the Twisties During Gymnastics Team Final: 'Phew'

After having to bow out of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Simone Biles took home a gold medal alongside her teammates in Paris

It’s been a long road back to the top for Simone Biles — and it wasn't until she finished her vault routine during the Paris Olympics women’s team final on Tuesday that she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Biles, 27, was forced to bow out of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago when she was struck with the dreaded twisties. But as she competed once more in Paris, she was happy to find that the debilitating phenomenon was behind her. As a result, she and her teammates took home a gold medal in the women's team final.

“At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy this morning, so that was super exciting. I told her I was feeling calm and ready and that’s kind of exactly what happened,” she told reporters, including PEOPLE, at a press conference after winning gold. “After I finished vault, I was relieved. I was like, ‘Phew,’ because [there were] no flashbacks or anything.”

She continued, "I did feel a lot of relief, and as soon as I landed vault, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m definitely — we’re going to do this.' "

Related: Simone Biles Is Now the Most Decorated U.S. Gymnast in Olympic History After Team Final Win

Teammate Jordan Chiles was also relieved to watch the five-time gold medalist nail her routine, and told reporters she was thinking similar thoughts.

“I was like, ‘Hallelujah, no flashbacks, no nothing,' " she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay, all she needs to do is do her normal.’ … She’s the greatest of all greats, so I think it was kind of like, ‘Okay we’re about to really do this.' "

“Flashbacks,” of course, referred to the twisties, a phenomenon in which a mental block prevents a gymnast from being able to safely land highly-technical flips.

Chellsie Memmel, USA gymnastics technical lead, told reporters after the event that Biles’ comeback “speaks volumes of her strength.”

"We all knew she could do it, like that wasn't ever a question in my mind that she could do it and it continues to just solidify her place as the greatest gymnast of all time,” she said.

Related: Biles Is Back! Team USA Wins Gold at Olympics Gymnastics Team Finals as Simone Biles Dominates

In the first episode of her new Netflix documentary, Simone Biles Rising, the star athlete recalls everything feeling “silent, almost like death” after she “got lost” in the middle of a warmup vault during the Tokyo Olympics, thus setting her on a disaster course.

“If I could have ran out of that stadium, I would have,” she says in the doc. “But I was like, ‘Keep it cool, calm, collected, don’t freak anybody out.’ Let’s go over and be like, ‘We’re done here.' "

During a “Let’s Chat” Q&A on her Instagram Stories last year, Biles explained that she took more than a year off in order to work on herself both mentally and physically.

“I was petrified. But I’m fine,” she said. “I’m twisting again. No worries. All is good.”

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