A hungry Simone Biles had a simple request when she returned to Texas after a tumultuous two weeks at the Tokyo Olympics – she just wanted a good steak.
The 24-year-old gymnast was greeted by her family, French bulldog Rambo and a throng of adoring fans at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where she landed Thursday along with teammate Jordan Chiles, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Biles exclaimed: “We wanna have some steaks!”
The all-around champion from the Rio Games pulled out of the competition in Japan to focus on her mental health explaining that she suffered from the “twisties,” which cause a gymnast to lose a sense of where they are in the air and often leads to dangerous landings.
After cheering her teammates, who won a silver in the team final, Biles decided to take part in the balance beam competition and picked up a bronze medal.
“These girls are all gymnasts, they all love her,” said Lesley Brousseau-Barton, whose 11-year-old daughter trains at World Champions Centre, which is run by the Biles family, the newspaper reported.
“All these girls have, at some point, faced mental blocks — they suddenly lose track of where they are in the air or on the ground, and they’ll come home in tears,” she added. “For her to stand up for her own health means so much to them.”
Biles did not stop to talk to the media but KHOU caught up with her sister, Rachel.
“Very, very emotional. Good to have her back,” Rachel told the station.
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A young gymnast who was there for the occasion said: “We miss her, but we’re really proud that for she put her mental health before her gymnastics.”
