By Alexander Wilson-
Olympic athlete, Simone Biles, made an emotional return home , met by supporting crowds after her tumultuous appearance at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 24-year-old flew into Houston on Thursday and was welcomed at the airport by crowds of supporters and relatives, including parents Ronald and Nellie and her sister Rachel.
Biles wrote on Instagram: “Houston, I’m home. Thanks for making sure I didn’t have to wait one more minute to see my family @united.”
After leaving the airport Biles headed to her nearby home town of Spring in a convertible, cheered on by numerous fans who lined the road holding placards of support.
Her homecoming followed the controversy that followed her participation at the games appearance at the games, which included psychological counselling, after she initially withdrew cited mental health issues.
Biles was criticised heavily by Piers Morgan for citing mental health problems as her reason for pulling out of the olympics- a criticism that was supported by many members of the public.
Biles also revealed her paternal aunt had died suddenly during the first week of the games- an indication this may have contributed to the mental health issues she was referring to.
She had arrived with the expectation of equalling or even surpassing her historic quadruple gold medal haul from Rio in 2016.
She cited experiencing “the twisties” – a phenomenon which temporarily affects an athlete’s spatial awareness.
Daily medical evaluations and two sessions with a sports psychologist within the US team led to Biles being effectively withdrawn from her finals until she was cleared for beam, theoretically the least risky of the apparatus and one which can be performed with the minimum impact on spatial elements.
was thus an emotional moment as Biles was embraced by parents Ronald and Nellie.
Her sister, Rachel was also at the airport to greet the gymnast, and described the reunion as “very, very emotional”.
She added, to Houston TV station KHOU-11, that it was “good to have her back”.
Biles’ boyfriend, NFL player Jonathan Owens, currently at Houston Texans’ training camp told reporters he did all he could to make her feel positive.
He said: “She was kind of in a funk when everything wasn’t going right,” Owens said to reporters at the Texans’ camp. “When you’re used to everything going right for so long, and all of a sudden you kind of hit a hiccup in your performance, you kind of get down on yourself, kind of lose confidence. And that was kind of one of the things I was trying to make sure … keep her positive.
“It was hard for me to really understand what she was going through because I’m not on that stage and dealing with those pressures and everything, but I just try to be as understanding as possible.
The American made her return to add a second Olympic bronze medal on the balance beam.
Owens said that he was “proud” of Biles for returning to compete and become the joint most decorated American female gymnast in Olympic history.
“I was so proud of her,” Owens said. “Just to be able to overcome mentally what was going on. She kind of altered her beam routine, but I was just happy for her.”
She took a bronze medal in the beam, to go with her silver from the team com