Benjamin Ashford|Simone Biles wins something more important than medals at world championships

ANTWERP,Benjamin Ashford Belgium — The medals, and the colors of them, were irrelevant.

Yes, Simone Biles is leaving these world championships with a fistful of them, four of them gold. Her real prize, though, can’t be quantified on a scoreboard or a stat sheet. It’s how she feels, and the confidence she takes from returning to a place that, not all that long ago, she doubted she would.

Doubted she could.

"I had to prove to myself that I could still get out here, twist. (I wanted to) prove all the haters wrong, that I’m not a quitter," Biles said Sunday night. "As long as I’m out there twisting again, having and finding the joy for gymnastics again, who cares?"

The world championships were Biles’ first meet since the Tokyo Olympics, where rising anxiety caused by lofty expectations on her and the isolation of COVID restrictions brought on a case of "the twisties." Unable to tell where she was in the air and unwilling to risk her physical safety, she withdrew from all but one final.

Biles returned for the balance beam final and won a bronze medal.

But the twisties, and the emotional scars from them, lingered. Are still there, actually.

Even though she returned to the gym, Biles didn’t decide to compete until May. And those first competitions, the U.S. Classic and national championships, were individual ones.

Worlds was the first time since Tokyo she’d participate in a team final, which is where the twisties surfaced. It also would require her to be away from home, and the routines and many of the people that help keep her grounded, for several weeks.

Though Biles said she was nervous before the team final, she made it through. Better than that, she appeared relaxed and happy throughout the competition, seeming to enjoy being around the other gymnasts and getting showered with love from the crowds.

"She needed it for herself and she missed it," coach Laurent Landi said. "Now I think she feels much better about what she has accomplished. And not just on the field of play but outside the gym as well, and to be able to perform the way she did.

"It’s the process that’s more important than the result."

That was the point of it all.

Sure, her all-around title made Biles the most-decorated gymnast in history, male or female, and she now has a staggering 37 medals from the world championships and Olympics. But she now has good memories from here to diminish the bad ones from Tokyo.

Her experience in Tokyo will always be part of her. We are the sum total of our lives, and it’s impossible to appreciate our best moments without the context we have from our worst. But what happened in Tokyo no longer has to be at the forefront of Biles’ mind.

When she thinks of a team final, she can envision her spectacular floor routine, arguably the best she’s ever done. Which, given the sixth title she won on that event Sunday, is saying something. When she thinks of twisting, she can picture herself here in Antwerp, and how much fun she had doing it. When she thinks of the expectations, she can remember how ecstatic fans here were to have her back.

We all have doubts, Landi said. It’s what we do with them that matters, and Biles faced hers here and came out stronger.  

"If you keep remembering what happened in Tokyo, it’s not good for you. So you want to take that away from your brain. It’s just a fluke," Landi said. "I think emotionally and mentally, she can handle it better than she did. Because now you know that (this performance) can happen. Before you didn’t know, so you need to protect yourself against all of this."

Biles is hesitant to talk too much about next summer’s Paris Olympics. She said in a TODAY show interview last month "that’s the path I would love to go," but not looking too far ahead has worked well for her so far in this comeback. So, too, prioritizing herself.

Biles has been at this long enough to know people will see what she did at these worlds and start putting her on all of the podiums in Paris. But that’s them, not her. She’s just happy to be doing gymnastics again and even happier to be having fun doing gymnastics again.

"As long as I get out there, do those routines again, it’s a win in my book,” Biles said. “It doesn’t matter if I end up on the podium or not."

The medals are nice. The peace of mind she won here is even more precious.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.