August 2024. Day 2 of the Paris Olympics. There was a celebrity mash-up in the Bercy Arena. Why? Well, to watch Simone Biles’ big comeback during the qualification rounds in Paris. From Tom Cruise to Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Ariana Grande, and a whole panel of Hollywood A-listers were present, all to watch Simone. Well, that says it all! Simone Biles is not just any athlete. She’s a celebrity. And what she did at the mat that night, inspired so many. Including a 3x Olympic champion, who became a Biles fan right after that outing. Now who is that?
Right before the qualification round, a terrifying incident had taken place. During her floor warm-up routine, Simone Biles “felt a little something in her calf.” The niggle left her crawling and limping off the mat. But she still showed up for the Women’s Subdivision 2 qualifications and ended up securing the first spot on the team for Team USA. Why? Well, she revealed in her Netflix documentary, “I couldn’t have people tell me I was a quitter again.” She couldn’t have repeated the aftermath that happened in Tokyo after she withdrew citing her ‘twisties.’ So what now?
Well, all taped up and ready to go, Simone Biles showed on the mat and led Team USA to a first qualification spot. That’s it. That’s what inspired freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud beyond words. On March 20, Mathilde told Olympics.com, “Her [Simone Biles’] whole story is inspiring.” Gremaud then cited this one incident that she couldn’t take her mind off of: “After Paris, she revealed that she competed with an injury in her calf, which was really bad and hurting. But she said she could not have anyone say that she was a quitter again after what people said at Tokyo 2020.” Gremaud sees this as nothing short of extraordinary.
After getting to know all of this, Mathilde Gremaud, the woman who won a record 3 crystal globes in 2024 said, “One moment for her made me think a lot about everything I have gone through.” And that night, watching Simone Biles’ perseverance in tapping her foot but not stepping off was that moment. Mathilde then said, “It really made me think of so many things, including times I’ve tried to prove myself. It made me reflect a lot.”
Well, Mathilde is going through an identical pattern as Biles’ qualification as we speak. Months before the upcoming World Championships in April, she ended up injuring herself during free skiing. But she still showed up in the second round of qualifying on this Wednesday. Looks like she is tearing a page from Simone Biles’ book.
Not just this, there is much more that the skier can actually relate with Simone Biles. A key aspect is their mental health battles. Yes, Simone Biles went through a dark space after she withdrew from the team finals in Tokyo. The internet was filled with hate and accusations of her quitting her team. That’s when Biles sparked a global talk about the importance of mental health in sports. And in Paris, she put that into practice and set an example that inspired many like Mathilde. Even Biles agreed, “After all these years of putting the mental work in, it’s paid off.”
Mathilde fought her mental health demons just like Simone Biles. In January 2025, Mathilde Gremaud decided to take a break from the sport. The 25-year-old said she needed time to figure out who she was outside of the sport. She said, “I’ve been doing this for eight years and that’s a lot. I realized that if I wanted to keep doing it, I had to take care of myself- the person outside of the skier.”
Well, this is not the first time. Gremaud has allowed herself to take breaks from competitions to prioritise her mental health in the past. 3 years ago, after the Laax open, she did the same. Gremaud had fallen into a mental hole at the Olympic Games in Beijing (2022) after winning bronze in the Big Air.
The skier was worn out by the end of the season. Yet she obliged (too) many sponsor appointments and other commitments – “because I used to find it hard to say no“, she said. That came with a price. The hard way, her body and mind made her pay attention to her inner balance. No wonder she was shocked when Simone Biles kept going despite her calf niggle. She said, “I thought that was crazy because I feel like as hard as athletes work on their mental health, there is always stuff that will hurt the, or push them.” But at the end of the day, all she sees in Biles’ heroic act is strength!
