“Inspired by their persistence,” Nastia Liukin says Simone Biles’ 2020 mental breakdown has been an ‘eye-opening’ incident for athletes worldwide

Nastia Liukin says Simone Biles backing out at the Olympics pointed out the importance of mental health care in the sports competitive world.

“Inspired by their persistence,” Nastia Liukin says Simone Biles’ 2020 mental breakdown has been an ‘eye-opening’ incident for athletes worldwide

Simone Biles and Nastia Liukin [Image Credit: Imago/IMDb]

5x Olympian Nastia Liukin recently spoke with Forbes Caroline Price where the athlete talked about the importance of mental health in the competitive space. While talking of gymnastics and mental health one cannot help but recall one of the most decorated athletes of all time and the 4x gold medalist.

Simone Biles backing out from the Tokyo 2020 Games became a major signal which circled around the topic of mental health in sports. After suffering from twisties, the 27-year-old took a whole year off from competing in any official matches. She even stopped going to the gym regularly until last year.

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Despite all the hardships, she still rose to the world stage with a brilliant performance at the Olympic Trials. Liukin talks about how fans put athletes on a “pedestal” and she wants them to see the person behind their records and medals. She wishes people to understand that athletes are also a regular human who undergoes hardships, question themselves, experience heartbreak, and do everything that a normal human does.

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It’s all “real life moments” that shape up an athlete and sometimes expectations place a heavy burden on their mental health. Recalling her 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials she noted,

When I fell at trials and fell on my face...I fell on my face literally, but everybody will fall on their face...figuratively or literally. It's about how you keep going and how you pick yourself up.
Nastia Liukin as per Caroline Price of Forbes.

She says the Simone Biles incident was an “eye-opening” situation where both players and fans started to understand the mental toll it takes to be an Olympian. She admits that it’s hard to transition oneself from being an athlete to a non-athlete, as Liukin “never envisioned life without (gymnastics).”

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Nastia Liukin excited to see Hezly Rivera’s performance at Olympics

While the mental stress from the Olympics can’t be totally wiped clean, the athlete says she’s excited to see Hezly Rivera on the grand stage. Furthermore, Rivera is coached by Liukin’s parents Valeri and Anna, who are former gymnasts. 

Nastia Liukin and Hezly Rivera [Image Credit: Architectural Design/Paris 2024 Olympics]
Nastia Liukin and Hezly Rivera [Image Credit: Architectural Design/Paris 2024 Olympics]

Rivera clinched her first Olympic berth with outstanding performance at the Trials. Although Nastia Liukin won’t be participating herself, seeing Hezly Rivera participate is a “full circle moment” for the Liukin family. She believes the young athlete will get accustomed to the norms as soon as she’s got good seniors on the team.

Apart from Rivera, Biles, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, and Jade Carey are part of the five-member team from the U.S. Speaking about the 2020 Tokyo members back at the Paris Olympics, Liukin mentioned, “I’m so inspired by their persistent and their hard work…and all the obstacles that they’ve had to go through.”

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