Simone Biles compared her Tokyo Olympic struggles to suddenly going blind and still being expected to go to work

• Simone Biles compared her struggles at the Tokyo Olympics were like waking up one day and being blind.
• She said: "You wake up, you can't see shit, but people tell you to go on. You'd be lost, wouldn't you?"
• Biles was forced to withdraw from events after suffering from a mental block known as the "twisties."
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Simone Biles compared her struggles at the Tokyo Olympics to waking up one day and suddenly finding that you are blind.

The most decorated gymnast of all time was forced to withdraw from some events at this summer's games after suffering from a mental block known as the "twisties."

Biles was criticized for her decision to drop out with Piers Morgan calling the athlete "gutless and cowardly."

But Biles has hit back, explaining that she woke up one morning and had "lost it" – referring to the onset of the "twisties," which prevents gymnasts from knowing where they are in the air while performing aerial moves.

Biles then compared the affliction to waking up one day and finding out that you're blind, but still being expected to do your job.

"Say up until you're 30 years old, you have your complete eyesight," she said in an interview with The Cut.

"One morning, you wake up, you can't see shit, but people tell you to go on and do your daily job as if you still have your eyesight. You'd be lost, wouldn't you?

"That's the only thing I can relate it to. I have been doing gymnastics for 18 years. I woke up - lost it. How am I supposed to go on with my day?"

After missing most of her individual events, Biles returned to compete in the balance beam, earning a bronze to go along with a silver she won as part of the team event.

In her interview with The Cut, Biles also said she saw a therapist in the build up to the Olympics and was convinced she felt mentally strong, but admitted that she struggled with the impact of COVID on the games.

"[The therapist] was like, 'Yes, you're good enough to go and do your stuff, but you have to come back.' And I was like, 'Nah, I'm good.'"

"There was no crowd, no parents," she said of the Olympics.

"I was not physically capable. Every avenue we tried, my body was like, 'Simone, chill. Sit down. We're not doing it.' And I've never experienced that."