AP Photo/Ashley Landis
- Simone Biles says she is "leaving the door" open for an Olympic return at Paris 2024.
- Biles was widely expected to retire for good after Tokyo given her advanced age of 24.
- The seven-time medalist has had a tumultuous Olympics beset by performance and mental health issues.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Simone Biles has refused to rule out the possibility she may compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 24-year-old told TODAY that she was "leaving the door open" for a return.
"I think I have to relish and take this Olympics in, and kind of recognize what I've done with my career because after 2016, I didn't get to do that.
"Life just happens so quickly and now I have a greater appreciation for life after everything that's happened in the last five years," she said.
Biles was widely expected to call time on her illustrious career after Tokyo. At 24, she is already considered old for an elite gymnast, and by the time the Paris Games arrive, she will be 27.
The Tokyo Games did not go to plan for Biles to say the least.
Considered the greatest gymnast of all time, she made headlines when she withdrew from the women's gymnastics team all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics.
She cited mental health problems as the reason for her withdrawal which also saw her miss the individual all-around, the vault, floor exercise and uneven bar events. Biles eventually returned to win bronze in the balance beam.
Speaking to TODAY's Hoda Kotb, she said: "It definitely feels better than Rio's bronze medal on beam but it also shows that I did it for myself.
"I was just excited to compete in the Olympics again because at the beginning I just thought it was over.
"It ended on a high, so I'm very grateful, thankful for that. But I still feel like we go back home and there's still a lot of things I need to work on internally and mentally to kind of feel like I had success here"