Simone Biles further cemented herself as arguably the greatest athlete of all time during the 2024 Paris Olympics, but as the games wind down, a nagging calf injury continued to plague her to the point where she recently wore a walking boot.
Biles, who won three gold medals during the Summer Games, appeared on NBC’s Today and told host Hoda Kotb that she was wearing the boot after her floor exercise on Monday for ‘precautionary’ reasons.
‘We’re resting up as much as possible,’ Biles said on the TV show on Tuesday. ‘We have tour in a couple weeks. So, I’m just going to rest and heal.’
Biles and other gymnasts are scheduled to participate in the ‘Gold Over America Tour,’ which performs in 30 arenas across the U.S.
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Why is Simone Biles wearing a boot?
The 27-year-old Olympian tweaked her calf during floor exercise warmups on July 28.
NBC’s Mike Tirico spoke to Biles, who was wearing a boot on her left foot, on Monday.
“Calf is good. It’s just precautionary, making sure, because we still have tour after this to heal up and all of that stuff. So, just a little bit of soreness,’ Biles said when Tirico questioned her about the boot.
“I feel like elite athletes are pretty tough, so we’re just, through pain or pleasure, we’re ready for whatever,” Biles told Tirico as footage of her fall was replayed on screens in the arena. “So mainly, what you’re seeing here is, I was just trying to over-rotate for good measure, and I did just that and almost knocked (coach) Laurent (Landi) on out. But it was good.”
‘Stop asking athletes what’s next’
Biles has not committed to participating in the next Olympic games, but she did share an X post on Sunday advising the media to ‘stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.’
‘Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for,’ Biles said in a subsequent X post.