Olympic gymnast Simone Biles said that her partners and sponsors became family during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“My partners have been one of the most amazing aspects about quarantine,” Biles said. “They never gave up; they were always checking in to see how my mental health – and just how I was doing as an athlete and most importantly, as a person, to make sure I’m still keeping my spirits up high.”
Biles explained that before the pandemic hit, it was hard to maintain a close relationship with her partners and sponsors because of her busy schedule. During quarantine, they used Zoom to check in on each other and keep each other updated on the status of the Tokyo Olympics.
“We tried to do some quarantine Zoom calls, just to check in, see how we’re doing, what the status was on the games, and all of that,” Biles said. “It was just so sweet to know that they’re not just partners, they’ve become family at that point and that was just so special to me… Getting to know them on that level because before, I was just so busy, so obviously you check in occasionally, but to have them really be in the know and be family, it was awesome.”
