sport news Simone Biles breaks down in tears discussing inability to do stunts she's done ...

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles broke down in tears in an emotional interview this morning as she discussed how dealing with 'the twisties' has meant she is no longer able to do stunts she has been doing 'forever.'

The 24-year-old has admitted that since the Tokyo Olympics  — where she dropped out of several events due to mental health concerns — she hasn't been able to go back to stunts that involve twisting in mid-air.

Still battling the twisties has made it difficult to watch her fellow gymnasts do twists on the Gold Over America Tour.

'To do something that I’ve done forever and just not be able to do it because of everything I’ve gone through is really crazy because I love this sport so much,' she told Today show host Hoda Kotb, blinking away tears.

'It’s hard. I’m sorry. And I don’t think people understand the magnitude of what I go through, but for so many years to go through everything that I’ve gone through having a front, I’m proud of myself.'

Biles said that she is doing 'a lot better' since the twisties took her out of Tokyo.

The condition is similar to the 'yips' in other sports, when athletes psych themselves out — but in gymnastatics, it can mean losing a feel for where the gymnasts is in the air, which can lead to catastrophic injury, or even death, if they land wrong.

Biles is currently on tour with teammates Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum, and she said it's difficult to watch them all doing twists in the air just as she had done for years — because now she can't do them. 

'[It] weighs so heavy and I watch the girls do it, and it's just not the same,' she said.

'And I'm happy I can be a leader for the survivors and bring courage to everybody speaking up, so I'm happy to be a voice for them. But we go trough our own things. It's hard.

'The twisting once I got back will come back, but I’m still scared of gymnastics,' she admitted.

'It does kind of suck because I worked really, really hard for that, and it's just hard.'

Biles also explained why she thought the faltered in that big moment in Tokyo, explaining that she had suppressed her feelings over her sexual assault at the hands of former team doctor and convicted sex offender Larry Nassar. 

In 2018, Nassar, 58, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for multiple sex crimes.

'Over the years, after supressing so many emotions and putting up a front a global scene, I think all of that came to light and my body and my mind allowed me to supress all of that stuff for so many years, for as long as it could take,' she said.

'And as soon as we stepped onto the Olympic scene, it just decided it couldn't do it anymore and it cracked, and that's what happens. 

'And that's why taking care of your mental well-being and mental health is so important, so that something like that doesn't happen. 

'And I'm grateful that it wasn't somebody else, and it was me, because I know I'm strong enough and I can get back on my feet and I'm gonna get back on my feet with the right help.'

She said that when she began experiencing the twisties and had to drop out of events, she had to resist the urge to blame herself. 

'In the moment, I tried to blame myself again, but I knew I couldn't put that blame on myself,' she said.