Simone Biles is back — as good as or even better than ever

Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, overcomes mental health struggles to secure Olympic gold in Paris.

Simone Biles, with two Paris Olympics gold medals and counting, has cemented her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time — an athlete who transcends her sport in both triumph and defeat.

The diminutive dynamo dazzled at the 2016 Rio Games, winning gold in all-around, vault, floor exercise and team events.

She arrived at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics with superstar billing and history in her sights, but withdrew from most of events as she struggled with the disorienting and “petrifying” mental block that gymnasts call the “twisties”.

Hailed by many as a mental health trailblazer but criticised by a few as a quitter, Biles has returned from a two-year hiatus, at the age of 27, as good as or even better than ever.

She has laid the ghosts of Tokyo to rest, leading the United States to a resounding team gold in Paris and following up by becoming, at 27, the oldest woman in 72 years to win Olympic all-around gold.

Biles shook off a disastrous uneven bars routine that had her trailing at the halfway point to edge Brazilian Rebeca Andrade for all-around gold on Thursday.

She is the third woman to capture more than one Olympic all-around title and the first to do so in non-consecutive Olympics.