This was the most important question at the Tokyo Olympics. Will she or will she? Simone Biles, the greatest female gymnast ever, will we be able to see her compete on the largest stage? The world received its answer on Tuesday.Biles' eagerly awaited return to Ariake Gymnastics Center was well worth the wait. She performed a strong, but simplified version of her balance beam routine to earn 14.0 points, which was good enough for the bronze medal. This is behind Chinese gymnasts Guanchenchen who won the gold and Tang Xijing who took the silver.Biles competed at the Tokyo Summer Olympics for the first-time after she pulled out of five scheduled gymnastics events in order to focus on her mental health. Biles felt the pressures of Tokyo and needed to reset her mind before she could continue.Her performance was solid, impressive and classic Bilesconfident. The spectacular double twisting double flip she was named after, the dismount that Biles was missing, was not completed, but her performance was good enough to earn her 14.0 points. This placed Biles in second place with five other competitors. She held this position until the last gymnasts when she was pushed down to third.Biles posted on social media that she was experiencing the twisties since she pulled out of earlier events. This is a condition where gymnasts lose their sense of direction in the air and cannot control how their bodies twist or land. Biles' gravity-defying tumbling on the floor, her difficult vaults, and her dismount from uneven bars make her potentially dangerous. She decided to not compete in those events and instead chose to dismount on the beam.Learn more about the Tokyo OlympicsGet the Brief. Register to get the best stories right now. Enter valid email address. * Your request was unsuccessful and timed out. Please sign up again. Sign up now! An error occurred during your registration. Please try again later. If you don't wish to receive promotional emails from TIME, please check the box. You may unsubscribe at anytime. Signing up means you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policies. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy, Terms of Service and Terms of Service also apply. We are grateful! We have sent you a confirmation email for your security. To confirm your subscription, click the link and you will start receiving our newsletters. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive the confirmation in 10 minutes.Write to us at letters@time.com
