Olympic gymnast Jade Carey has opened up about her own battle with the “twisties,” a mental block that can cause a disconnect between a gymnast’s brain and body.
“It’s something a lot of us go through,” Carey shared in an interview with Elle published Wednesday, July 17.
“A few years ago, I was learning all of these harder elite tumbling passes, and I started to confuse the two harder passes that I was learning. So it resulted in me not knowing where I was in the air and getting really confused,” she explained. “It’s frustrating, because you can see yourself do it in your head, and you know you know how to do it, because you’ve done it before, but your body is not allowing you to.”
Carey isn’t the only gymnast who has struggled with the twisties. Fellow gold medalist Simone Biles made the shocking decision to take herself out of the team final at the 2016 Rio Olympics after falling while trying to land her vault. Biles, who previously swept the gymnastics competitions, later explained that she didn’t have a physical injury but was instead struggling with the mental aspect of competing for gold and had lost the sense of her positioning in the air.
Simone Biles Through the Years: From Gymnastics GOAT to Blushing Bride
“I didn’t have a bad performance & quit,” Biles noted at the time. “I’ve had plenty of bad performances throughout my career and finished the competition. I simply got so lost [that] my safety was at risk as well as a team medal. Therefore the girls stepped up and killed the rest of the competition & won silver 
QUEENS!!!!”
The unexpected situation proved exactly “why we have 4 team members,” Biles said. “I also have no idea how I landed on my feet on that vault because if you look at the pictures & my eyes you can see how confused I am as to where I am in the air.”
As for how Carey deals with the twisties, the Olympic gymnast said, “I always handled those situations by taking a step back, going back to the basics, building it back up again, or going into the pit until you feel really 100 percent confident.” She added, “It is frustrating to have to go backwards, but it is part of this sport.”
Meet the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Before the 2024 Paris Olympics
This year, Carey and Biles will be repping Team USA alongside fellow Olympians Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, and traveling alternates Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson.
The 2024 Summer Olympics kick off in Paris on Friday, July 26.
