Simone Biles Shares New Hairstyle After Tokyo Olympics

Simone Biles is looking great with a new hairstyle after making her way home from the Tokyo Olympics. The summer games were a different experience than the four-time Olympic gold medalist had initially imagined, as a case of the “twisties” prompted her to withdraw from the team all-around finals and four out of five individual event finals in order to prioritize her safety and mental health.

Biles looked happy to be home relaxing with her family and boyfriend Jonathan Owens over the weekend, sharing on Instagram a mini photoshoot with her new long braids and a cute tie-dye bikini. The athlete, widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, stuck her tongue out for the camera in one of the photos she captioned, “Sweet like candy.”

Biles’ followers couldn’t get enough of her new ‘do, with one person commenting, “It’s the braids for me sis,” and another chiming in, “Your hair is amazing!!!! Beautiful inside and out!” A third commented, “We love to see a queen smiling and living life!” The Olympian first debuted her braids Friday while attending open practices with her NFL player boyfriend. “Open practices aka bring your girlfriend to work day,” she quipped in the caption with her man.

Biles still managed to win silver and bronze medals at the Tokyo Games after suffering a significant setback mentally in her first event, the vault. Owens told reporters he could tell something had happened when he saw her perform on television, as per ESPN. “I was sick for her, just because I can see her face, I kind of know her facial expressions, I can kind of read her lips and kind of know what was going on and kind of what she was telling her coach,” he said. “I kind of already knew what was going on beforehand, so I was just really hoping she was going to get over it and be able to go out there and perform. So I was sick to my stomach because she wasn’t able to go out there.”

Owens continued that despite also being an athlete, it was “hard” for him to understand what his girlfriend was going through at that moment in terms of pressure “because I’m not on that stage.” He added, “But I just try to be as understanding as possible.”