Simone Biles has opened up about the constant pressure she's feeling at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Olympic Gold-winning artistic gymnast, 24, is shaking off her preliminary round errors and embracing a "fresh start" for the all-around and individual event finals.
On Monday, July 26, the five-time Olympic medalist reflected on her first day of gymnastics at the Summer Games in a post on Instagram.
"Prelims now to prepare for finals. It wasn't an easy day or my best but I got through it," she wrote, seemingly referencing the stumbles she made on the floor and vault in Tokyo on Sunday.
She went on: "I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn't affect me but damn sometimes it's hard hahaha! The Olympics is no joke!
"BUT I'm happy my family was able to be with me virtually, they mean the world to me!"
The athlete added a selfie of herself and a monitor in the background that showed her doting parents cheering her on from back home.
Naturally, Biles' candid post saw fans and fellow athletes rush to the comments section to voice support for the gymnast.
Track Olympian and fellow Athleta ambassador Allyson Felix, who wrote: "We are all so proud of you already! You are authentically enough. You got this."
In addition, gymnastics icon and NBC analyst Nastia Liukin shared a heartfelt post on her Instagram Story in support of Biles.
"I feel like at times, people forget that even the very best in the world are still human - with hearts, nerves, pain, stress, anxiety, pressure," wrote Liukin, who won more medals than any gymnast at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"So let's continue to spread our love and support to our athletes who are doing something SO difficult already, and then having to also handle the weight of an entire nation and world on their shoulders during a pandemic without fans. AND their number one supporters, their family."
On Sunday, the US team made uncharacteristically sloppy errors during the preliminary round at the Olympics.
Biles, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, and Grace McCallum came in second with a score of 170.562, while Russia leads with 1.067 points.
Speaking of the slow start, Biles said: "I feel we did a pretty good job. Obviously, there are little things we need to work on, so we'll go back and practice and work on that, just so we can do our best performance at team finals because that's what matters.
"We're really striving for a top three [finish]."
