(Reuters) – 4-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles earned Time journal’s “Athlete of the 12 months” honour, the publication mentioned on Thursday.

The 24-year-old gymnast traveled to the Tokyo Video games this 12 months with the intent of rewriting the recordbooks however as an alternative led to a groundbreaking, international dialog round athletes’ psychological well-being.

She dropped out of the opening occasion in Tokyo, citing considerations for her psychological well being and a case of the “twisties,” a daunting and harmful type of psychological disorientation whereas finishing certainly one of her gravity-defying feats.

She later returned to the competitors, successful a bronze medal on the stability beam after incomes the help of her fellow athletes in gymnastics and past.

“It confirmed us that we’re greater than the game, that we’re human beings who can also have days which can be laborious,” her teammate, Sunisa Lee, instructed Time. “It actually humanized us.”