Simone Biles won't elaborate. This is partly intentional. Some of it is her inability.
When she's at her best, as Sunday night when she won her record seventh U.S. title, the gymnast feels like she's in a "fever dream." It's not automatic. The vibe is more. It flows.
In those moments, her daily doubts fade, a decade into an unprecedented run of excellence.
No thinking. Don't overthink. No “ Twisties.” It all fades away. Coach Laurent Landi deems it a skill. Biles, 26, won't go that far. Perhaps she doesn't want to.
Too long, she was lost in her brain. Her goal is to avoid it this time.
She smiled midway through a floor routine that stopped practically every other competitor and earned a standing ovation from a segment of the sellout SAP Center crowd. She can't explain.
At 10, she was a youthful prodigy who doesn't recall much from her rise to the top of her sport. She was always thinking ahead. Championships worldwide. A team camps. Olympic Games.
As a 26-year-old newlywed, she wants to enjoy it. Really. Six months ago, she wasn't sure. She returned to competition in Chicago three weeks ago feeling like she would "throw up" as she saluted the judges.