Why Simone Biles Was Worried Before Tokyo — and How She Won More Than Medals at the Games

Even before Team USA's plane landed in Tokyo, the people close to Simone Biles wondered how the star gymnast might be affected by the strange nature of these Olympic Games. The Ariake Gymnastics Centre, where the team would compete, would be devoid of fans and even family members, who were all banned from attending due to COVID-19 restrictions. Cheers would come only from teammates and the few staff and media allowed in.

"Simone is ready. She's physically, mentally ready. She's excited and she wants to do it," her coach Cecile Landi told PEOPLE on July 14, just hours before the team's flight to Tokyo on July. "But I'm a little bit worried about the no fans. We were hoping the Japanese public was allowed. Simone was hoping so too. That's the only thing we are a little worried about: how are you going to handle it when you walk in and there's nobody."

Biles's mother Nellie, who's never missed one of her daughter's competitions, told PEOPLE in this week's cover story that they shared a "tough" goodbye in Texas, knowing that for the first time she wouldn't be in the crowd waving to her daughter.

"She always knows where we are sitting, it doesn't matter the arena. If she's in a competition, she'll look and I'll wave and we make a connection," Nellie said before the Games began. "It's going to be different because she thrives on the noise. The more you cheer, the better she feels about herself."

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Simone Biles

Biles had prepared herself for the empty stadium, and after a year's delay due to COVID-19 — while still healing from the trauma she underwent as a survivor of convicted sex abuser and former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar — she was eager to wow the world at the Olympics with her gravity-defying signature skills and possibly become, at 24, the oldest female gymnast to win the all-around gold in 50 years.

"I'm looking forward to competing after the crazy year, the hard year we've all had," Biles told PEOPLE before the games. "I want to bring entertainment."

For more on Biles's Olympic journey, pick up this week's issue of People, available on newsstands Friday.

But just 10 days after arriving in Tokyo, as the team began qualifying rounds, it became clear to Biles that something wasn't right. She stumbled on her floor routine. That night, she wrote on Instagram: "I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times."

Days later, she couldn't execute on the vault and pulled herself out of the team competition, later explaining that she was suffering from the twisties — a lack of air awareness — and needed to focus on her mental health.

RELATED: Simone Biles Said She Got the 'Twisties' Before Her Gymnastics Exit — Here's What That Means

In that moment, Biles gave up her hopes of besting her four gold and one bronze medal count from Rio in 2016, but she became something more than an Olympic champion. In the stands, she was chief cheerleader for her team, which went on to win silver.

"I know how hard it is for her to stand on the sidelines because that's not who she is," teammate Grace McCallum told PEOPLE. "So having her cheering us on meant a lot."

(L-R) Simone Biles, MyKayla Skinner and Grace McCallum

And for millions around the world, she became a hero for standing up for herself — a skill she says she's worked on the past few years.

"The biggest part of my growth journey has been finding my own voice and speaking up for what I believe in," she told PEOPLE before the games.

RELATED: Timeline of Simone Biles' Tokyo Olympics: From Skipping Opening Ceremony to Exiting Her Event Finals

It took courage to step back and it took courage to return to compete on the balance beam, the one apparatus that she didn't win gold on in 2016.

"At the end of the day, we're not just entertainment," she told reporters after her bronze medal finish on the beam, "We're human."

To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.