Taylor Swift praises Team USA gymnast Simone Biles

Taylor Swift has praised Team USA gymnast Simone Biles, after the latter responded to a promo Swift narrated for NBC’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning. It can be a heavy burden. It can be a chance to change everything,” Swift says in the video over footage of Biles competing, Swift’s ‘Folklore’ track ‘This Is Me Trying’ playing underneath.

“Throughout the last week, her voice has been as significant as her talents, her honesty as beautiful as the perfection that had long been her signature. But don’t you see? It still is. She’s perfectly human, and that’s what makes it so easy to call her a hero.”

After withdrawing from the competition last week to focus on her mental health, earning praise for her honesty and vulnerability. Biles returned to the arena earlier this week for the individual balance beam final, winning bronze.

She went on to explain she primarily withdrew from competition due to experiencing what’s known as “the twisties”, a psychological phenomenon where a gymnast loses air awareness while performing twisting elements. Biles also later revealed that her aunt had unexpectedly passed away two days before the beam event final.

“I’m crying,” Biles wrote on Twitter, retweeting the video. “How special. I love you @taylorswift13.”

“I cried watching YOU,” Swift responded. “I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you.”

Swift has narrated numerous promo spots for NBC’s coverage of this year’s Olympic Games. Last week she voiced one celebrating Biles’ teammates Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey, soundtracked by the title track from her album ‘Evermore’.

Meanwhile, frequent Swift producer Jack Antonoff recently said he’d witnessed the singer-songwriter “change the music industry first-hand”.

Speaking to NME as part of last week’s Big Read interview, Antonoff said, “She’s amazing for being a champion, and making things better for the generations to come.”

“She has a long history of rightly exposing some real darkness in the music industry. And I’m personally thankful for it, outside of our friendship and working relationship, just as an artist. She’s asked me some questions a lot of people are afraid to ask.”

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