Simone Biles Opens Up About Wearing Masks and Getting Vaccinated on Instagram

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles opened up a conversation about unpopular opinions with a prompt on her Instagram story Monday. Some of the contributions her fans offered up were funny—"avocados are not that good" and "The letter 'Q' is unnecessary and should be removed from the alphabet"—but others focused on the importance of masking up and getting vaccinated to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"The vaccine not being FDA approved isn't a good enough excuse to not get it," one follower submitted. Biles responded, "facts were just spoken." In another slide in her story, she answered another IG user, who said: "everyone should have a choice to get the vaccine BUT then wear a mask when asked to." Biles replied: "this. yes this…like if you don't want to get the vaccine at least respect when people ask you to wear a mask. Like go halfsies w/ them."

Biles, who bravely sat out of multiple events at the Tokyo Olympics citing mental health concerns, also acknowledged the importance of mental health in comparison to physical health. "Mental health is just as important if not more than physical," a follower commented. "ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PERCENT," Biles wrote.

Last week, Biles shared a photo of the Olympic rings on Instagram, updating her followers about how she felt at the end of the Tokyo Olympics. "Not at all how I imagined or dreamed my second Olympics would go but blessed to represent the USA. I'll forever cherish this unique Olympic experience. Thanks everyone for the endless love and support. I'm truly grateful," she wrote in the caption. She also acknowledged her accomplishments in the post, writing, "leaving Tokyo with 2 more Olympic medals to add to my collection isn't too shabby! 7 time Olympic medalist."