Thank you, Simone 🥇❤️

The very first thing Simone Biles said after making her third Olympic gymnastics team ? She credited her weekly therapy sessions.

"Being in a good mental spot, seeing my therapist every Thursday is kind of religious for me, so that's why I'm here today," Biles said after she won the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials .

I really felt that in my bones . I immediately made a joke in my work group chat that Simone and I are the same because I also go to therapy on Thursdays, just one necessary component in my mental health maintenance routine. Of course, one of us is the greatest gymnast of all time and the other of us is pecking these words out in the wee hours like one of those cat typing gifs.

But Biles being so open about her mental health journey after the Tokyo Olympics has been really meaningful and inspirational. Not just to me personally, but to so many other Team USA athletes. At a summit this spring, many of them shared some of the hardest aspects of dealing with their own mental health issues, of having to find themselves and happiness outside of their sports.

We wouldn't be having those conversations if Simone didn’t do what she did three years ago. But it didn’t stop there. She continued to talk about it, including turning to the younger gymnasts behind her and offering her sage guidance.

"I've been in their exact same spot, I know exactly how they're feeling and if I can be a mentor and a guide, then that's what I'm gonna do to lighten the load,” Biles said Sunday night.

Jordan Chiles , who is headed to her second Olympics, thanked Biles after trials for her mentorship and support. But I think any of us who cope with our own mental health or support a loved one who does should thank Simone for kicking the door open to have these conversations. So, thank you for being vulnerable and giving us so much more than you already have.

My favorite things from Sunday night:

• Jordan Chiles shouting out Megan Thee Stallion by using her signature “AH!” ad lib in an interview on NBC. "And Megan, I’m going to the, AH, Olympics!”
• Suni Lee choked up in her first interview after making the team. Lee, who endured a long health journey that started after she developed a kidney disease, didn’t think she would ever make it back to this point. It was a really moving reminder about what it means to fight and reach your dreams .
• Simone Biles is 27 years old but is somehow getting better with age and is now the oldest female American gymnast to make the Olympics since the 1950s. Biles joked she used to call former teammate Aly Raisman grandma, but that she now has that role.
• At the highest point of her floor routine, Biles was 12 feet — basically two humans stacked atop each other — in the air. What!

Questions? Story idea? Curious about something? Shoot me an email at rbowers@gannett.com or follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @rachelgbowers .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thank you, Simone 🥇❤️