Simone Biles withdraws from artistic gymnastics women's team final at Olympics
Defending U.S. Olympic champion Simone Biles withdrew from the women's artistic team all-around gymnastics final in Tokyo on Tuesday.
According to a statement from USA Gymnastics, the 24-year-old gold medallist and most successful gymnast of all time has withdrawn "due to a medical issue," and "will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions."
In addition, Biles told the BBC, "I'm just dealing with things internally that will get fixed in the next couple of days."
You May Also Like
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
On the fourth day of the Tokyo Olympics, Biles had started the competition final alongside her teammates on Tuesday at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, but left the arena after her run on the vault. Biles, who had planned to perform a highly difficult Yurchenko pike with two and a half twists (going further than her history-making version at the U.S. Classic), scored 13.766 on the apparatus, a rare low score for the expert vaulter and the lowest she's scored on the vault at an Olympic event.
Biles' withdrawal from the team event was confirmed by USA Gymnastics and event start lists were updated, with gymnast Jordan Chiles replacing Biles alongside teammates Grace McCallum and Sunisa Lee. Biles later rejoined the arena to cheer on her teammates performing their routines and told the Associated Press why she didn't feel it was in her or her team's best interest to continue competing.
"I didn't want to go into any of the other events second-guessing myself," Biles said. "So, I thought it would be better if I took a step back and let these girls go out there and do their job."
Team USA went on to win silver at the event, with the Russian Olympic Committee team winning gold, Great Britain taking bronze.
According to BBC Sport, Biles is due to compete next on Thursday, as she has qualified to perform in all five individual gymnastics finals and defend her title. A two-time Olympian at the Tokyo and Rio Olympics, Biles currently has six Olympic medals (four gold, one silver, one bronze).
Biles has recently posted about feeling pressure at the Tokyo Olympics, writing in an Instagram caption on Monday, "I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn't affect me but damn sometimes it's hard."
According to the New York Times, Biles grappled with the pressure of being the greatest gymnast in history and had been "fighting all of those demons," on Tuesday.
"At the end of the day, I have to do what was right for me,” Biles told the Times, "It just sucks that it happened at the Olympic Games."
In another interview with the New York Times earlier this week, Biles also opened up about the "unreal" wear and tear the sport has had on her body and identified her time off as the happiest moment of her career.
Later on Tuesday, Biles tweeted a simple message.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
UPDATE: July 27, 2021, 11:50 a.m. EDT This post was updated with additional comments from Simone Biles.
UPDATE: July 27, 2021, 5:42 p.m. BST Simone Biles' tweet was added.
Topics Olympics
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
