Photo: Simone Biles/Instagram
Simone Biles, who is widely considered the greatest athlete of all time in gymnastics, has three events left in the Tokyo Olympics. On Wednesday, USA Gymnastics announced that Biles will not participate in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around Thursday.
Speaking with reporters, Biles said she was “okay, just dealing with some things internally which will get fixed out in the next couple of days,” and clarified that her decision to withdraw was related to protecting her mental health, not an injury.
Simone Biles at the team event.
Thursday, July 29: Women’s all-around finals
The day before Biles was set to compete, USA Gymnastics said, “Jade Carey, who had the ninth-highest score in qualifications, will participate in [Biles'] place in the all-around.”
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Sunday, Aug. 1: Vault and uneven bars
One day before the vault final, USA Gymnastics announced that Biles would no longer be competing. “Today, after further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars. She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam,” the organization’s statement read. “MyKayla Skinner, who had the fourth-highest score in vault during qualifications, will compete in vault finals for the U.S. alongside Jade Carey, who finished with the second-highest score.”
During the women’s team final, Biles exited her first event following a botched vault routine. Dropping her planned Amanar vault, she opted for an easier 1.5 twist, for which she posted a 13.766, the lowest vault score of her Olympics career.
Also on Sunday is the uneven bars final, for which Biles had also qualified for. Bars is Biles' least favorite event, but her teammate Sunisa Lee is one of the most dominant gymnasts on the apparatus and is known as the bars specialist. Lee’s bars routine during Tuesday’s team final helped the U.S. after Biles' exit from the competition.
Monday, Aug. 2: Floor
Day 2 of the individual event finals is only the floor exercise. Biles is the reigning Olympic champion on the floor as well.
Simone Biles.
Tuesday, Aug. 3: Balance beam
Tuesday is the final day of gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics — and some have speculated could also be the final Olympic competition of Biles' career. The 24-year-old won bronze and missed out on the gold in Rio.
On Tuesday evening, USA Gymnastics told PEOPLE in a statement that Biles had “withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”
Biles later told reporters that she exited for her mental health, and that she’s “okay, just dealing with some things internally which will get fixed out in the next couple of days.” She added that she worried her stress would negatively impact her performance and her team’s chances to medal.
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
source: people.com
