Simone Biles Withdraws From Women’s Team Final Due To Mental Health Issues

Simone Biles has withdrawn from the Women’s Gymnastics Team Final taking place on Tuesday, July 27.

USA Gymnastics released the following statement. “Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.” Biles was last seen leaving the floor with the team trainer before the announcement was made.

As the United States chased their third straight gold medal, Biles left the floor before returning minutes later in warm-ups and unprepared to continue competing. However, Biles was seen hugging and passionately supporting her teammates.

Biles competed in the opening rotation in the vault, where the performance did not go as planned and points were deducted after she struggled to land a Yurchenko 1.5 twist. The dismount catapulted Biles forward on her landing which saw the U.S. fall behind Russia in points.

Biles was expected to compete in the uneven bars during the second rotation but was replaced by Jordan Chiles. 

The Russian Olympic Committee outscored the United States in qualifying, making the ROC the first team to beat the U.S. in a major international competition in 11 years. The U.S. team seemed to lack the ability to compete with the ROC without the incredible performances from Biles.

Despite the historic loss for the U.S., Biles was proud of her teammates. “I think tonight they get a gold medal from me in fighting cause they never gave up and they just showed the world what they’re capable of,” she said.

Updates to Biles’ situation and the reason behind pulling out of the competition are contrary to the USA Gymnastics’ original statement. Biles was struggling to cope with the stress of competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“After the performance that I did, I didn’t want to go into any of the other events second guessing myself, so I thought it was better if I took a step back and let these girls go out there and do the job and they did just that,” Biles said.

Biles continued her discussion about the difficulties of competing at the highest level. “Therapy has helped a lot as well as medicine. That’s all been going really well. Whenever you get in high-stress situations, you kind of freak out and don’t know really know how to handle all of those emotions especially at the Olympic Games.”

Article by Gabriel Mangiafico