Biles' sponsors including Athleta and Visa are lauding her decision to put her mental health first and withdraw from the gymnastics team competition during the Olympics. Photo / AP
Biles' sponsors including Athleta and Visa are lauding her decision to put her mental health first and withdraw from the gymnastics team competition during the Olympics. Photo / AP
US gymnast Simone Biles has withdrawn from the finals for two of the four individual women's gymnastic events at the Tokyo Olympics, the vault and the uneven bars.
A statement from USA Gymnastics says Biles continues to be evaluated daily to determine whether she'll compete in the finals for floorexercise and balance beam.
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. pic.twitter.com/kWqgZJK4LJ
The Olympian said she was putting her mental health first when she withdrew from the gymnastics team event after one rotation. The US women's team won silver there.
Biles also decided not to compete in the all-around. American Sunisa Lee won gold in that event.
MyKayla Skinner, who had the fourth-highest score in vault during qualifications, will compete in vault finals for the US alongside Jade Carey, who finished with the second highest score. Biles was the defending Olympic champion in the vault.
Biles this week explained, in a series of Instagram posts, why she had to withdraw, explaining the phenomenon of "twisties" and how dangerous it can be for gymnastics when they lose track of their position mid-air.
