Topline
Star U.S. gymnast Simone Biles said she opted not to take part in the Olympic team gymnastics final Tuesday to focus on her mental health, telling reporters she feared she would injure herself because she wasn’t in the right headspace to perform the risky gymnastics moves in her routine.
Simone Biles competes in the Women's Floor Exercise Qualification during day three of the 2018 FIG ... [+]
Key Facts
“I have to focus on my mental health,” Biles told reporters at a press conference Tuesday, just hours after she pulled out of the finals, adding that she didn’t trust herself to do dangerous stunts in her current state of mind.
“I didn’t want to go out and do something stupid and get hurt,” Biles said. “You have to be there 100%, or 120%, or you’re going to hurt yourself,” adding that she didn’t want to be carried out of the Olympic stadium “on a stretcher.”
Biles, who posted to Instagram Monday about feeling an enormous amount of pressure at this year’s Olympics, said athletes “have to protect our minds and our bodies, and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do.”
What we don’t Know
If Biles will compete in the individual women’s gymnastics all-around final, slated for Thursday. "We’re going to take it a day at a time and see what happens,” Biles told reporters. “I’m just trying to gear up for the next test.”
Tangent
Biles’ decision to speak up about her mental health on Instagram Wednesday has been met with support from other gymnasts. Former U.S. Olympic gymnast Nastia Luikin wrote on Biles’ Instagram post that she’s “proud of you, always.” Biles’ former USA Gymnastic teammate Aly Raisman wrote on Twitter, “Olympic athletes are human and they’re doing the best they can. It’s REALLY hard to peak at the right moment and do the routine of your life under such pressure. Really hard.”
Key Background:
A USA Gymnastic statement released Tuesday said Biles pulled out of her remaining events in the final over “a medical issue,” after Biles suddenly left the competition floor after stumbling during first her apparatus on the vault, a Yurchenko vault, one of the riskiest moves in the sport. Biles remained on the sidelines to cheer her teammates on as they competed. The U.S. Olympic team won the silver medal, and Russia took home the gold.
Further Reading
Simone Biles Pulls Out Of Gymnastics Team Finals As Team USA Loses Gold To Russia (Forbes)
