Simone Biles withdraws from Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health

Simone Biles will not participate in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around this week, U.S.A. Gymnastics announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The announcement came after she unexpectedly bowed out of the women’s gymnastics team final on Tuesday night at the Tokyo Olympics.

“After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health,” the statement said. “Simone will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals.”

Continued the statement, “Jade Carey, who had the ninth-highest score in qualifications, will participate in her place in the all-around.”

“We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many.”

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. She subsequently left the floor with the team’s medical trainer Marcia Faustin.

USA Gymnastics said in a statement Tuesday night that Biles had “withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue.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.

As far as her other events — the individual finals in vault, beam, uneven bars and floor, which start on Sunday — stated that she’s “going to take it day by day and we’re just going to see.”

Simone tweeted 6 hours ago stating “The outpouring of love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.”

Simone Biles will be evaluated daily to determine her participation in the rest of her scheduled events.

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