After one device is over. US star Simone Biles cancels the team competition in Tokyo. First the “medical reason” is puzzled before Biles talks about mental problems. The Russian gymnasts win team gold.
Late that evening in Tokyo, Simone Biles couldn’t hold back her tears. The four-time Olympic champion was comforted by her teammates again and again when she talked about the reasons for her withdrawal from the gymnasts team final, which surprised the sporting world. “I have to focus on my mental health. We have to protect my body and mind,” she said. Before that, the star gymnast had only watched as the US athletes took silver behind the overjoyed Russians.
“It’s just annoying when you fight with your own head,” said 24-year-old Biles, triggering a wave of sympathy on social media. Those who take part in the Olympics, she said, are “not just athletes, at the end of the day we are human”.
First the “R”, then the end for Simone Biles
Biles had already abandoned her competition after the jump and was replaced by a substitute gymnast. The Russian squad was too strong for the US team, taking gold with 169.528 points. The USA (166.096) missed the third successive Olympic victory. Great Britain took third place with 164,096 points.
Russian gymnasts last won team gold with the Commonwealth of Independent States in Barcelona in 1992. The German gymnasts were only spectators in the final, which Elisabeth Seitz, Kim Bui (both Stuttgart), Sarah Voss (Cologne) and Pauline Schäfer (Chemnitz) had missed as ninth in the elimination with 161.162 points. Five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, the German squad took sixth place.
The focus was on Biles. The 24-year-old had previously received an unusually low rating of 13.766 points for her jump. She then left the hall with the American team doctor, to which she returned a short time later with a bandage on her right leg. From then on she was listed with an “R” for reserve in the start lists, and shortly afterwards the World Gymnastics Federation confirmed the end of the team final.
On the second device, the uneven bars, Biles was replaced by Jordan Chiles, who was listed as a substitute on the start list. The exceptional gymnast should actually compete on all four machines. The US federation later announced that Biles had withdrawn “for a medical reason”. “It will be examined daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions,” it said.
“I also feel like I’m not enjoying that much anymore.”
During the press conference, when she looked a little more composed, Biles said she wasn’t hurt. Your start in the all-around final on Thursday is open. “Tomorrow we have something like a little break from training, it’s nice to have a day of rest for your head,” she said and went on to talk about the difficult topic of possible mental problems. She no longer trusts herself the way she once did, she said. She doesn’t know if it’s age, but she gets more nervous when she does gymnastics: “I also have the feeling that I’m not so happy anymore.”
Already in the qualification last Sunday, Biles had not been able to meet the expectations placed in them. However, despite numerous blunders, she was the best of the four-way battle between floor, balance beam, jump and uneven bars.
On Monday, she complained about the enormous pressure on Instagram. “It wasn’t an easy day or my best, but I got through it. I truly feel like I have the burden of the world on my shoulders right now. I know I brush it off and make it look like the pressure isn’t going.” Affect me, but damn it, it’s tough sometimes hahaha. Olympics ain’t no joke, “she wrote.
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