After a “decline in mental health” .. Biles concludes his participation with bronze at the Tokyo Olympics

American gymnastics star Simone Biles ended her incomplete participation in the Tokyo Olympics by winning bronze on the balance beam in gymnastics on Tuesday, while China’s Shenzhen Guoan took home gold.

Biles withdrew from full team competition after a jump due to “mental health” issues, speaking of “sprains,” but won silver with Team USA, before retiring from. four other competitions.

This is the second consecutive bronze medal in the same competition for Biles after Rio 2016.

After the competition, Biles said: “I was just happy that I was able to perform regardless of the result. I did it for myself and was proud to be able to compete again.”

“I was evaluated by the doctors here daily, then I had two sessions with sports psychologists who helped me, then I was allowed to compete on balance beam, which I never expected honestly not last night. another chance to compete for an olympic medal was good. “Because after five years of training and coming here I would have felt something was wrong if I hadn’t done Something.”

Biles scored 14,000 points, behind other Chinese, Shijing Tang, silver (14.233), while Guan (16) won gold with 14,633 points.

The American had mentioned “sprains”, which are positions that cause a loss of balance and perception of place in the air, a phenomenon known in the world of gymnastics and trampolines.

And about her choice to return to the beam competition instead of other competitions, she said: “I couldn’t participate physically without putting my health at risk because more sprains and I would always be. lost in the air and landing. I don’t have this problem on the beam. “

Biles, 24, shocked the world when she announced her retirement from full team competition on Tuesday, before continuing her withdrawals in the following days from ground moves, show jumping and competition complete in singles, who have won all of their gold medals in Rio. 2016, in addition to its withdrawal from the competition of different height models.

The four gold medalist in Rio arrived in the Japanese capital, aspiring to bring her total number of yellow metal medals at the Games to nine and equal Soviet Larisa Latynina’s record in women’s gymnastics.

But the 25 world championship medal holder, including 19 gold, will settle for silver and bronze, bringing her Olympic medal tally to 7, as questions hover over the next three years as to whether she will compete. in Paris 2024.

“Now I’m going to focus more on myself, but when we come back we’ll be touring the United States with the girls and I’m excited about that,” she said of the Paris Games. , adding: “I want to evaluate these Olympics first, it’s been going on for five years.”

Biles decided to prioritize his mental and physical well-being. “People have to realize that at the end of the day we are human and not just entertainment,” she said at a press conference. “There are things going on behind the scenes that people have no idea about.”

“I know some of us go through the same things and we are always told to move on and get through the ordeal, but now we’re a little older and we can kind of talk about ourselves,” he said. Biles said.