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TOKYO – Gymnastics superstar and defending Olympic champion Simone Biles withdrew from Thursday’s all-around at the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental well-being.
The decision comes a day after Biles retired from the team final after a rotation, on vault. She cited her sanity as the reason when she spoke to the media after the competition.
“After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics Final All-Around in order to focus on her mental health,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement Wednesday evening. “We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and salute her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, once again, why she is a role model for so many.”
Biles had been the strong favorite to repeat as the all-around individual champion. But her status was questioned after Tuesday’s exit, and she told media she was not sure she could compete on Thursday.
Jade Carey, who finished ninth in qualifying, will replace Biles in the all-around. Carey did not qualify initially as she was the third American behind Biles and Sunisa Lee. The rules of the International Gymnastics Federation limit countries to two athletes per event in the final.
USA Gymnastics said Biles will be evaluated before deciding whether to compete in individual events next week. Biles qualified for the finals on all four apparatus, which she didn’t even do in her five medals in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The vault and floor exercises – the first two individual events – are scheduled for Sunday. Biles won gold in both events in Rio in 2016.
Biles, 24, has come to Tokyo arguably as the face of the Games following the retirement of swimmer Michael Phelps and sprinter Usain Bolt. She dominated qualifying on Sunday despite accumulating mandatory deductions on vault, floor and beam following unstable outings.
She posted on social media on Monday that she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. The weight became too heavy after the jump in the team finals. She got lost in the air and completed 1 1/2 turns instead of 2 1/2. She saw US team doctor Marcia Faustin before leaving the playing field.
Upon her return, she took off her bar grips, hugged teammates Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum and Jordan Chiles, and transformed into the team’s chief cheerleader as the United States won. the money behind the Russian Olympic Committee.
“Once I got here (to compete) I was like, ‘No mind, not there, so I just have to let the girls do it and focus on myself,'” Biles said after the show. medal ceremony.
The decision opens the door wide to the all-around competition, a title that has long been considered won in advance. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil was second behind Biles in qualifying, followed by Lee and Russians Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova. The four were separated by three tenths of a point on Sunday.
Carey now finds herself in the final, closing a remarkable run for the 21-year-old from Phoenix. She spent two years traveling the world with the goal of accumulating enough points on the World Cup circuit to earn an individual nominative spot, meaning she would compete in the Olympics but technically not be part of the US team of four women.
Carey had the second-best score on vault and the third-best on floor in qualifying, earning trips to the event’s finals in the process. Now she finds herself competing for an all-around medal while replacing the athlete considered the greatest of all time in the sport.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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