Simone Biles Withdraws From Olympic Gymnastics Team Final
Simone Biles shocked the world Tuesday as she made the tough decision to pull out of the women’s gymnastics team final.
After making remarks on social media about the stress and pressure she felt while competing at the Olympics in Tokyo, she told reporters that the reason for her withdrawal was not from an injury but that she was “dealing with a few things.”
Biles said, “No injury, thankfully, and that’s why I took a step back because I didn’t want to do something silly out there and get injured,” she said via Olympics.com. So I thought it was best that these girls took over and did the rest of the job, which they absolutely did — they’re Olympic silver medalists. They should be really proud of themselves for how well they did.”
Biles had the chance to compete in the individual all-around that takes place later this week but has decided to withdraw.
“It’s been a really stressful Olympic Games as a whole; not having an audience — there are a lot of different variables going into it [the Games],” she said. “It’s been a long week; it’s been a long Olympic process/year. I think we’re a little bit too stressed out. We should be out here having fun, and sometimes that’s not the case.”
While everyone won’t agree, personally, I admire Simone for taking her mental health into consideration and putting aside her pride for her teammates.
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in world championship history. She has 4 moves in gymnastics named after her, with one of them being the triple-double she threw in her floor routine.
I’d love to hear your thoughts because it seems like most of the country is divided over this decision by Simone. I think this is a discussion worth having. Let me know what you think in the comments.
