Update: Simone Biles Pulls Out of Tokyo Olympics Gymnastics Team Final Due to Stress

Peter Verry
·3 min read
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Update: July 27, 2021 at 11:45 a.m. ET

Hours after exiting the gymnastics team final at the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles addressed the media over an apparent injury suffered during competition. The athlete confirmed that she was not actually injured, and she exited due to stress.

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“It’s been really stressful this Olympic Games,” Biles said addressing the media.

She continued, “It’s been a long week, it’s been a long Olympic process, it’s been a long year, so just a lot of different variables and I think we’re just a little bit too stressed out, but we should be out here having fun and sometimes that’s not the case.”

In a subsequent question, Biles addressed specifically the moments today prior to competition that were particularly overwhelming.

“Today has been really stressful. We had a workout this morning, it went OK, and then just that five and a half hour wait I was just shaking, I could barely nap,” she said. “I’ve just never felt like this going into a competition before. I tried to go out there and have fun and warm up in the back to feel a little bit better, but when I came out here I was like, ‘No, the mental is not there, I just need to let the girls do it and focus on myself.'”

What We Originally Reported

Simone Biles has reportedly pulled out of the gymnastics team final at the Tokyo Olympics.

According to an NBC report, the decorated athlete competed in the first rotation on vault, and was then spotted walking off the floor with a trainer. In the second rotation, Biles was scheduled to compete on uneven bars but was subbed out for teammate Jordan Chiles.

Biles, according to the report, would later return to the arena to watch her teammates compete from the sideline in her warmups.

A subsequent report from ESPN appeared to confirm she suffered an injury. According to the report, she suffered the apparent injury after landing awkwardly during the vault event. It further stated Biles, upon returning to the arena, had her right leg wrapped.

USA Gymnastics would later confirm she suffered an injury via Twitter. “Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions,” a statement read.

Biles is a two-time Olympian who has racked up five medals during her career, including four gold and one bronze.

With the 24-year-old athlete out, Team USA will be forced to compete for its third straight Olympic team title, having earned the gold medal in 2012 and 2016.

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