Simone Biles is withdrawing from the event finals for the vault and uneven bars at the Tokyo Olympics.
USA Gymnastics released a statement Saturday morning in Tokyo. “Today, after further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars. She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam. We remain in awe of Simone, who continues to handle this situation with courage and grace, and all of the athletes who have stepped up during these unexpected circumstances.“
American MyKayla Skinner will replace Biles on the vault while France’s Melanie de Jesus dos Santos will fill her spot for the uneven bars.
On her IG stories, Simone Biles responds to people who think she “quit” on her team by explaining the “the twisties” she’s been experiencing and what it feels like “not having your mind and body in sync” …. pic.twitter.com/79hN973rkd
— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) July 30, 2021
On Tuesday, Biles — citing mental health concerns — opted to pull out of the gymnastics team final, withdrawing after faltering in her vault routine. Jordan Chiles took Biles’s place on uneven bars and balance beam, and Suni Lee replaced her on the floor routine.
Team USA ended up taking the silver and the Russian Olympic Committee clinched gold. In the all-around competition, Lee won the gold on Thursday.
During a news conference after the team final, Biles said she needed to “focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.” She later withdrew from the individual all-around final and was replaced by teammate Jade Carey.
USA Gymnastics said at the time that Biles would “continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals.”
The 24-year-old athlete and four-time Olympic Gold winner qualified for all four individual event finals — floor exercise, balance beam, parallel bars and vault. USA Gymnastics had said that Biles could only be replaced in one of the four events — the individual vault final — by teammate MyKayla Skinner.
The finals will start Sunday and continue through Tuesday.
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