The four-time Olympic champion exited the final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre after a less than impressive opening vault.
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The United States team won silver in women’s gymnastics after Simone Biles dramatically withdrew from the team final with a “medical issue” on Tuesday. As a result of which, her participation in the rest of the Tokyo Olympics was plunged into uncertainty. The four-time Olympic champion exited the final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre after a less than impressive opening vault. She then briefly left the competition floor before returning to join her teammates. However, the US team replaced her in the three concluding routines on the uneven bars, beam, and floor. In the end, the Russian Olympic Committee won gold and the British team won bronze.
Later, USA Gymnastics released a statement, saying Simone Biles is suffering from a “medical issue”, however, the statement did not elaborate on the details of the problem. The statement further added that she will face daily assessment to determine whether she can continue in the other events. “Simone has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue,” the statement said to AFP. “She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”
The four-time gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Games, Simone Biles, was expected to sweep the gymnastic medals in Tokyo as well. She qualified for all finals available to her, however, the American’s performance in preliminary rounds on Sunday had some uncharacteristic mistakes. Considering the way she dominated the Games five years ago in Rio, it was rather surprising to see those mistakes pop up in Biles’ performance.
Official statement: “Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue.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.”
Thinking of you, Simone! pic.twitter.com/QA1GYHwWTv
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 27, 2021
On Monday, the 24-year-old gymnast shared an interesting Instagram post, saying that she was feeling the pressure during Sunday’s qualifying. “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times,” Biles wrote. “I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but damn sometimes it’s hard… the Olympics is no joke!”
After the surprising turn of events on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see what other developments come out of it. Besides, it is also not clear whether Biles will be able to compete in the other events in Tokyo. If at all the American gymnastic superstar fails to continue in the ongoing Olympics, it would be a big blow to the player and the country as she was strongly expected to dominate the Games.
Coming into the Olympics, Simone Biles was bidding to become the first woman in more than half a century to retain the all-around title. Considering her form over the last few years, she also had a realistic chance of equalling Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina’s record of nine Olympic gold medals. But in order to match Latynina’s record, Biles will need to win a handsome number of medals in Tokyo.
Recently, Biles also said in a multi-part documentary series posted on Facebook that she had been troubled by a right ankle problem this year after landing awkwardly during training in May. “Right now, what we’re dealing with is I just have a lot of fluid built up in there,” Biles said during the episode. “There’s nothing we can do at this point. We don’t have time for rest, we don’t have time for shots and all of that stuff, so tape it is.”
