USA Gymnastics says Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the Olympic event finals in the vault and uneven bars. “Today, after further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars,” said USAG in a statement. “She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam.”
Biles, who continues to wrestle with mental health issues, had earlier withdrawn from the women’s all-around final on Thursday and the team final on Tuesday after a poor mark on her opening vault. The American arrived in Japan as one of the headline acts of the pandemic-postponed 2020 Games, shouldering an immense weight of expectation as she pursued a record-equalling nine career Olympic titles. But she withdrew from the team competition after a shaky opening vault, and her struggles mean she may be unable to add to the four gold medals she won at the 2016 Rio Games. The 24-year-old, however, might yet make an appearance at the Tokyo Games having not ruled herself out for floor exercise on Monday and beam on Tuesday. Biles said she was putting her mental health first when she withdrew from the gymnastics team event after one rotation.
The US women won silver there. She also decided not to compete in the all-around. American Sunisa Lee won gold in that event. The US federation said a decision on whether Biles, who will be replaced by Jade Carey, would compete in individual event finals would be taken following daily evaluation. After pulling out of the team event on Tuesday, in which she won a silver as a result of starting the final, Biles said she had to “do what’s right for me and focus on my mental health”.
