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28th Jul 2021

Simone Biles pulls out of all-around Olympics final due to mental health

Ellen Fitzpatrick

She’s looking after her mental health.

Simone Biles has decided to pull out of the women’s all-around gymnastics final after struggles with her mental health, feeling a lot of pressure to do well.

The US gymnast stopped competing in the women’s team event yesterday after only one rotation on the fault, initially thought to be an injury, but later said to be due to mental health.

The 24 year old was taken off for a medical examination, which resulted in saying she was not ready to get back out and compete yet.

While she has dropped out of these finals, the US gymnastics said that she may be returning for the four other finals she has coming up next week in individual events.

“After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition,” they said in a statement. “We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her wellbeing. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many.”

Jade Carey is set to take her spot in the team events, after coming ninth in qualifying.

Before pulling out of Thursday’s event, Simone fought back tears when speaking to media about Tuesday’s vault.

“After the performance, I did I just didn’t want to go on,” she said. “We are going to see about Thursday.”

“I’m just trying to gear up for the next test.”

Scoring the lowest with 13.766, the GOAT left the floor on Tuesday briefly with her trainer, before returning in a tracksuit and did not complete the rest of her rotations.

Simone was on her way to potentially win six gold medals after qualifying for every individual apparatus final, finishing on top of them all.

Confirming it was not a physical injury, Simone said she “just felt it would be a little bit better to take a back seat and work on my mindfulness.”

“No injury, thankfully. That’s why I took a step back because I didn’t want to do something silly out there. I thought it was best if these girls took over. I knew they would be okay,” she added.