American gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of the Olympic team final on Tuesday, leaving in the middle of the competition after struggling to land a vault.
“After the performance that I did, I didn’t want to go into any of the other events second guessing myself, so I thought it was better if I took a step back and let these girls go out there and do the job and they did just that,” Biles said.
She said she has been trying to cope with the stress of competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I was still struggling with some things,” Biles said of competing Tuesday night.
“Therapy has helped a lot as well as medicine. That’s all been going really well. Whenever you get in high-stress situations, you kind of freak out and don’t know really know how to handle all of those emotions especially at the Olympic Games.”
For the final three events, Biles stood on the sideline in her warm-ups, cheering her teammates. With the U.S. women cutting into Russia’s lead on balance beam, she danced alongside Jordan Chiles.
Without her, the U.S. women did not have enough to match the Russians, who claimed gold by more than three points.
“I think tonight they get a gold medal from me in fighting cause they never gave up and they just showed the world what they’re capable of,” Biles said.
Afterward, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach came over and spoke with Biles.
Biles left the competition floor moments after she struggled to land a vault that is second nature for her. On the team’s first event, she shockingly bailed on an Amanar – one of her more difficult vaults – and just barely landed a one-and-a-half.
A visibly upset Biles talked with one of her personal coaches, Cecile Landi, and the team doctor, Marcia Faustin. Though she put on her grips to prepare for uneven bars next, she left the competition floor.
When she returned, she took off her grips and put on her warm-ups.
“This Olympic Games I wanted it to be for myself,” Biles said fighting back tears. “I came in and felt like I was still doing it for other people. That just hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people.”
Her departure meant the U.S. women relied on their three remaining gymnasts – Grace McCallum, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee.
In team finals, countries put up three gymnasts and count all three scores but have flexibility of who competes on each apparatus with four women on each team.
