The Tokyo Olympics have been a nightmare for fans of the biggest American teams and personalities.
ON Tuesday, the biggest star wearing red, white and blue was the biggest story, but not because she was standing on a medal stand after winning another gold medal.
No, Simone Biles, who is in Japan trying to solidify her standing as the greatest woman’s gymnast of all time, had to quit the gymnastics team final competition after her first apparatus.
The world’s greatest gymnast had to morph into the biggest cheerleader for her teammates, because she shockingly backed out.
Here’s the official word from USA Gymnastics after it happened.
“Simone has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”
So, with Biles out of the competition, the Russian Olympic Committee team won the gold medal, with the United States finishing second, more than three points behind.
There was no drama in the actual competition, as ROC dominated.
Valiant effort for the U.S. women, who fought hard without their star performer, and all eyes were on Biles after the competition during her press conference, as the world wanted to know what was wrong. Biles told reporters she wanted to focus on her well being. Here’s some highlights.
“There is more to life than just gymnastics and it is very unfortunate that it has to happen at this stage, because I definitely wanted this Olympics to go a little better, but again take it one day at a time. We’re going to see how the rest goes.”
“I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a backseat. Work on my mindfulness. I knew the girls would do a great job, and I didn’t want to risk a team medal for my screw-ups. I took a step back, because I didn’t want to do something silly out there…It’s been really stressful this Olympic Games.”
“I was just shaking, could barely nap. I just never get like this going into a competition before. I tried to go out here and have fun and warm-ups in the back went a little better. But once I came out here, I was like ‘No, mental’s not there’ so I just need to let the girls do it and focus on myself.”
The coach for Biles told NBC that she is fine physically, and should be ready for the all-around individual competition on Thursday.
We’ll see.
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