gymnast Simone Biles betrayed by her mental cracks

Tokyo had everything to be the place of a new dedication for gymnastics superstar Simone Biles. On Wednesday, July 28, the American Federation announced that its athlete would not compete in the all-around at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday: After a medical evaluation, Simone Biles withdrew from the all-around final in order to focus on her mental health. “ This package had been floating for a few hours in the stifling air of the Japanese capital. She remains – for the moment – still qualified for four apparatus finals (beam, floor, bars, vault) next week.

The day before, the all-around team competition had barely started. And now, amazement struck the privileged people who attended one of the major events of the Games. American Simone Biles waves to her teammates. The gymnast has barely skipped a first vault – a twist and a half instead of a double and a half – and only obtained a score of 13.766 (against 15.183 in qualifying).

Icon announced of the Tokyo Olympics, Biles has an announcement for his team: she is withdrawing from the event! “I felt they were a little worried but they just needed reassurance, confided afterwards the champion. And look, they did it without me, and they’re Olympic silver medalists. ” Unbeaten since 2011, the United States team will not achieve an Olympic treble and it is the Russian gymnasts who return to the consecration.

But media attention is focused elsewhere than on the performance of athletes competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee, anti-doping sanction obliges. While the American staff evokes “A medical problem”, the 24 year old young woman is not hiding. Where more and more athletes dodge the press on the occasion of simple defeats, Simone Biles presents herself to journalists. Bluntly: “I didn’t want to risk a medal for the team because of my hiccups because my teammates worked too hard for that. ”

Read also Tokyo 2021 Olympics: American Simone Biles withdraws from team gymnastics competition to focus on her mental health

“We should be here for fun and we are not”

She refutes the slightest physical concern: “No injury, fortunately. That’s why I took a step back. I didn’t want to do something stupid there and hurt myself. Then add: “It’s been a long week, a long Olympic process, a long year. We should be here for fun and sometimes we are not. ” Aftermath of a year hit by Covid-19 and its cohort of constraints, until this permanent closed session in Tokyo?

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