Simone Biles, the American gymnast, five time world winner of the all-around; withdrew from the women’s gymnastics team final on Tuesday as she wants to focus on her mental health issues. She’s the biggest star at the Tokyo Olympics and the greatest athlete in the sport’s history. But indeed is all of this pressure with the demands of being one of the most famous athletes in the world; which made her struggle. To be added the challenge of being stuck in a Covid secure bubble.
Why Simone Biles took the decision to withdrew the all-around final
Simone Biles is twenty four years old is considered the greatest gymnastic of all times. While she soars through the air, her skills flow in an effortless rhythm that makes the extraordinary seem simple. As she just qualified for four finals at the Tokyo Olympics she will consider her participation on a day-by-day basis. For now she withdrew from the final individual all-around competition.
She looked shaken after she flipped, twisted and bailed out on the vault, unable to perform the skill she intended which often dominated. Biles performed a Yurchenko with 2½ twists, watering it down to 1½ twists and then stumbling on the landing. Totalizing a score of 13.766 points which is extremely low for Simone.
This made her rise doubts about her mental health, making her take the decision to pull out from the team at the Tokyo Olympics.
The pressure of being the greatest gymnastic of all times
As soon as she ended the exhibition she exited with the medical staff and said she realized she wasn’t in “the right head space.” Returning to the competition floor, she hugged her three teammates prior announcing her withdrew. The team earned a silver medal, placing second to the ROC team.
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To participate in her place in the all-around will be Jade Carey, who had the ninth highest score in qualifications.
Biles explanatory words are:
I know that this Olympic Games, I wanted it to be for myself, I came here, and I felt like I was still doing it for other people. So that just hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people. We’re going to take it a day at a time and we’ll see what happens.
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Biles, the best vaulter in the whole world, said this week that she felt the “weight of the world on her shoulders”. Her ability to land skills so difficult and daring that no other woman even trains to do; rise her own personal standards so high which lead to high expectancies. As soon as they are not accomplished the mental fall is immediate; obviously aided by the whole covid situation which wasn’t easy for anyone; even more for athletes which were unable to properly train and which are now living in a bubble of strict restrictions.