Simone Biles is a four-time gold medalist of the Olympics. This year she pulls out of the women’s gymnastics team final mentioning that she needs to focus on her mental health and feel at peace. After the vault, she left the arena but later came back to show support to her teammates because they won silver after the Russian Olympic committee.
In her last game, before leaving, she scored 13.766 which is an all-time lowest in her Olympic career. According to her, after such a performance, she could not and did not want to continue any further.
She added, “I have to focus on my mental health. I just think mental health is more prevalent in sports right now. We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do. I don’t trust myself as much anymore. Maybe it’s getting older. There were a couple of days when everybody tweets you and you feel the weight of the world. We’re not just athletes. We’re people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back. I didn’t want to go out and do something stupid and get hurt. I feel like a lot of athletes speaking up has really helped. It’s so big, it’s the Olympic Games. At the end of the day, we don’t want to be carried out of there on a stretcher.”
Biles is one of the most successful gymnasts in US history. She has won gold medals and a bronze medal at Rio 2016. Moreover, she is a 30-time Olympic and World Championship medalist as well. Just four more podium finishes in Tokyo will make her the most decorated gymnast of history.
She managed to reach all five individual finals and it is still not confirmed whether she will participate in her next game on Thursday or not. On Thursday, she was supposed to compete in an attempt to become the first female to get the Olympic all-around title since 1968.
She has reached all five individual finals and is undecided on whether she will compete in her next event on Thursday when she will attempt to become the first woman to retain the Olympic all-around title since 1968. Upon asking her she said she has not decided yet whether she will be playing or not. She wants to take one step at a time.
United States Gymnastics team has been a favorite of many due to their brilliant performances. They also won Gold consecutive for five years. However, this year the team was beaten and ROC got the silver. Whereas Great Britain got the bronze. For now, Jordan Chiles replaced Biles to continue the games smoothly.
Now we wait for Thursday to find out whether Simone Biles joins or not. Mental health is an important aspect and should be given equal importance as physical health. Recently, athletes have started prioritizing mental health and breaks have become a common happening. According to them, sports need a relaxed and peaceful mind to focus and excel. Therefore, mental well-being is really important.
