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Biles says she decided to withdraw from team event to focus on mental health

Simone Biles
Tokyo Olympics Artistic Gymnastics
Tokyo Olympics Artistic Gymnastics
Posted at 4:44 AM, Jul 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-27 23:00:19-04

TOKYO — Simone Biles dropped out of the gymnastics team competition Tuesday citing a need to focus on her mental health.

"No injury, thankfully, and that's why I took a step back because I didn't want to do something silly out there and get injured," Biles said. "I thought it was best that these girls took over and did the rest of the job, which they absolutely did. They're Olympic silver medalists now."

Biles explained that she was shaking hours before the event.

"I've just never felt like this going into a competition before," she said.

"It's been really stressful, this Olympic games," Biles added. "I think we're just a little bit too stressed out, but we should be out here having fun, and sometimes that's not the case."

It's not clear whether Biles will compete in her next event, Thursday's all-around finals. She said she will take it "a day at a time."

Biles' status for the four-event finals is also in question.

The U.S. women's gymnastics team, which included Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, and Grace McCallum, won the silver medal in the team competition Tuesday.