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Simone Biles Withdraws From Women’s Gymnastics Team Finals

Simone Biles

TOKYO, JAPAN – JULY 27: Simone Biles of Team United States looks on during the Women’s Team Final on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on July 27, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

In shocking news, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the women’s gymnastics team event, according to CNN. This followed her performance on the vault. The New York Times reports that she "bailed out" of the vault she had planned to do, which was a move with 2½ twists; she did 1½ twists instead, and then stumbled on the landing. Her score of 13.766 points was extremely low for Biles, as she is widely regarded as the best vaulter in the world. As the Times notes, she can land skills so difficult and daring that no other woman even trains to do them. They add that without Biles’s usual high score on the vault, the United States finished the first of four events already more than a point behind Russia.

She withdrew from the women's team final after she needed to be attended to by the trainer. She came back with a heavily strapped foot, but did not warm up for uneven bars. Jordan Chiles was warming up in her place. The official USA Gymnastics Twitter account said "Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions."

USA's Women's/Men's Olympic Gymnastics Team

Brian has been working in pop culture and media for about three decades: he’s worked at MTV, VH1, SiriusXM, CBS and Loudwire. Besides working as a writer and an editor-in-chief, he’s also appeared on air as a pundit, guested on radio shows and hosted podcasts. Over the years, he’s interviewed the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, the members of U2, Beyonce, Pink, Usher, Stevie Nicks, Lorde… and is grateful to have had the chance to interview Joe Strummer of the Clash and Tom Petty.