Simone Biles Withdraws From Women’s Gymnastics Team Finals

In shocking news, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the women’s gymnastics team event, according to CNN.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 The official USA Gymnastics Twitter account said "Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue.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."