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Simone Biles out of Team Gymnastics Final at 2021 Olympics Due to Medical Issue
July 27, 2021
Four-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles was ruled out for the remainder of the women's team competition Tuesday at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Al Butler of United Press International reported a Team USA coach told the NBC broadcast that Biles' removal from the competition was not injury-related, rather it was a "mental issue."
USA Gymnastics later released a statement regarding Biles' status:
USA Gymnastics @USAGymOfficial statement: "Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue.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."<br><br>Thinking of you, Simone! <a href="https://t.co/QA1GYHwWTv">pic.twitter.com/QA1GYHwWTv</a>
The Tokyo 2020 Twitter account tweeted a photo of Biles stumbling on one of her vault attempts, after which she exited the team event:
#Tokyo2020 @Tokyo2020Reports are stating that Simone Biles is being attended to by a trainer and has left the field of play at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SimoneBiles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SimoneBiles</a> has not warmed up for the uneven bars, USA's second apparatus and reserve Jordan Chiles has.<br><br>More to come.. <a href="https://t.co/dGyacVsVQO">pic.twitter.com/dGyacVsVQO</a>
Per NBCOlympics.com, Biles was replaced by reserve Jordan Chiles during the uneven bars event.
The International Gymnastics Federation tweeted a photo of Biles and Chiles after the switch was made official:
Although Biles was removed from the team competition, she remained on the sidelines and cheered on her teammates, per Nancy Armour of USA Today.
Nick McCarvel @NickMcCarvel*THIS* is a team player.<br><br>Truly <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StrongerTogether?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StrongerTogether</a> support by Simone Biles for her team tonight<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> (📸 Getty) <a href="https://t.co/wWqdYnuRq2">pic.twitter.com/wWqdYnuRq2</a>
Sporting News @sportingnewsSimone Biles was pulled out of the women's gymnastics team final, but remained on the floor to cheer on her <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamUSA</a> teammates.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SimoneBiles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SimoneBiles</a> <a href="https://t.co/Jn2ulH5PAN">pic.twitter.com/Jn2ulH5PAN</a>
Biles, 24, is arguably the greatest female gymnast of all time, having won gold in the team, all-around, vault and floor exercise, and bronze in the balance beam at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
She has also won an astonishing 19 gold medals at the world championships, including five in the all-around and four in the team event.
At the Tokyo Games, Biles qualified for each of the six finals in the all-around, team, vault, floor exercise, balance beam and uneven bars.
Despite qualifying for every event and putting herself in position to potentially win six medals, Biles made some uncharacteristic missteps during qualification.
Due in large part to Biles not achieving her normal averages, Team USA finished second to the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in team qualifying by 1.067 points.
While the point totals in team qualification were inconsequential in terms of medal placement, it was still a shocking result given Team USA's dominance in the team event in recent years.
Team USA has won gold in the women's team event at each of the past two Olympics and each of the past five world championships, and they entered Tokyo as heavy favorites to make it three Olympics golds in a row.
With Biles out for the rest of the team competition, Team USA's chances of beating ROC for gold took a significant hit.
Biles pulling out of the team event also calls into question her availability for the all-around, vault, floor exercise, balance beam and uneven bars finals, although no announcement has been made regarding that.
Should Biles remain in the individual all-around field, she is favored to win gold again, and could become the second woman in Olympic history to win the all-around at back-to-back Olympics, joining Czechoslovakia's Vera Caslavska in 1964 and 1968.