Simone Biles.
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Welcome to Tokyo
simone biles/instagram
The Olympics came on the heels of Biles' making some uncharacteristic errors on the balance beam at trials in St. Louis on June 27. Despite a few wobbles, Biles still finished in first place.
Upon arrival, the women’s gymnastics squad, including teammates Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum as well as individual specialists Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner, was taken to training camp from July 15-18 in Juntendo, nearly 40 miles outside of Tokyo.
02of 15Podium TrainingLOIC VENANCE/GettyWhile most athletes had lodging at the Olympic Village, both the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams opted to stay at a hotel near their competition venue, Tokyo’s Ariake Gymnastics Center.On July 22, during their official practice session days ahead of prelims, Bilessuccessfully executed her riskiest stunt— the Yurchenko double pike on vault. The dangerous move consists of a round-off onto the springboard, back handspring onto the vaulting table, and a second flip done in the pike position. (By adding flips instead of twists, the chances of landing on your head or neck increase drastically.)Biles first debuted the Yurchenko double pike vault in competition at the U.S. Classic in May.
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Podium Training
LOIC VENANCE/Getty
While most athletes had lodging at the Olympic Village, both the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams opted to stay at a hotel near their competition venue, Tokyo’s Ariake Gymnastics Center.
On July 22, during their official practice session days ahead of prelims, Bilessuccessfully executed her riskiest stunt— the Yurchenko double pike on vault. The dangerous move consists of a round-off onto the springboard, back handspring onto the vaulting table, and a second flip done in the pike position. (By adding flips instead of twists, the chances of landing on your head or neck increase drastically.)
Biles first debuted the Yurchenko double pike vault in competition at the U.S. Classic in May.
03of 15Missing the Opening CeremonySimone Biles and Team USA.Simone Biles InstagramThe six ladies skipped the opening ceremony on July 23, as seen on the athletes' social media posts.At the time, Biles explained to fans that theymissed the opening ceremonydue to “COVID” and the “amount of standing.“In addition, a gymnastics official told PEOPLE: “The men’s and women’s artistic gymnasts did not walk. They will be competing within the next couple of days and are focused on preparation.”
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Missing the Opening Ceremony
Simone Biles and Team USA.Simone Biles Instagram
The six ladies skipped the opening ceremony on July 23, as seen on the athletes' social media posts.
At the time, Biles explained to fans that theymissed the opening ceremonydue to “COVID” and the “amount of standing.”
In addition, a gymnastics official told PEOPLE: “The men’s and women’s artistic gymnasts did not walk. They will be competing within the next couple of days and are focused on preparation.”
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First Signs at Qualification
On July 25, Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics roster competed in the qualifying round andmade uncharacteristic errorsthat ultimately put them in second with a score of 170.562, behind Russia who were 1.067 points ahead of the Americans.
It was the first time in 11 years at a world championships or Olympics that the U.S. failed to top the women’s gymnastics team leaderboard.
05of 15’Fresh Start’Simone Biles / InstagramThe next day, on July 26, Biles spoke about her shaky prelims with her fans on social media.Embracing a “fresh start” for the all-around and individual event finals at the time, Bilesreflected on her first day of gymnastics, which she said “wasn’t an easy day or my best but I got through it.““I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but damn sometimes it’s hard hahaha! The Olympics is no joke!” the decorated athlete wrote.Going into event finals, Biles — who was the reigning Olympic all-around champion — and Lee were the two qualifiers in the all-around for Team USA as part of the two-per-country rule.
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‘Fresh Start’
Simone Biles / Instagram
The next day, on July 26, Biles spoke about her shaky prelims with her fans on social media.
Embracing a “fresh start” for the all-around and individual event finals at the time, Bilesreflected on her first day of gymnastics, which she said “wasn’t an easy day or my best but I got through it.”
“I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but damn sometimes it’s hard hahaha! The Olympics is no joke!” the decorated athlete wrote.
Going into event finals, Biles — who was the reigning Olympic all-around champion — and Lee were the two qualifiers in the all-around for Team USA as part of the two-per-country rule.
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Team All-Around Final
On July 27, Biles unexpectedly bowed out of the women’s gymnastics team all-around final after her first apparatus.
In her opening rotation on vault, the star opted out of an expected Amanar mid-air, chose a Yurchenko one-and-a-half twist instead, and made a large hop forward on her landing.
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Why Simone Stopped
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
After the four-member U.S. squad won silver behind the ROC, Biles explained to reporters what forced her to withdraw from the team final.
“I was just dealing with some things internally which will get fixed out in the next couple of days,” she said, adding that she was worried her stress would negatively impact her performance and her team’s chances to medal.
Biles had “withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement that night. Officials also said Biles' exit was “in order to focus on her mental health.”
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Fighting Four
Also after the all-around team final, Biles told reporters what shesaid to her teammates about her withdrawal. “You have done all the training, you can do this without me and it will be just fine,” she advised Lee, Chiles and McCallum.
Though the team did not win gold, Biles told reporters that she was “proud” of how the rest of the silver-winning squad performed. “For me, I’m proud for how the girls stepped up and did what they had to do. I owe this to the girls, it has nothing to do with me. I am very proud of them,” she said.
“It was definitely something that was unexpected,” Chiles said at the press conference with Biles and their teammates. “We were kind of emotional when we found out that she wasn’t going to continue and, you know, we always kind of put our minds in a great position. Because at the end of the day, we’re out there to show what we needed to show and we went out there and did what we did.”
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First Withdrawal
Simone Biles.LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images
On July 28, USA Gymnastics announced Biles’first of four withdrawalsfrom event finals.
“The outpouring love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before,” Biles tweeted that day.
10of 15Championing Mental HealthOn July 29, Bilesspoke about her mental health concernsandwhy she chose to withdraw, hours before she was seencheering for Lee and Carey in the stands.“For anyone saying I quit. I didn’t quit, my mind & body are simply not in sync as you can see here,” Biles shared on social media, including a clip of her practice routine on bars that morning. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface nor do I have to explain why I put health first.“In another clip, Biles explained: “No this was not happening before I left the USA,” and “it randomly started happening after prelims competition the VERY next morning.“During a Q&A session on her Instagram Story that day, Biles opening up to a fan about “twisties,” the phenomenon gymnasts experience where they lose their understanding of where they are in the air, putting them at risk of injury when they land.“Literally can not tell up from down. It’s the craziest feeling ever. Not having an inch of control over your body. What’s even scarier is since I have no idea where I am in the air I also have NO idea how I’m going to land or what I’m going to land on,” Biles said.At the time, she had four individual event finals (vault, beam, bars and floor) still scheduled.
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Championing Mental Health
On July 29, Bilesspoke about her mental health concernsandwhy she chose to withdraw, hours before she was seencheering for Lee and Carey in the stands.
“For anyone saying I quit. I didn’t quit, my mind & body are simply not in sync as you can see here,” Biles shared on social media, including a clip of her practice routine on bars that morning. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface nor do I have to explain why I put health first.”
In another clip, Biles explained: “No this was not happening before I left the USA,” and “it randomly started happening after prelims competition the VERY next morning.”
During a Q&A session on her Instagram Story that day, Biles opening up to a fan about “twisties,” the phenomenon gymnasts experience where they lose their understanding of where they are in the air, putting them at risk of injury when they land.
“Literally can not tell up from down. It’s the craziest feeling ever. Not having an inch of control over your body. What’s even scarier is since I have no idea where I am in the air I also have NO idea how I’m going to land or what I’m going to land on,” Biles said.
At the time, she had four individual event finals (vault, beam, bars and floor) still scheduled.
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Second and Third Exits
From left: Jordan Chiles, Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner.
On July 30, USA Gymnastics confirmed that Bileswithdrew from the vault and bars finals, which took place two days later.
“Today, after further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars. She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam,” the statement read.
Skinner was announced as the one to step in for Biles in the vault final.
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Floor: Her Fourth Withdrawal
On July 31, USA Gymnasticsannounced: “Simone has withdrawn from the event final for floor and will make a decision on beam later this week. Either way, we’re all behind you, Simone.”
13of 15No. 1 CheerleaderOn Aug. 2, Biles cheered loudly in the stands, along with Chiles and McCallum, as she watched Skinner — whohad thought her Olympic dreams were dead— win silver, her first-ever Olympic medal, in the vault final.Shortly after, Biles could also be heard supporting Lee in the bars final, for which the 18-year-old Minnesota athlete won the bronze medal. Lee collected a box set with one medal in each color (gold, silver and bronze) ahead of Tuesday’s beam final.
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No. 1 Cheerleader
On Aug. 2, Biles cheered loudly in the stands, along with Chiles and McCallum, as she watched Skinner — whohad thought her Olympic dreams were dead— win silver, her first-ever Olympic medal, in the vault final.
Shortly after, Biles could also be heard supporting Lee in the bars final, for which the 18-year-old Minnesota athlete won the bronze medal. Lee collected a box set with one medal in each color (gold, silver and bronze) ahead of Tuesday’s beam final.
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Beam Ready
Yul Moldauer, Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner.
On Monday, Aug. 1, Biles' name was included on the short list of finalists competing in the last gymnastics individual medal event, the balance beam.
“We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow - Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!” USA Gymnastics said in astatementon Twitter.
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Victory in the End
Simone Biles.Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images
On Tuesday, Aug. 3, Biles won the bronze medal in the balance beam final.
“To be cleared to do beam, which I didn’t think I was going to be, just meant the world to be back out there,” she told reporters after winning her first individual victory in Tokyo. “I wasn’t expecting to walk away with a medal.”
source: people.com
