Simone Biles Wins Bronze Medal After Withdrawing From Tokyo Olympics Events Due to Mental Health Concerns
Simone Biles just won a bronze medal, following her exit from the Olympics.
Biles took home bronze in today’s balance beam event, making the win her second medal won at the Tokyo Olympics and her seventh medal overall. She is now tied with Shannon Miller for winning the most Olympic medals as a US gymnast.
The balance beam was Biles’ first event since last week’s all-around team final, which she withdrew from. The 24-year-old gymnast later pulled out of the individual all-around event and two additional apparatus events as well, due to stress and mental health concerns.
“Today has been really stressful. We had a workout this morning, it went OK, and then just that five and a half hour wait I was just shaking, I could barely nap,” she told the media on July 27. “I’ve just never felt like this going into a competition before. I tried to go out there and have fun and warm up in the back to feel a little bit better, but when I came out here I was like, ‘No, the mental is not there, I just need to let the girls do it and focus on myself.’”
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Biles has since been praised by numerous athletes, celebrities, and the media for her prioritization of her mental health during the Olympics this summer.
“To bring the topic of mental health, I think it should be talked about a lot more, especially with athletes, because I know some of us are going through the same things. And we’re always told to push through it. But we’re all a little bit older now, and we could kind of speak for ourselves. But at the end of the day, we’re not just entertainment. We’re humans. And there are things going on behind the scenes that we’re also trying to juggle with as well, on top of sports,” Biles told CNN today after her historic win.
Though rumors have speculated Biles’ retirement, the gymnast has hinted she could potentially compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
