Simone Biles Withdrawals From Olympic Competition Because Of Mental Health And The Twisties

Four-time Olympic gold medalist

Simone Biles withdrew from the Olympic finals due to her mental health and a case of the twisites, according to NPR.

Gymnasts describe the twisties as a terrifying phenomena when the gymnast gets lost in the air while rotating. It can be incredibly dangerous and lead to death or paralysis. Biles had a case of the twisites while performing on the vault. Afterwards, she made the decision to withdraw and focus on her mental health.

“Once I came out here [to compete], I was like, ‘No, mental is not there, so I just need to let the girls do it and focus on myself,’ she said.

“I was like, I think the girls need to do the rest of the competition without me. And they were like, ‘I promise you, you’re fine. We watched you warm up.’ And I said, ‘No. I know I’m going to be fine, but I can’t risk a medal for the team, so I need to call it.’ And you usually don’t hear me say things like that, because I’ll usually persevere and push through things — but not to cost the team a medal. So they were like, ‘OK, well, if Simone says this, then we need to take a pretty serious.’ So I had the correct people around me to do that.”

Biles noted that she did not have any physical injuries and wanted to keep it that way.

“No injury, thankfully. And that’s why I took a step back, because I didn’t want to do something silly out there and get injured.” She added that the girls on her team stepped up and are now Olympic silver medalists. “And they should be really proud of themselves for how well they did last-minute, having to [adjust].”

Biles received support from the likes of former First Lady Michelle Obama and The Root writer Michael Harriot.

Of course, some people from the racist set couldn’t wait to criticize Biles and call her weak. Piers Morgan in particular couldn’t wait to show his racist a** upon learning the news and made disgusting comments on Twitter about her letting down her country and teammates, despite the fact that she withdrew in part to help her teammates.

After the Olympics, Biles, 24, will tour the country with her fellow gymnasts on the Gold Over America Tour (GOAT) and spend some time deciding if she will compete in the 2024 Olympics.