Simone Biles has withdrawn from the gymnastics floor exercise final.

nytimes ^ | July 31, 202 | Juliet Macur

[MarvinStinson]

Simone Biles has withdrawn from her third individual apparatus final of the Olympics, leaving only one event where she can choose to compete.

Biles on Sunday withdrew from the floor exercise final, which was scheduled for Monday, U.S.A. Gymnastics said in a statement. She had previously said that she would not compete in the uneven bars or vault finals, which are scheduled for Sunday night.

Her last potential event in the Tokyo Games would be the balance beam, and U.S.A. Gymnastics said she would make a decision soon.

“Either way, we’re all behind you, Simone,” the organization said in a statement.

MyKayla Skinner, another American, will take Biles’s place in the vault final. On the floor exercise, Jennifer Gadirova of Britain will move into Biles’s spot.

Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, was expected to repeat as all-around champion, but she withdrew from the all-around and the team final last week, citing mental health issues. She said that she was not mentally prepared to compete and that she was also dealing with a common gymnastics problem of her losing bearings while performing daring maneuvers in the air.

She exited the team final after the vault, and was in the stands to watch her teammate Sunisa Lee win the all-around. Lee was the fifth straight American woman to win that event, following Carly Patterson in 2004, Nastia Liukin in 2008, Gabby Douglas in 2012 and Biles in 2016.

Lee’s next chance at a medal will be on Sunday in the uneven bars, her best event.

A new all-around champion. Sunisa Lee won the gold medal in the women’s all-around competition, taking advantage of Simone Biles’ exit from the competition. Lee has few equals on uneven bars, and may also medal in the event finals.

[Ikeon]

I get that you had an Epiphany, but would you walk away in the middle of the olympics? NO! YOU STICK IT OUT FOR 10 DAYS THEN WALK.

[aquila48]

Yep. Seems like she was on every magazine covers and every story about the Olympics.

The media really, really wanted and expected a black girl to be the superstar and win every gold medal in order to finally prove to the world that blacks are as good as whites or Asians.

[dfwgator]

Remember what Rush Limbaugh said about Donovan McNabb, about how the media is about these things.

[Alberta's Child]

Someone posted a theory on FR yesterday that this all related to a common anti-depressant medication in the U.S. that is not allowed in Japan.

[Steven Tyler]

She is past her prime

[Steven Tyler]

Nonsense.
She can always turn off the radio

[IrishBrigade]

‘Move onto other stories, and let her and her teammates deal with it.’

why are you telling me this...? I’m simply responding to someone posting a query on an open forum; I care almost nothing about the individual in question...

[Steven Tyler]

I used to love rollercoasters.
As I got older, the roller coaster ride goit more terrifying

She is past her prime and not as fearless as her younger self

[ncalburt]

Exactly .
She was over the hill and should have been cut but her
amish and her pr team forced her on them .
She would have been sent home for pulling this crap but being amish they didn't dare.
She is a horrible distraction for her team mates .

[EQAndyBuzz]

“ She has nothing to prove as an Olympian but she should have bowed out before she left.”

Agreed.

[Mr. Jeeves]

This backing out because she’s feeling “blue” is the dumbest, the absolute dumbest excuse.

All she had to do is feign an ankle injury - maybe with a little help from a sympathetic team doctor. The way she has chosen to do it has raised the level of contempt the US public has for its own Olympians. It’s hard not to believe that was intentional.

[9YearLurker]

Yes, I was fearless as a skier in my young adulthood. Came to measure risk and reward much differently, on a primal level, as I got older.

[mewzilla]

Did the coaches make her put GOAT on her three figure leotard?

Just curious.

[thewiseone]

yep LOLOLOL!!!!!

[GnuThere]

No matter how good she was, the hype was 1000% overdone to push this agenda and it backfired on the media.
Can you imagine the scorn and 24/7 criticism if a white girl had done this to her teammates? She’s be vilified about how she took up a spot somebody else could have had.

[IrishBrigade]

‘...in order to finally prove to the world that blacks are as good as whites or Asians.’

it’s deeper than that; the media intention is to stratify people on a racial basis, much as the Hindus developed their caste system, and assign goodness and virtue according to the various strata...

as such, black females are greatly exalted by the white media elite, mostly because they are less susceptible than their male counterparts to socially destructive behaviors, and can more easily be put forth as cultural saviors...

[Mr Rogers]

"She could be seriously, permanently injured if she lost her bearings and did not land right."

That is true for every practice as well as competition. It is true at all levels. It is true for MANY sports. Look at eventing with horses - one mistake there can outweigh anything that a gymnast suffers - and it might be the horse making the mistake!

I used to strap into an ejection seat daily. They don't provide ejections seats unless you might need one.

Why Simone Biles? Of all the thousands of gymnasts who have gone to the Olympics, why is SHE the only top gymnast who suddenly can't compete? And why are we supposed to ADMIRE her? We admire athletes who are clutch players - who perform best when everything is against them. She CHOKED. Believed her own press. Boasted of being THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME.

Then choked.

[IrishBrigade]

‘never argue with a dope head, its like trying to build a chair out of wet carboard.’

I’ve always said that anout religious zealots...

[bgill]

It’s all for attention. And it worked.

[mac_truck]

MyKayla Skinner, another American, will take Biles’s place in the vault final.

Spoiler alert...Skinner won the silver medal!