Simone Biles among first to congratulate ROC gymnastics team on winning gold after she withdrew from final
Legendary gymnast praised for her sportsmanship.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Simone Biles was reportedly among the first people to congratulate the Russian Olympic Federation athletes on their win in the gymnastics team final after she withdrew from the competition due to a “medical issue”.
Footage of the gymnastics star going over to her fellow competitors to congratulate them on their win, and hugging them, has already been widely shared on social media with many praising the legendary gymnast for her sportsmanship.
Biles withdrew from the women’s gymnastics team final in dramatic circumstances due to a “medical issue” after her opening vault, leaving the American’s gold medal quest at the Tokyo Olympics in jeopardy.
Widely considered the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles misjudged her landing on the vault - an event she has so often dominated - and a score of 13.766 was the worst in the opening rotation.
Biles was supposed to do an ‘Amanar’ - a vault that begins with a roundoff back handspring onto the vault followed by two-and-a-half twists. However, she appeared to change her mind during the jump and only did one-and-a-half twists and stumbled as she landed on the mat.
Follow Tokyo Olympics 2021: Latest medals and updates
The 24-year-old, who had been chasing an unprecedented six gold medals in Tokyo, left the floor shortly afterwards with the US team’s medical trainer. When she returned a few minutes later, her right leg was wrapped and she took off her bar grips and hugged teammates Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles before putting on a tracksuit.
USA Gymnastics said Biles will be “assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions” in a short statement.
Biles remained on the floor to watch her teammates but the US were unable to defend their title without their star performer, finishing second to the ROC. Great Britain clinched a surprise bronze medal after a magnificent 14.033 from Amelie Morgan in the team’s final floor display.
Biles has qualified for every individual apparatus final and finished top of the all-around standings, but a series of uncharacteristic errors had nevertheless raised questions over her ability to repeat the same heights of Rio 2016 when she won four gold medals.
Afterwards, Biles said she still planned to compete in her five individual events. “I’m OK, just dealing with things internally, that will be fixed in the next couple of days,” she said. “So proud of this team. It’s made us stronger, for sure.”
The undisputed star of the Games, Biles admitted she felt like “the weight of the world” was on her shoulders in an Instagram post on Monday and added that the Olympics “were no joke.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments