The USA Gymnastics team finished the team final at the Tokyo Olympics without their brightest star.
According to the USA Gymnastics official Twitter account, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue, one she seemed to have sustained after landing a vault — one which she did not complete as intended — and exiting the floor.
Later that day, Biles joined Hoda Kotb on NBC's "Today" show and clarified the reasons behind her sudden withdrawal from the USA Gymnastics team, adding that she's not dealing with a physical injury.
"Physically, I feel good," Biles told Kotb. "Emotionally, that kind of varies on the time and moment. Coming here to the Olympics and being the head star isn't an easy feat, so we're just trying to take it one day at a time and we'll see."
Biles admitted the stress of being the face of Team USA has weighed on her emotionally and that she didn't want her mental state to take away from the team's success.
"I felt like it would be better to take a back seat ... I didn't want to risk the team a medal because they worked way too hard for my screw ups," Biles said (via ESPN's Michele Steele). "It's been really stressful this Olympic games ... it's been a long week, a long Olympic process, a long year."
As noted above, the team wound up winning the silver medal, with the Russian Olympic Committee capturing gold.
Biles posted an image and message to her Instagram on Monday, beginning with an acknowledgment that the prelims were over and the finals were coming up. Then, she launched into a deeper, personal message:
It 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! BUT I'm happy my family was able to be with me virtually🤍 they mean the world to me!
As ESPN notes, though she has withdrawn from the team final, it remains to be seen if she will also be unable to participate in the all-around final on Thursday night or the event finals later on in the competition. A four-time Olympic gold medalist, all in the 2016 Rio Games, Biles struggled out of the gate in the 2020 Games but qualified for every individual final in Tokyo.
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