Olympics-Biles out of next Tokyo event, sharpening focus on mental health at Games
Reuters
Published Jul 28, 2021 01:59AM ET
Updated Jul 28, 2021 02:56AM ET
By Elaine Lies and Steve Keating
TOKYO (Reuters) -Gymnast Simone Biles has withdrawn from the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics, USA Gymnastics said, a day after she shocked the world by pulling out of the team event and put a sharp focus on mental health at the Games.
Biles would be evaluated to see if she can take part in individual apparatus competitions still ahead, USA Gymnastics said. Her place in the all-around would be taken by Jade Carey.
The organisation said in a statement on Twitter that she made the decision so she "can focus on her mental health," adding it supported her "wholeheartedly".
Athletes such as tennis superstar Naomi Osaka and now Biles have highlighted the immense pressures on them, raising questions whether athletes get enough support for mental health.
Osaka lost in her Olympic singles event on Tuesday, her first tournament since pulling out of the French Open in May, when she said she had been suffering from depression for nearly three years.
Biles first sent shockwaves through the Summer Games on Tuesday when she dropped out of the team competition on her opening vault after receiving a low mark.
The 24-year-old had said the pressure of living up to expectations and her quest for a record gold medal haul had left her no choice but to drop out for her own mental health.
"We have to protect our mind and our body rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do," Biles told reporters.
"More could be done" on athlete mental health, the spokesperson for the International Olympic Commission, Mark Adams, told reporters on Wednesday.
He said mental health remained a big issue and that it was a matter the organisation had been working on for some time.
Elsewhere in Tokyo, champion women made a splash as Australian Ariarne Titmus, American Katie Ledecky and Japan's Yui Ohashi all clinched gold in swimming.
Their powerful showing underscored how women have emerged as the most commanding figures of the first week of the Tokyo Games.
The Games are taking place without spectators and under a state of emergency in Tokyo, unprecedented measures in the history of the modern Olympics. Tokyo reported a record 2,848 new cases on Tuesday, the highest since the pandemic began and a new state of emergency was expected in three prefectures neighbouring the capital city.
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Written By: Reuters
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