Simone Biles says fans’ support is helping her realize that she’s more than her gold medals

“Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many,” USA Gymnastics said.

Biles, who had been a favorite to win gold in the final, has won every individual all-around competition that she has entered since 2013 and won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

But on Tuesday, while attempting an advanced vault that involves a back handspring with two-and-a-half twists in the air before landing, Biles faltered and left the field of play close to tears.

The weight of the world on her shoulders

Writing on Instagram earlier in the week she said she felt “the weight of the world on [her] 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!” she wrote in the post.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist and former teammate Aly Raisman is among those to voice their support for Biles.

She criticized USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee for a lack of leadership in supporting athletes and said athletes were “people at the end of the day.”

“Does Simone have the support that she needs?” continued Raisman. “Do other athletes have the support that they need?”

She added: “It’s a tremendous amount of pressure… I’m completely devastated and I support her so much.”

“Neither one of us quit. Our bodies just weren’t able to do it,” Radcliffe said.

“Very few people actually understand the relationship between your mind and your body … particularly in something that’s really physically, or mentally — or both — taxing, you really need to know when to push through it and when to listen to your body, and it’s what has made her the great champion that she is,” she added.

“I would argue that she’s actually even stronger mentally for being able to make that call now,” Radcliffe said of Biles.

Sports stars are becoming more open about the pressures they face.

In May, four-time major tennis champion Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing mental health reasons.

The 23-year-old revealed she had suffered with anxiety and depression.

“The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she said in a statement at the time.

“Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety.”