Tokyo Olympics: Simone Biles withdraws from vault and uneven bars finals

Biles, arguably the world’s greatest gymnast, has pulled back from Olympic competition in Tokyo to focus on her mental health. The 24-year-old explained in a series of Instagram posts that she has the twisties, a mental block in gymnastics in which competitors lose track of their positioning midair.

MyKayla Skinner, who had the fourth-highest score in vault during qualifications, will compete in the vault finals for the US alongside Jade Carey, who finished with the second-highest score, according to USA Gymnastics.

“We remain in awe of Simone, who continues to handle this situation with courage and grace, and all of the athletes who have stepped up during these unexpected circumstances,” the statement added.

Skinner said she was “doing this for us,” tagging Biles in the Instagram post. “It’s go time baby!” she added.

‘It’s honestly petrifying’

Biles said her recent bout of the twisties began the morning after the preliminary competition. She said she’d been affected by it before, saying in a post, “btw it’s never transferred to bars & beam for me. It strictly likes floor & vault.” Then she added, “but this time it’s literally on every event. which sucks… really bad.”

In two of those now-deleted videos, Biles could be seen struggling with dismounts on the uneven bars.

In the first video, she says she was supposed to perform one-and-a-half more twists on her dismount. Instead, the video shows her landing on her back on the mat.

A separate video shows another dismount, in which she said she still needed to complete another half twist, and she falls to the mat in apparent frustration.

She said the videos were taken Friday morning at practice. In another post she added, “it’s honestly petrifying trying to do a skill but not having your mind & body in sync.”

Biles said getting rid of the twisties “varies with time” and for her usually lasts two or more weeks, adding it’s “something you have to take literally day by day, turn by turn.”

‘I have to focus on my mental health’

“Whenever you get in a high stress situation, you kind of freak out,” Biles told reporters on Tuesday. “I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.

“It just sucks when you’re fighting with your own head.”

Earlier that day, Naomi Osaka — who has also talked openly about her own mental health struggles — was knocked out of the Olympic women’s tennis tournament.