Simone Biles Pulls Out of Team Gymnastics Final to Focus on Her Mental Health

Fans and supporters have rallied around her.

On Tuesday night, legendary American gymnast Simone Biles decided to withdraw from the gymnastics team final to protect "her body and mind."

The gymnast—who made 2016 Olympics history by winning four gold medals—struggled on her first vault, receiving a score of 13.766 (more than a point lower than what she would usually score).

While the USA team came into the event as favourites, they lost out to the Russian Olympic Committee team. 

Biles left the final saying she was not mentally prepared to continue. 

"After the performance I did I just didn't want to go on," she told the media. 

"I do not trust myself anymore, I tried to go out there for the team and they stepped up to the plate.

"I'm just trying to gear up for the next test." 

The next test is the individual women's all-around final on Thursday, however, it's unclear whether Biles will be participating at this stage. 

"I have to focus on my mental health... we're going to see about Thursday," she said.

"We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do.

"I just think mental health is more prevalent in sports right now." 

Biles isn't the first athlete to put their mental health concerns first recently. Last month, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka announced she'd withdraw from the French Open tournament to focus on her well-being. 

Osaka also refused to speak to the media for her own mental health reasons. 

"I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes' mental health and this rings true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one," the tennis player said. 

"We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before, or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds, and I'm just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me." 

Biles had similarly alluded to the pressure that athletes face at the Olympics in an Instagram post after the preliminaries. 

"I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times," she wrote.

"I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn't affect me but damn sometimes it's hard hahaha!" 

Well, we think it's awesome that Biles is putting herself first and helping to break down the stigma surrounding mental health. What an icon! 

From the looks of things, her fans are super proud of her for making such a tough decision.

Header Image: Instagram (@simonebiles)