On Friday night, USA Gymnastics announced that Simone Biles has withdrawn from vault and uneven bars individual finals on Sunday at the Tokyo Olympics, but that the door is still open for her to compete in the floor exercise and balance beam finals.
Floor exercise finals will take place on Aug. 2 and balance beam finals on Aug. 3.
MyKayla Skinner will replace Biles in vault finals, but no American will be able to replace her in uneven bars finals because a third beside Biles and Sunisa Lee did not qualify. Skinner had come in fourth place in vault qualification but had originally been excluded because no country can have more than two gymnasts in one event final.
Jade Carey is the other Team USA gymnast who will compete in vault finals.
Biles had withdrawn from the team final after struggling on vault in the first rotation, citing struggles with her mental health.
“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,” Team USA’s announcement Friday said.
After further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars. She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam. pic.twitter.com/kWqgZJK4LJ
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 31, 2021
Lee, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum won the silver medal for Team USA in Biles’ absence.
Minutes after USA Gymnastics’ announcement Friday, Skinner posted on Instagram a message about getting the chance to compete.
“Looks like I get to put on a competition Leo just one more time,” wrote Skinner, who will be retiring after the Games save for the Gold Over America Tour. “Can’t wait to compete in vault finals. Doing this for us @simonebiles. It’s go time baby!”
Biles and Carey finished first and second in vault qualifications, while Brazilian Rebecca Andrade had come in third ahead of Skinner.