Simone Biles Says 'I Didn't Quit,' Defends Herself by Posting Video from Practice
Gymnast Simone Biles launched a full-scale public relations offensive Friday in which she insisted she did not quit when she walked away from competing in an Olympics team competition this week.
Biles withdrew from a team gymnastics event Tuesday after starting the competition, then skipped the all-around gymnastics event Thursday.
During a session on Instagram, Biles said her “mind and body are simply not in sync,” according to the New York Post.
“I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competitive surface,” she said, adding, “Nor do I have to explain why I put my health first. Physical health is mental health.”
She posted and later deleted videos of her on the uneven bars, claiming that they were an illustration of her condition. In one video, she landed flat on her back.
.@Simone_Biles shared footage of herself at practice in #Tokyo this morning via Instagram, still struggling to find herself in the air.
The ? also took the time to further communicate the severity of her condition to the world. pic.twitter.com/xULcvS7s4F
— Gymnastics Now (@Gymnastics_Now) July 30, 2021
“For anyone saying I quit. I didn’t quit my mind & body are simply not in sync. As you can see here,” she wrote.
She said she became disoriented while performing her routine.
“Literally cannot tell up from down. It’s the craziest feeling ever. Not having an inch of control over your body,” she wrote, according to ESPN.
“What’s even scarier is since I have no idea where I am in the air I also have NO idea how I’m going to land, or what I’m going to land on. Head/hands/feet/back.”
Biles claimed she “didn’t have a bad performance and quit. I’ve had plenty of bad performances throughout my career and finished competition. I simply got so lost my safety was at risk as well as a team medal.”
She said that critics should look closely at her performance Tuesday before she walked away from competing.
“I also have no idea how I landed on my feet on that vault bc if you look at the pictures & my eyes you can see how confused I am as to where I am in the air,” Biles wrote.
“Thankfully I landed safe enough but I also don’t think some of you realize I was supposed to do a 2 ½ and I only completed 1 ½ twists before it looks like I got shot out of the air,” she added.
She said the problem “randomly started happening after prelims competition the VERY next morning.
“By that time NO an alternative was not allowed to be placed in my position for you ‘know it alls.’”
Biles has yet to announce if she plans to pull out of the individual events, which are set to take place next week.
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