Team USA gymnastics fans dragged Simone Biles for quitting after an uncharacteristic stumble on the vault apparatus at the Tokyo Olympics.
Biles landed awkwardly on her vault during the women’s team final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Tuesday. Her error resulted in a low score of 13.766 for the team, opening the door for Russia to win the gold.
Shortly afterward, the embarrassed gymnast left the stadium with her trainer and a member of the medical team.
It was later announced that she’d withdrawn from the final because of a “mental issue.”
Biles told reporters she pulled out of the Olympics to “focus on my wellbeing… And you know, there’s more to life than just gymnastics.”
She told the Today Show:
“It is very unfortunate that it has to happen at this stage because I definitely wanted this Olympics to go a little bit better but again, we’ll take it one day at a time and we’re going to see how the rest goes.”
Her departure drew comparisons to tennis star Naomi Osaka who withdrew from the French Open to focus on her mental health following criticism when she refused to speak to the news media.
Team USA fans complained that Biles spends more time taking Instagram photos with her boyfriend, NFL player Jonathan Owens, than she does practicing for the Olympics.
Others say young athletes like Biles and Osaka are more interested in the instant gratification of social media than the delayed gratification of working hard to achieve greatness.
One Twitter user wrote: “I knew it as soon as I seen her boyfriend I knew simone was going to. Be trouble.”
Another user tweeted: “I’m telling y’all, man, Simone Biles is performing poorly because of having a boyfriend. Less concentration on her art, more concentration on getting some D when she gets home after training lmaooo.”
And a third wrote: “blah blah, excuses, blah blah, weight of the world, this is not your first competition, this is not your first olympics, just say you got a shiny new boyfriend, thats all.”
Biles, 24, and Owens, 26, have dated for a year. She previously dated fellow gymnast Stacey Ervin.
I knew it as soon as I seen her boyfriend I knew simone was going to. Be trouble
— B L A C K C L O U D ? (@blac_kloud) July 27, 2021
I'm telling y'all, man, Simone Biles is performing poorly because of having a boyfriend
Less concentration on her art, more concentration on getting some D when she gets home after training lmaooo
— Social media is the Borg (@captainkayter) July 27, 2021
@Simone_Biles blah blah, excuses, blah blah, weight of the world, this is not your first competition, this is not your first olympics, just say you got a shiny new boyfriend, thats all
— Nicki Minaj on Crack (@nickioncrack) July 27, 2021
