The Tokyo Olympics are just beginning in Paris, and American gymnastics star Simone Biles sustained a leg injury during the qualifying round. Despite the setback, she is set to compete in the women’s gymnastics team final on Tuesday, July 30, and then strive for the Olympic all-around title in the final on Thursday, August 1.
During warm-ups, Biles injured her leg and limped off the field. Before competing in the floor exercise, vault, and uneven bars events, she taped up her left foot. She bravely soldiered on through the pain and excelled in the final three events, earning high scores.
American coach Cecile Landi revealed some good news about Biles’ injury, stating that it is not severe and there are no plans for her to withdraw from the Olympic competition.
“I am really proud of her, proud of everything she has gone through and the abilities she has shown to the world,” Landi said.
On Tuesday, Biles will represent the United States in the final rotation of the team competition in vault, floor exercise, and balance beam events. Jordan Chiles secured fourth place in the all-around, following Biles, Rebeca Andrade, and Suni Lee, who will compete in all four events of the team final.
Biles will then vie for the Olympic all-around title on Thursday, August 1. She has also qualified for the individual finals in vault, balance beam, and floor exercise events.
Before the Paris Olympics, Biles submitted an original skill application for the uneven bars, which, if successfully completed, would be the sixth move named after an American and the first named move on the uneven bars.
The International Gymnastics Federation described this new skill as a forward 1½ flip with a half twist to a handstand, a variation of a move named after Canadian athlete Wilhelm Weiler. Biles has been performing this move for most of her career.
The difficulty of this move has been classified by the technical committee of the International Gymnastics Federation as an E level, on a scale from A to J, with the difficulty value being 0.5.
Biles, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, already has five skills named after her: two jumps (including the Biles II on the balance beam), two flips on floor exercise, and a dismount on the balance beam. She is expected to become the only current gymnast to have named skills in all four gymnastics events.
Currently, retired former Soviet and Belarusian five-time Olympic gold medalist Nellie Kim holds the record with seven moves named after her.
Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Biles withdrew from competition after experiencing symptoms of “the twisties,” prioritizing her mental health and safety.
“The twisties” are described as a psychological state experienced when attempting aerial or difficult maneuvers, where there is a temporary disconnect and imbalance between the brain and muscle, making it difficult to execute movements properly and leading to a sensation of “losing direction and perception.”
(Information in this article is partly based on reports from the Associated Press)