Simone Biles withdrew from the team gymnastic finals on Tuesday for emotional, not physical reasons.
“Physically, I feel good, I’m in shape,” she told NBC’s ‘Today.’
“Emotionally, that kind of varies on the time and moment. Coming here to the Olympics and being the head star isn’t an easy feat, so we’re just trying to take it one day at a time and we’ll see.”
She later told reporters, “Whenever you get in a high stress situation, you kind of freak out.”
“I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.”
Biles can still compete in individual events, and a team spokesperson said, “she will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.
Biles entered the Olympics as a favorite to win several events, and the U.S. was favored to win the gold medal in the team competition. Biles was solid but not spectacular in the qualifying round, and the U.S. found itself in second place behind the Russian Olympic Team.
After the disappointing qualifying effort, Biles said she felt like she had “the weight of the world” on her shoulders.
Without Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum held on to second to win a silver medal.
It was very emotional, but in that moment, we all knew that we needed to come together as a team and build that leadership up together because we didn’t have Simone,” Lee said.
“It’s really hard to lose the best in the world, and we definitely felt a little more stressed,” McCallum said.
“But I’m really proud of how we did. I think we did amazing. We really fought.”