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Simone Biles is competing in one last event at the Tokyo Olympics, US officials said Monday.
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It came after the 24-year-old gymnast pulled out of five medal events due to mental health concerns.
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Biles – who won four golds and a bronze in Rio – will compete in Tuesday’s balance beam final.
Simone Biles is back.
The international gymnastics superstar is due to compete in one last event at the Tokyo Olympics.
The balance beam final – which is scheduled for Tuesday at 4:53 a.m. ET – will serve as the final competition of her illustrious Olympic gymnastics career.
USA Gymnastics confirmed the news with a tweet on Monday:
“We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow – Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!!” the American gymnastics governing body wrote on Twitter. “Can’t wait to watch you both!”
Biles shocked the world when she pulled out midway through the Olympic women’s gymnastics team final on July 27.
She stuck around to cheer on her Team USA teammates and receive her silver medal with “The Fighting Four,” but said after the event that she was mentally ‘not there’ at the Olympics.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist later explained that she had a case of “the twisties” – a phenomenon dreaded by gymnasts and divers alike that causes disorientation and can be extremely dangerous to push through.
She subsequently withdrew from four more finals: the individual all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise.
Despite qualifying for every gymnastics medal event in Tokyo, Biles has just one apparatus remaining at the final Olympics of her gymastics career – and she has a complicated history on the apparatus.
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, a then-19-year-old Biles slipped during her beam routine and grabbed the beam with both hands to maintain balance.
Though the American superstar said that she “was still happy” with the bronze medal that she snagged despite the error, she’ll now officially have a chance to improve upon the memorable third-place finish.
She and Team USA breakout star Sunisa “Suni” Lee – who won the individual all-around final on Thursday and followed up the effort with a bronze on the uneven bars – will both compete in Tuesday’s balance beam final.
Fans stateside can tune in to watch Biles’ swansong on NBC.
Read the original article on Insider