Simone Biles Withdraws From Vault and Uneven Bars Finals

Biles is still dealing with what she calls the "twisties" and will be replaced by MyKayla Skinner.
Simone Biles Withdraws From Vault and Uneven Bars Finals
Simone Biles Withdraws From Vault and Uneven Bars Finals /

Ahead of the finals for the vault and uneven bars, USA Gymnastics announced Saturday that Simone Biles will not participate in either event. Her status for the finals in the floor exercise and balance beam has yet to be determined.

Biles will be replaced by MyKayla Skinner in vault. Suni Lee will now be the only American to compete in uneven bars as France's Melanie de Jesus dos Santos will take Biles's spot in the event.

Biles has been perhaps the story of the Olympics after she withdrew from the team gymnastics final and the individual all-around event, putting her future participation in the Tokyo Games in jeopardy. She reported having, "no idea where (she) was in the air" after she pulled out midway through the team gymnastics final, and has dealt with what she's calling a "twisties" problem that prevents her from executing her moves with confidence.

Biles won six medals in 2016 in Rio—four gold, one silver and one bronze. Skinner, who did not compete in the 2016 Rio Games, dedicated her upcoming performance to Biles on Twitter:

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Nick Selbe
NICK SELBE

Nick Selbe is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about baseball and college sports. Before joining SI in March 2020 as a breaking/trending news writer, he worked for MLB Advanced Media, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. Selbe received a bachelor's in communication from the University of Southern California.