Simone Biles to Make Olympic Return in Balance Beam Final

The four-time Olympic gold medalist has not competed since withdrawing from the women's team final last Tuesday.

It's official: Simone Biles will make her Olympic return.

USA Gymnastics confirmed the news Monday that Biles will compete along with all-around gold medalist Suni Lee in Tuesday's balance beam final, the last event in women's gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics. 

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!! Can’t wait to watch you both!

— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 2, 2021

When Biles takes to the beam, it will be a full week since she has competed. Biles dropped out of the women's team final last Tuesday, where the U.S. won silver. Biles later said that she wanted to focus on her mental health following a bout of what gymnasts call the "twisties." 

"For anyone saying I quit, I didn't quit," Biles wrote in an Instagram video explaining the twisties. "My mind and body are simply not in sync...I don't think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface. Nor do I have to explain why I put health first. 

"Physical health is mental health."

Over the course of the last week Biles has withdrawn from four individual finals: the all-around event won by Lee, floor exercise, vault and uneven bars. Filling in for Biles on vault on Sunday, MyKayla Skinner won a silver medal before predicting that Biles would return for the balance beam final. 

Biles won the bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro five years ago in the balance beam final, the only event in which she didn't win gold. In balance beam qualifying last week, the 24-year-old finished seventh out of nine qualifying spots while Lee finished third.

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