Tokyo Olympics: US Gymnast Simone Biles back to final, says 'was struggling with twisties'

Simone Biles' Tokyo Olympics 2020 journey has been no less than an inspiration for many despite the fact that the US gymnast withdrew from four events despite qualifying for all five individual events. She took herself out of the all-around, vault, bars and floor finals in an attempt to take care of her mental health. However, the four-time Olympic champion will return to action on Tuesday, August 3, to compete in the women's balance beam final. The USA Gymnastics confirmed the news on Monday via their social media handles.

US Gymnast to compete in balance beam final

2016 Olympic Champion Simone Biles will compete in the balance beam finals on Tuesday, the last medal round for women's artistic gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The news was confirmed by the USA Gymnastics on their Twitter account and the post can be seen below. Biles and Suni Lee will compete together for the U.S.

Simone Biles' mental health concerns

Simone Biles, who is widely considered one of the best in the sport, said that she was struggling with "twisties", a scenario where gymnasts lose the ability to align themselves in mid-air. As a result of this condition, she dramatically pulled out of last week's opening team competition after just one vault. Moreover, she subsequently withdrew from the all-around final and three of the four apparatus finals (the floor, vault and uneven bars).

Simone Biles explains reason for withdrawal 

Simon Biles revealed the difficulties she was facing with her mental health, after withdrawing from the team event. Biles said, "After the performance, I put in, I just didn’t want to continue. I have to focus on my mental health. I just think mental health is more prevalent in the sport right now… we need to protect our mind and body and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do. I don’t trust myself so much… maybe it’s getting old." The four-time Olympic gold medalist does not trust herself any more because she scored her lowest Olympic vault score in the opening round before withdrawing from the team final.

MyKayla Skinner explains teammate's mental health

Simone Biles' decision to skip the vault competition at the Tokyo Olympics allowed MyKayla Skinner to take her spot and win a silver medal behind Brazil's Rebeca Andrade. Speaking of Biles, Skinner said that she is "one strong cookie". However, she said that the situation has definitely hit her really hard. "She's handling it better than I thought. Every day she's been laughing, giggling, super supportive," Skinner added.