Shannon Miller: Simone Biles' withdrawal is best for her safety
Gold medal gymnast Shannon Miller discusses Olympian Symone Biles withdrawing from the individual all-around event for mental health reasons.
Simone Biles pulling out of the Olympics gymnastics team final and later the all-around individual event was the "best thing" for her safety, two-time Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller on Wednesday.
Miller explained in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s "America’s Newsroom" that the highly skilled moves Biles is performing requires a massive amount of mental strength as well as physical.
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"I don't know that it's that surprising, given the way she pulled out of the team competition," the 1996 Olympic gymnast told co-anchor Dana Perino. "If you're a gymnast out there, you know that when you hit that mental block and you lose your spatial awareness in the air, flying 10 to 15 feet above the ground, especially doing the high-level skills that Simone Biles is performing that no one else in the world is doing, you have to have your head in the game. You have to know that not only your body is physically ready to go, but your mental status as they are. So for her safety, it probably was the best thing. And a lot of times these mental blocks, they just don't heal overnight."
Miller stressed that mental preparation going into the Olympics, or any event, is just as important as the physical.
SIMONE BILES WITHDRAWS FROM INDIVIDUAL ALL-AROUND COMPETITION
"I think a physical injury is very different from mental. I think physical injury as an athlete, you need to know physically whether or not you feel confident and comfortable going, you know, you dig deep, you keep going, you can fight through it or is in an injury where you feel like it's not going to be there. And I'm putting myself at risk if I go.
Well, it's the same way with mental. It's just harder because the mental aspect, when you again have this mental block in gymnastics where you won't let go of a bar or you won't flip backwards or you lose your spatial awareness, that's not easy to just overcome overnight. You have to really go back to the drawing board and work on that. And sometimes it takes weeks to kind of get over that mental block."
USA Gymnastics announced early Wednesday that Biles would not compete in the all-around event to take time to focus on her mental health.
"After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles was withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health," USA Gymnastics said in a statement Wednesday. Simone will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals. Jade Carey, who had the ninth highest score in qualifications, will participate in her place in the all-around.
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"We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many."
It’s unclear whether Biles will compete in the apparatus competitions.
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