To protect her mental health Simone Biles (USA) withdraws from Olympics Gymnastics team finals

Simone Biles

Game-changing moment for gymnastics in Olympics. Superstar US gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of two events at the Tokyo Olympics - the women's team final on Tuesday and then Thursday's women's all-around competition - not for a physical injury but she says to protect her mental health.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist led the all-around standings after the qualifying round on Sunday.

Biles is expected to lead the U.S. to gold and was attempting to collect as many as six gold medals at Tokyo 2020 but she quit after one rotation of the team final. The US went on to claim silver, the Russian Olympic Committee takes the gold.

She said she felt the 'weight of the world' on her shoulders to perform, and USA Gymnastics announced Wednesday that she will not compete in the individual all-around competition.

Biles is the most decorated American gymnast and is regarded by many to be one of the greatest and most dominant gymnasts of all time.

On the vault, where she's reigning Olympic champion, Biles is usually both spectacular and solid but in Tokyo she was really struggling.

Seasoned gymnastics watchers recognized it as the twisties. A kind of mental block that might be called the yips in other sports but in gymnastics it strikes while an athlete is already in the air.

Simone Biles has made a decision that is best for her. 

"I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat, work on my mindfulness, and I knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job, and I didn't want to risk the team a medal for, kind of, my screwups because they've worked way too hard for that. You usually don't hear me say things like that because I'll usually persevere and push through things, but not to cost the team a medal," 

Biles said.

Teammates and others have sympathized with Biles, but critics continues to attack her, calling her weak and very selfish for the decision, downplaying the importance of mental health.

Biles is also a survivor of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, the USA team doctor, now serving a life sentence for his crimes. She's the only victim of Larry Nassar that is currently on the floor at the Olympic games.