Simone Biles watches Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey compete in all-around final

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Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles went from defending Olympic champion to applauding spectator as her all-around title was seized by her US teammate Sunisa Lee – who put on a spectacular display of skills to claim the win in a battle that was blown wide open by the 24-year-old’s shock decision to pull out of the race. 

Biles, from Texas, put on a brave face as she cheered and clapped for fellow Team USA gymnast Lee, 18, who forged ahead to victory in the hotly-contested final – which Biles had been widely expected to win – putting up strong routines on all four events in her quest for gold medal success. 

Minnesota native Lee quickly became one of the favorites to claim all-around gold after Biles announced that she was pulling out of the competition, citing her mental health struggles as the reason for her withdrawal. 

Lee qualified for the all-around final in third place, behind Biles and Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, however she quickly proved herself to be a top contender for the gold in the opening minutes of the competition, which she started with a very strong performance on vault, before moving on to the bars, beam, and floor exercise. 

The teenager was reduced to tears of joy as her victory was announced in the stadium shortly after she completed her sensational routine on the floor, twisting and leaping to gold medal success, while former Olympic champion Biles cheered and applauded from the sidelines. 

She celebrated with a huge hug from her US teammate Jade Carey, 21, who replaced Biles in the all-around competition, but had a disappointing competition that saw her making several mistakes on the uneven bars and balance beam, which ultimately landed her in eighth place overall. 

Lee on the other hand was near-perfect throughout the competition, making just a handful of tiny mistakes throughout, ensuring that the all-around title remained firmly in US hands and continuing a legacy that was started by Carly Patterson in 2004, and then continued by Nastia Liukin in 2008, Gabby Douglas in 2012, and Biles in 2016.  

She moved ahead into first-place position mid-way through the final, overtaking Brazilian athlete Rebeca Andrade, 22, who qualified in the silver medal spot behind Biles – but surged ahead in the opening rounds of the competition, before Lee staged a dramatic overtake.

The teenager began the competition on the vault, where she earned a solid score of 14.6, which left her in second place behind Andrade – a position that she maintained after the uneven bars, her best event, where she scored a sky-high 15.3. 

However, it was on the four-inch-wide balance beam that Lee shook up the standings and flipped herself into the top spot, putting up a very solid routine that earned her a score of 13.833 and, more importantly, landed her in gold medal position before the final event: floor exercise.  

After years of dominance by Biles, who has proven herself almost unbeatable since she rocketed onto the gymnastics scene ahead of the 2016 Games in Rio, the all-around final was incredibly close, with just a few tenths of a point separating the top three gymnasts as they prepared to tumble their way across the floor. 

It was predicted that Andrade, who boasted a higher starting score than Lee, would clinch the gold medal in the final minutes of the competition, however her dreams of championship success were quickly dashed when she landed out of bounds on her first tumbling pass, before making several other mistakes. 

This then cleared the way for Lee to leap to victory, cementing her status as the new darling of gymnastics. 

Her incredibly clean and dynamic floor routine saw her end the competition on top and she was quickly reduced to tears of joy as her gold medal win was announced around the arena – prompting enthusiastic applause and cheers from Biles, who was seated in the stands alongside her fellow Team USA gymnasts Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, and Mykayla Skinner. 

The gymnast’s victory also prompted screams of excitement and joy from her family and friends at home, who gathered together to watch Lee take part in the all-around and were filmed reacting in ecstasy as she clinched the all-around title. 

Lee’s father, John, who was paralyzed and left in a wheelchair after sustaining a spinal injury when he fell from a tree in 2019, appeared overcome with emotion as he watched his daughter’s Olympic dreams come true – having spent years supporting her from the sidelines.   

Both of Lee’s parents are Laotian refugees who fled the country in the wake of the Vietnam war – as she made history with her participation in Tokyo as the first Hmong-American to represent Team USA at the Olympics. 

Lee’s gold medal win came just one day after Biles announced that she was withdrawing from the competition and would not be defending her Olympic title, amid ongoing struggles with her mental health, which she has hinted are related to the ongoing trauma of the abuse she endured at the hands of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar. 

The gymnast broke her silence in the wake of the announcement hours later, when she thanked her fans for their ‘support and love’, noting that her fans have helped her to realize ‘she is more than gymnastics’. 

‘The outpouring love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before,’ Biles tweeted on Wednesday night.  

Biles stunned spectators and athletes alike in Tuesday’s team final when she flubbed her vault – her first skill – by bailing out of a skill mid-air, completing just one-and-a-half twists instead of the intended two-and-a-half, an error that saw her earn an uncharacteristically low score of just 13.766. 

Moments later, it was announced that she was pulling out of the lineup altogether, leaving her three teammates, Lee, Jordan Chiles, 20, and Grace McCallum, 18, to try and overtake their Russian rivals without her. While the trio of first-time Olympians put on a bold fight – at one point narrowing the gap between themselves and the Russian Olympic Committee to just a few tenths of a point – they ultimately ended up in silver medal position.  

Biles later hinted that the horrific sexual abuse she endured at the hands of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar is behind the mental health issues that prompted her shock withdrawal.

The 24-year-old drew a line between the trauma of Nassar’s abuse and her decision to pull out of both the team and individual all-around medal events for the first time when she retweeted a statement of support from a fellow gymnast – who hit out at critics of the sporting superstar, while reminding the world that Biles was ‘molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood’.

‘We are talking about the same girl who was molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood and teenage years,’ the statement, which was written by former gymnast-turned-fitness trainer Andrea Orris, read.

It continued: ‘That girl has endured more trauma by the age of 24 than most people will ever go through in a lifetime.’ 

Although Biles, who was seen for the first time since the announcement when she stepped out to cheer on Team USA’s male gymnasts in Tokyo on Wednesday, did not issue her own statement about Nassar or her decision to pull out of the all-around, a US official told DailyMail.com that Orris’ message ‘sums up everything Simone is feeling and wants to say’. 

The source continued: ‘The fact that Simone has retweeted it, shows that she agrees with every word that’s been said on her behalf.’

Biles, who has been incredibly outspoken in her criticism of USAG’s handling of the Nassar scandal, and her struggle to deal with the resulting trauma of his abuse, did not share her own statement – instead allowing the news to be shared by the organization that she has so frequently blasted for ‘failing’ to protect its gymnasts from the pedophile doctor.

‘After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health,’ the statement read.

‘Simone will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals. 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.’

Biles is one of more than 150 gymnasts who were abused by Nassar, the former national team doctor, during his 30-year career, and in 2019, she revealed that the trauma of the assaults had left her struggling with suicidal thoughts.

At the time, she admitted that she was ‘sleeping all the time’ because it was ‘the closest thing to death’, while revealing that she was undergoing therapy in order to deal with the abuse.

Biles has yet to announce whether she plans to take part in the other four individual event finals that she qualified for: vault, uneven bars, floor exercise and balance beam. 

If she chooses to take part, the gymnast will return to the Ariake arena as a competitor rather than a spectator for the first time since the team final on Sunday, when the vault and uneven bars finals are scheduled to take place. 

She also qualified for spots in Monday’s floor exercise final and Tuesday’s balance beam final. 

If she chooses to withdraw from all competitions, her spots in those finals will be handed to other athletes – including her US teammate Skinner, who would take over her place in the vault final.   

Skinner narrowly missed out on a place in the vault final because of the two-athlete-per-country rule – despite finishing in fourth place in the qualifying round, behind Biles, Carey, and Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade. Should Biles choose to pull out of the event, Skinner would be next in line to take her spot – just as Carey has now done for the all-around final.

Before Biles’ Olympic future was thrown into doubt, Skinner had expressed her ‘heartbreak’ over her failure to qualify for any individual finals, which meant that her competition ended after the first day of events.

In the other event finals, Biles’ spot would be handed to athletes from other countries; on the uneven bars, she would likely be replaced by French athlete Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos, while Japan’s Urara Ashikawa would be given a chance on the balance beam. British gymnast Jennifer Gadirova, who helped to propel her team to a surprise bronze medal finish in Tuesday’s competition, is next in line to compete in the floor exercise.