Yahoo Finance The Inspirational Pep Talk That Simone Biles Gave Teammates After Her Withdrawal
Simone Biles gave her teammates an inspiring pep talk after she pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics gymnastics team final midway through the event on Tuesday, citing mental health concerns.
Biles apologized to fellow U.S. gymnasts Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles and told them to “kick ass” in the rest of the event, as seen in a video that’s going viral.
“I’m sorry. I love you guys, but you’re gonna be just fine,” she said.
“You guys have trained your whole entire life for this. It’s fine,” Biles continued. “I’ve been to an Olympics. I’ll be fine. This is your first. You go out there and kick ass, OK?”
Watch the video here:
Simone Biles: "I'm sorry. I love you guys, but you're gonna be just fine."
"You guys have trained your whole entire life for this, it's fine. I've been to an Olympics, I'll be fine. This is your first — you go out there and kick ass, okay?" pic.twitter.com/r2RxWQ2Dsy— Kendall Baker (@TheKendallBaker) July 27, 2021
The Americans secured silver. The Russian Olympic Committee won gold.
After the final, Biles said she had “to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.”
USA Gymnastics announced Wednesday that Biles had withdrawn from Thursday’s individual all-around final. It’s unclear if she will compete in other individual finals.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
