Simone Biles has withdrawn from every individual event final at the 2021 Olympics so far as she deals with a case of the twisties. Biles had qualified for the all-around, vault, uneven bars, floor exercise and balance beam, but has dropped out of all but one of them to date.
The lone event that Biles hasn’t withdrawn from is the balance beam. That will be the final women’s gymnastics event at the 2021 Olympics and will take place on Tuesday.
Biles hasn’t given any indication of what she might do for that event, but one of her teammates thinks the greatest gymnast of all time will return to action.
MORE: MyKayla Skinner was set to leave Tokyo before replacing Simone Biles
On Sunday, MyKayla Skinner said that Biles was “still probably going to be competing” at the Olympic Games. When asked if she thought Biles was going to participate in the beam final, Skinner responded in the affirmative but added a caveat.
“I think so. Yes,” Skinner said, per “PEOPLE” magazine. “I don’t know for sure. It’s kind of up to her. So that’s the game plan.”
Whatever Biles does, Skinner has been impressed by how Biles has handled her challenges during the Olympics thus far.
“She’s just been so awesome in the last couple of days,” Skinner said. “And after everything she’s gone through, it’s really cool to see how strong she’s being. I’m like, ‘How are you so strong after all this?’ Like, I’d be in my room bawling every single night. So just to see how amazing she’s dealt with everything and all the horrible comments and just how people are responding to her — she is definitely one strong cookie. And she’s definitely inspired me in so many ways.”
Biles hasn’t just inspired Skinner. She also made sure that the 24-year-old gymnast, who came to the Olympics as an individual competitor, didn’t miss an opportunity to compete for a medal.
MORE: MyKayla Skinner, Suni Lee both medal in event finals
Skinner failed to qualify for any event finals at the Olympics. As such, she was getting ready to depart Tokyo, but Biles made sure that Skinner didn’t head home early.
“I was actually kind of going to get on a plane to go home,” Skinner told reporters on Sunday. “I wasn’t expecting any of this to happen. I was like, ‘They’re going to be fine [without me], they’re going to be good.’ And then, Simone was down on the floor after team finals and had told Cecile, like, ‘You need to text MyKayla to make sure she doesn’t go home in case she needs to step in.’ “
Obviously, she was needed. Skinner stepped in for Biles in the vault, as she was the top alternate for the event. She managed to take home silver during the final, and Biles was one of her many teammates who were cheering her on.
“It’s so weird, because I’m not used to seeing her in the stands, you know?” Skinner said to reporters after the vault final. “So it was seriously cool to see her love and support and her cheering us on. And I knew she was going to be the loudest one in there tonight because she’s like, ‘I want you to make podium. I want you to medal.’ “
Now, Skinner is hopeful that Biles will have a chance to return to the podium again. Biles will make a decision about the balance beam in the coming days, but no matter what happens, Skinner knows that Biles will be just fine.
“I think she’s very mentally and physically tough,” Skinner said. “So I think whatever happens, I think she’s just going to let it roll off and just continue with life being [the] amazing Simone that she is.”