*Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles revealed Tuesday that her aunt died during the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Biles won a bronze medal on the balance beam on Tuesday, and she revealed the tragic news about her aunt while speaking to reporters afterward.
“At the end of the day, people don’t understand what we are going through,” said Biles. “Two days ago, I woke up and my aunt unexpectedly passed, and it wasn’t any easier being here at the Olympic Games.”
“People have to realize that, at the end of the day, we’re humans, we’re not just entertainment,” she added. “There are things going on behind the scenes that people have no idea about.”
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The news arrived amid Biles returned to competition after a week off due to focus on her mental health.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God. This week needs to be over,'” Biles’ coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi told reporters, referring to when they learned of Biles’ aunt. “I asked her, ‘What do you need?’ And she said, ‘I just need some time.’ I said, ‘You call me, text me if you need anything I’ll be here. Whatever that is.’ She called her parents. She said, ‘There’s nothing I can do from over here. So I’m just going to finish my week and when I get home we’ll deal with it.'”
Biles made her return to competition on the last day of events for artistic gymnastics. She was greeted by a huge ovation from her teammates and hundreds in the Ariake Gymnastics Centre and went third of eight competitors on the event.
“It wasn’t easy pulling out of all those competitions,” Biles said. “People just thought it was easy, but I physically and mentally was not in the right head space, and I didn’t want to jeopardize my health and my safety because at the end of the day, it’s not worth it.
“My mental and physical health is above all medals that I could ever win. So to be clear, to do beam, which I didn’t think I was going to be, just meant the world to be back out there. And I wasn’t expecting to walk away with the medal. I was just going out there doing this for me.”
Biles withdrew from four individual finals at the Games, including the all-around individual competition, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise. She cited mental health concerns, later explaining that she was suffering from the “twisties” and feared injuring herself during competition.
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