“I should have never made another Olympic team,” says Biles in a new interview
Global superstar athlete Simone Biles gets candid about her decision to withdraw from competing in the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.
In her first major profile since the summer games, Biles opens up to New York Magazine’s The Cut about taking the time to heal. She tells the publication she “should have quit” long prior to her Tokyo Olympics withdrawal, citing former team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar as the primary reason cause for much of her emotional distress.
Biles has previously discussed being sexually abused by Nassar. She recently blasted the FBI’s handling of the Nassar investigation during emotional testimony to Congress.
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“If you looked at everything I’ve gone through for the past seven years, I should have never made another Olympic team. I should have quit way before Tokyo, when Larry Nassar was in the media for two years. It was too much,” Biles says in The Cut feature. “But I was not going to let him take something I’ve worked for since I was 6 years old. I wasn’t going to let him take that joy away from me.”
Nassar pleaded guilty to molesting young athletes and was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years in prison, theGrio previously reported. Many of his victims were teenagers. Some were Olympians, and some were even gold medalists. Several have spoken out about the impact of the abuse and none have been more vocal than Biles.
Source: Simone Biles says she should’ve ‘quit way before Tokyo’ but wouldn’t let Larry Nassar steal joy
