Contributed by Scott Lipscomb

Simone Biles was forced to withdraw from the women’s team gymnastic final on Tuesday for medical reasons, as the Russia Olympic Committee (ROC) took gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The ROC’s team of Vladislava Urazova, Viktoriia Listunova and Angelina Melnikova won with a score of 169.528, while Team USA took silver with 166.096 and Great Britain bronze with 164.096, CNN reported.

Biles withdrew from the final on Tuesday after leaving the arena to be attended to by the trainer.

During the first rotation of the team competition, performing her Amanar vault , Biles only managed one-and-a-half rotations and landed awkwardly — prompting gasps from onlookers in the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

“Simone Biles has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue,” said a USA Gymnastics statement. “She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions. Thinking of you, Simone!”

Biles returned in her tracksuit before the second rotation to show support to her teammates and cheer them on.

Russia’s Listunova scored 14.166 for her flawless floor routine, growing the ROC’s lead to more than three points, followed by Melnikova who then scored 13.966 to seal the win and spark emotional celebrations with her teammates.

“I knew that it was depending on me and I was feeling overwhelming happiness and I knew I did it. I knew I had done my job,” Melnikova said of her floor routine.
“We still can’t believe it’s happening. The impossible is possible now … We worked extremely hard, we were basically in a closed training camp for a year and a half, working for this moment.”