"We all knew we had to continue not without her, but for her"- When Simone Biles teammate opened up about aftermath of her absence in Olympic finals

Simone Biles' teammate, Suni Lee, once opened up about the aftermath of the star gymnast's absence in the team finals at the Tokyo Olympics. The American gymnast shared that the US gymnastics team's approach completely changed after they heard about the Biles withdrawal and expressed that it summed up the motivation to continue for her.

Biles' decision to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics sent shock waves in the gymnastics community. After Simone Biles' withdrawal before the team finals at the Tokyo Olympics, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles put forward impressive performances in the team event to win the silver medal.

Suni Lee opened up about competing after Simone Biles' withdrawal in an interview with Time Magazine. The Olympic medalist shared that Biles' step towards safeguarding her mental health inspired them to take a stand for their well-being.

Moreover, it also gave out a message to the world that gymnasts can also have tough days, and Lee felt that taking a stand "humanized" them.

“We all knew we had to continue not without her, but for her. What Simone did changed the way we view our well-being, 100%. It showed us that we are more than the sport, that we are human beings who also can have days that are hard. It really humanized us," she said.

Simone Biles' withdrawal led to the conversation about the importance of paying attention to mental health and reaching out for professional help if needed.

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Simone Biles on opening up about her mental health journey

Biles at The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" - Arrivals - Source: Getty

Simone Biles spoke about being open about her mental health journey in an interview with Olympics.com. The American athlete shared that she did not know that the reason for her Olympic withdrawal would spark a global discussion around mental health, and she did not have the goal of becoming a mental health advocate when she decided to open up about her struggles.

"See for me, that was the hardest part because speaking out on mental health, I knew that I could have the possibility of becoming an advocate for that. But it wasn't my goal. It's not what I really wanted," she said.

However, after receiving a lot of messages from people around the world, Biles expressed that she wanted to share her experience with people and let them know that they were not alone.

"So, to kind of be put at the forefront, it's like... I'm still going through my own thing. So how am I supposed to teach people, hey, like, you should do this or this, but everybody goes through that process differently and there are different methods that work for each individual person. So, I didn't really want to, but at least we're going through it together, and I could teach them something in that," she added.

Simone Biles urged people undergoing similar struggles to seek the support of their family members and close friends.