Simone Biles on competing again in Tokyo: ‘We’re going to take it a day at a time’

U.S. gymnast Simone Biles said she’s going to take it “a day at a time” when asked about competing again in the Tokyo Olympics, after leaving her team’s competition due to mental health reasons, multiple news outlets reported.

Speaking to reporters after withdrawing from her U.S. Olympic team’s final on Tuesday, Biles said she wasn’t in the right place mentally before the event, saying she’s been “fighting all of those demons,” according to The New York Times.

“At the end of the day, I have to do what was right for me,” Biles said. “It just sucks that it happened at the Olympic Games.”

When asked about competing in the individual all-around later this week, Biles responded that she will take it a day at a time before making the decision, according to The Washington Post. 

“We’re going to see about Thursday. We’re going to take it a day at a time,” Biles said. “I know tomorrow we have a little bit of a break for training, so that’ll be really nice to have a mental rest day. And then injury, no. Just my pride is hurt a little bit.”

Biles’s comments came as her teammates struggled without the star athlete in the team final Tuesday, posting a second-place finish behind Russia, receiving a silver medal.

Biles joins a list of professional athletes including Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka who have been open about their mental health struggles in their profession. 

The individual all-around competition for the gymnastics portion of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begins Thursday.