- Title: Biles trusts her own voice, says former Olympian Dominique Dawes
- Date: 28th July 2021
- Summary: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CANADA (JULY 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST DOMINIQUE DAWES SAYING: "The other young girls that were on the team, they really stepped up their game. Suni Lee as well as Jordan Chiles did not have an opportunity to warm up all events which is unheard of. You never just jump on an event nearly cold. But when they thought that Simone was competing during the warm-up, they didn't need to warm up. And then when she backed out mid-competition, they had to nearly do their sets cold. While they got a 30 second touch on the apparatus, that's not a lot of time. But to know that these girls did the best job that they could - they walked away with a silver medal, they're Olympians, and they're Olympic silver medalists - they're going to be very proud of their performances. WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST DOMINIQUE DAWES SAYING: "We've got the all-around finals coming up in I believe two days and she's considering competing in that competition. If she's on her A-game, more than likely, she'll be on top of the podium but we will see. It's a bit of a waiting game. And then there's also the individual event finals and she qualified to every single individual event final. If she decides to step out of competing, then MyKayla Skinner will get her shot, her second shot, on the floor to be able to compete for a couple of individual events and so will another American gymnast as well. So even if Simone does back away, it'll be an opportunity for another one of her teammates but only time will tell."
- Embargoed: 11th August 2021 01:26
- Keywords: Dominique Dawes Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles Tokyo Olympic Games women's gymnastics
- Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CANADA / TOKYO, JAPAN / BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES
- City: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CANADA / TOKYO, JAPAN / BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Olympics,Sport,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA00AENMB9S7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former U.S. Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes expressed her support for Olympic gymnast Simone Biles who dropped out of the women's team final at the Tokyo Summer Games, saying she had to focus on her mental health.
Biles, who has racked up multiple world and Olympic medals in a spectacular career, said Tuesday (July 27) that the pressure of living up to expectations had left her no other choice but to drop out of the team final.
Dawes, the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics, said Biles is under tremendous pressure and it is important for the 24-year-old to trust herself in order to prevent injuries.
"She made that decision for herself and I think she recognized that there was a possibility of her creating a very serious error that could lead to a very serious injury. What she does out there is very difficult maneuvers. She makes it look very easy - that's the problem - people think that what she does is very easy and maybe even easy for her but it takes a lot physical toughness, mental toughness, psychological toughness and she felt off of her game and recognized that she didn't want to put herself in jeopardy so she made the decision," said Dawes.
"The best thing she can do is shut off all this outside chatter. Anything that's not coming from her own head or her support system need not, need not be heard," she added.
Dawes also said that without an audience or family members in the audience, athletes at this year's Olympics are missing the reassurance that she found so critical when she competed.
The U.S. team went on to win silver in the event.
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