Simone Biles finished strong in Sunday’s women’s gymnastics team qualification round despite some apparent pain in her lower leg.
While warming up for her floor exercise, which occurred at around 6 a.m. ET, Biles left the mat to get her left ankle taped.
Biles “felt a little pain in her calf” during her warmup, her personal coach, Cecile Landi, said, according to NBC News.
The three-time Olympian then scored a 14.600 in her floor exercise, putting her on track to compete in the event final Aug. 5.
Later in the competition, she used a foam roller to massage her calf after hopping down from the mat on one leg.
Despite some limping, 2016’s all-around gold medalist she went on to receive a 15.800 on vault after nailing the “Biles II” — one of five original skills named after her — and a 14.433 on the uneven bars.
After the qualifier, U.S. national team technical lead Chellsie Memmel expressed concern over Biles’ lower leg.
“I haven’t even got to speak to Simone. I need to speak with our team, our medical team, but I don’t have an answer about that. I just first and foremost, I just want to make sure she’s physically okay,” Memmel said, per NBC News.
Here’s what we know so far.
Is Simone Biles injured?
After the round, Landi said the pain Biles felt in her calf isn’t new and was bothering the Olympian several weeks ago, NBC News reported.
However, pulling out of the competition was “never in her mind,” Landi said.
By the last rotation on the uneven bars, Biles was feeling better, her coach reported.
Landi was later asked if Biles’ future competing in Paris was in question.
“No, not at the moment,” Landi responded.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles withdrew from both the team final and the all-around competition after shakily leaving the mat from her floor exercise and vault performances.
The Olympian later shared that she was experiencing the twisties, a phenomenon of feeling “lost in the air” and disoriented during an aerial gymnastics move.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
