Without Simone Biles, U.S. Gymnastics Team Takes Silver Medal

TOKYO — Competing without 24-year-old reigning Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles, Team USA took a silver medal, finishing behind Russia, in team competition Tuesday at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Tuesday

The GOAT — the greatest of all time in the sport — left the competition floor with a team doctor Marcia Faustin, then returned several minutes later to hug her teammates, who struggled to finish the competition without her, The Associated Press reported.

Despite early reports that she had been injured, Biles said she withdrew because "we have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”

USA Gymnastics said in a statement that Biles "will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions."

• The Latest: Biles Exits Gymnastics Finals To Protect Team, Self

Biles intended to do an "Amanar," a vault that starts with a roundoff back handspring onto the table followed by 2½, but appeared to change her mind in mid-air and did 1½ twists instead.

Her withdrawal hampered the U.S. team's bid to claim a third straight Olympic gold medal. The Americans had been favorites to win the gold.

USA Gymnastics did not specify the nature of Biles' medical issue.

Biles is next scheduled to perform at the all-around final on Thursday. She qualified for all five gymnastics finals later in the Games.

Biles wrote Monday on Instagram that she felt like she carried the "weight of the world" on her shoulders. The Olympics, she wrote, "were no joke."

Biles, the unquestioned star of the Games, won five medals in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games five years ago.

The team representing the Russian Olympic Committee won its first Olympic title since winning a gold medal in Barcelona in 1992. Great Britain won the silver medal.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.