Story at a glance:
- Former gymnast Andrea Orris wrote a statement on Instagram about Biles, which was retweeted on Twitter.
- The Instagram post defended Biles from critics and noted that she endured sexual abuse by convicted doctor Larry Nassar.
- Biles withdrew from the all-around individual competition, as well as her team’s competition at the Tokyo Games.
Simone Biles withdrew from the all around individual competition as well as her team’s competition at the Tokyo Olympics because of her mental health, The Hill and Changing America previously reported.
And while some critics say her sudden and unexpected decision makes her a quitter or someone who is selfish, a social media post from a fellow gymnast defending Biles hints at her past molestation by disgraced osteopathic physician Larry Nassar, suggesting that might have haunted her performance.
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First on Biles’ Instagram Story and later retweeted on her Twitter account, according to The New York Post, former gymnast Andrea Orris wrote the following statement to all of Biles’ haters.
“It makes me so frustrated to see comments about Simone not being mentally tough enough or quitting on her team,” the message states.
“We are talking about the same girl who was molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood and teen years, won the world all-around championship title while passing a kidney stone, put her body through an extra year of training through the pandemic, added so much difficulty to her routines that the judges literally do not know how to properly rate her skills bc they are so ahead of her time,” the statement continues.
From a gymnast friend regarding Simone Biles ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4eWPIgi4yf
— Brandon Marino (@TheBatMarino) July 27, 2021
A U.S. official that spoke with The Daily Mail has confirmed Orr’s post reflects how Biles is feeling, saying “The fact that Simone has retweeted it, shows that she agrees with every word that’s been said on her behalf.”
As Changing America previously reported, Biles, the most decorated gymnast in world championship history, says she would not allow her future daughter to be part of USA Gymnastics after the organization’s handling of former team doctor Nassar’s sexual abuse scandal.
“No. Because I don’t feel comfortable enough, because they haven’t taken accountability for their actions and what they’ve done. And they haven’t ensured us that it’s never going to happen again,” Biles said in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes.
Biles was one of more than 200 athletes who came forward with allegations that Nassar assaulted them during his time as doctor for the U.S. Gymnastics team and Michigan State University.
Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in 2018 for sexually assaulting a large number of young women and children.
“It is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences and it breaks my heart even more to think that as I work towards my dream of competing in Tokyo 2020, I will have to continually return to the same training facility where I was abused,” Biles said on Twitter at the time.
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