On July 29, Biles spoke about her mental health concerns and why she chose to withdraw, hours before she was seen cheering for Lee and Carey in the stands.
"For anyone saying I quit. I didn't quit, my mind & body are simply not in sync as you can see here," Biles shared on social media, including a clip of her practice routine on bars that morning. "I don't think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface nor do I have to explain why I put health first."
In another clip, Biles explained: "No this was not happening before I left the USA," and "it randomly started happening after prelims competition the VERY next morning."
During a Q&A session on her Instagram Story that day, Biles opening up to a fan about "twisties," the phenomenon gymnasts experience where they lose their understanding of where they are in the air, putting them at risk of injury when they land.
"Literally can not tell up from down. It's the craziest feeling ever. Not having an inch of control over your body. What's even scarier is since I have no idea where I am in the air I also have NO idea how I'm going to land or what I'm going to land on," Biles said.
At the time, she had four individual event finals (vault, beam, bars and floor) still scheduled.