At the press conference, she said there was a 5 1/2-hour period after the morning workout during which she found herself "shaking" and "could barely nap," which she had "never" felt going into a competition previously (hope she got to eat during that time). Her warmups went "a bit better," but after her vault, she decided "No -- mental is not there."

She also said, "I was trying a two-and-a-half and I ended up doing a one-and-a-half. Just got a little bit lost in the air." Athletes refer to that as "the twisties," a form of vertigo due to your brain and ear canals (which monitor your sense of balance) NOT being accustomed to flipping through the air two and a half times.

That is to say, Biles' "mental" hesitation was due to "physical" symptoms -- a genuine "medical issue." Her timing couldn't have been worse, of course, making it easy for her to be subjected to accusations of being a loser, coward, diva, and disgrace to her race.


Rocknation