U.S. gymnast Simone Biles. Photo: Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images
The Russian Olympic Committee is taking home a gold medal in women's gymnastics after U.S. star Simone Biles pulled out of the team finals on Tuesday due to a medical issue.
State of play: The Russian gymnasts finished with a total score of 169.528, ahead of the U.S. in second place at 166.096. The gold medal won Tuesday is the first for the Russian team since the Unified Team won in Barcelona in 1992, AP notes.
- The Russian Olympic Committee is now up by eight-tenths of a point as both teams head to floor exercise.
- The last time Team USA lost a team final in the Olympics or world championships was in 2010, to Russia, the New York Times notes.
Driving the news: Biles left the competition area Tuesday with a medical examiner after one rotation on the vault in which she faltered. She was replaced by Jordan Chiles and returned to the floor to cheer on her teammates.
What she's saying: "For me, I'm proud for how the girls stepped up and did what they had to do. I owe this to the girls, it has nothing to do with me. I am very proud of them," Biles told reporters Tuesday.
- "I said: 'you have done all the training, you can do this without me, and it will be just fine," Biles told Team USA when she withdrew from the rest of the women's team final after the first event.
Worth noting: Russian athletes are competing under the Olympic flag and not their own due to a doping ban.
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Simone Biles pulls out of gymnastics team finals with unknown medical issue