If you were hoping to flip out over seeing the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the Tokyo Opening Ceremony, we have some unfortunate news for you.
A spokeswoman for the team confirmed to The New York Times that Simone Biles and her fellow gymnasts won't be walking in the event on Friday, July 23, because they're "focused on preparation." According to the outlet, Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, MyKayla Skinner and Jade Carey also didn't take any questions from reporters after practicing on Friday, choosing instead to walk past journalists in a single file line led by the defending all-around champ.
Biles also took to her Instagram Story on Friday to further explain why the team decided not to attend the ceremony, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as one of the reasons. Plus, "The amount of standing is crazy. USA is usually at the end as well because of alphabetical." Biles added that the gymnastics team starts "the following day," so it "wouldn't be smart" to attend. She also noted, "We've actually never attended Opening I believe. *Gym fans help me out if that info is wrong."
And although they opted out of the official Opening Ceremony, the team decided to have one of their own. Carey posted pictures on Instagram of the squad striking a pose in Olympic village, captioning the snaps, "our own little twist on opening ceremonies."
In addition to the gymnastics team, Olympian Alex Morgan also confirmed on Friday that the U.S. women's soccer team wouldn't be in attendance at the Opening Ceremony. As she explained, "We won't be there in person but we WILL be parading around the hotel in our opening ceremony outfits while prepping for game 2 tomorrow!"
Clearly, the teams are in the zone as they gear up to compete in the upcoming days. In fact, it was just yesterday that Biles was spotted practicing her history-making vault move: the Yurchenko Double Pike. Back in May, the four-time gold medalist became the first woman to land the move in competition.
While the decorated athlete has already achieved so much in her career, Biles is looking to go for more gold during this Olympic run. "I knew I had more to give to the sport for myself and I felt like I had a purpose," she explained to Today's Hoda Kotb in April about her return to the Games. "And now, I feel like I do, and it's to be a voice for the younger generation. And I feel like I've done that. So, I feel like God just called me."
As the world awaits the start of the gymnastics competition, meet the athletes competing for Team U.S.A. below.