NEW ORLEANS — Without a doubt, flips and tricks are the most challenging parts of being a gymnast, especially if you're an Olympic gymnast like Simone Biles. But, there are other challenges these athletes face on a day to day basis on and off the mat.
Tuesday morning, the world renowned gymnasts shocked the world when she announced her withdrawal from the women's team finals in Tokyo.
The announcement comes after the multiple gold medalists failed to land the vaunted double pike.
"You could see it in her face that something was off," said NOLA Gymnastics owner, Gretchen Schultz.
Apparently something was.
The USA Gymnastics said Biles suffered a "medical issue."
But, at a post competition press conference, the Olympic gymnast broke down and said she withdrew due to a "mental health issue."
"There's just so much pressure about how you're going to perform," said Leah Goody, a coach at NOLA Gymnastics.
Now 18, Goody is a coach at NOLA Gym but she started out as a 5-year-old flipping on the mat to reach the gold.And she did, winning both regional and national competitions.
"You get to the competition and you don't meet those expectations that other people have or that you have for yourself it just gets really hard to deal with that especially if you like fall in the middle of a routine," Goody said.
"There is a lot of depression, anxiety, eating disorders in any sport and I think as coaches we need to make room for that," Schultz said.
Schultz said the announcement was hard for many of her young gymnast.
"It was kind of sad, but I thought she was going to continue at the same time but she didn't," said 11-year-old, Rachel Hutchins.
"It's pretty disappointing to most people," said 9-year-old Sophia Bologna.
It's still unknown if Biles will make it to the mat to finish out the Olympics. But, whether Biles makes it mat or not, her admirers say they'll still be rooting for her.
"I'm just worried about Simone. We all love her and support her no matter what," Schultz said.