Simone Bilesis excelling at the world gymnastics championships — even after a kidney stonesent her to the hospital.
In Doha, Qatar, the Olympic champ, 21, advanced over the weekend to every final as the first-place qualifier for vault, floor, balance beam and all-around and the second-place qualifier for uneven bars,USA Todayreported. The American squad is charging toward the team final in first.
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Biles initially announced her kidney stone on Twitter with a cheery hospital selfie and a picture of her feet in a hospital bed. “Nothing like a late night ER visit less than 24 hrs before world championships,” Biles tweeted on Friday. “This kidney stone can wait…. doing it for my team! I’ll be gucci girls!”
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“I actually have not had it removed yet, just got the diagnosis and information about it,” she clarified to a fan via Twitter on Sunday. “We will deal with it after world championships! fingers crossed it stays okay!!!”
The last gymnast to win six medals at a world championships competition, which Biles is aiming to do, was Elena Shushunova in 1987, according toUSA Today.
“I heard rollercoasters might help kidney stones,” Biles said, according to theAssociated Press. “And I’m like ‘Well, I’m basically like my own little rollercoaster out there.’”
“She’s Simone,” Tom Forster, the Americans’ high performance coordinator, added. “You’d expect the same out of aMichael Jordanor aTiger Woodsand that’s who she is in our sport. And she showed it.”
“We had to go to the ER because I’ve been having stomach pains on my right side for two days, and we started to think it was my appendix, so we just wanted to go as a precautionary, and then we got tests done just to see what it was, and then they found a kidney stone,” Biles told USA Gymnastics. “Even when I’m walking or doing some stretches, I’m in a bit of pain, so adrenaline helps.”
source: people.com
