CHICAGO (USA), 20 December (EFE). Simone Biles, the most celebrated gymnast in the history of the United States, on Tuesday severed ties with the mental health platform ‘Cerebral’, of which she had been a promoter since last year. Year to raise awareness of the importance of looking after the psychological well-being of athletes.
Biles was attached to ‘Cerebral’ through October 2021, but the contract expired and both parties have not agreed to a renewal, according to ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ citing a spokesperson for the platform.
The 25-year-old American gymnast has won 32 Olympic and world medals and, in addition to her sporting achievements, is known for her activism for the mental health and safety of athletes, as well as children in foster care and victims of sexual abuse. ,
In this sense, Biles had signed a deal with ‘Cerebral’ to take another step in her fight and break the ‘taboo’ that accompanies psychological therapy for elite athletes and youth in general.
The gymnast’s environment did not comment on the interruption of the link with ‘cerebral’.
However, some Cerebral employees admit the company pressured doctors to prescribe powerful stimulant drugs for adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, The Wall Street Journal says.
Biles won five medals, four gold and one bronze, at the 2016 Rio Olympics and two, one silver and one bronze at the Tokyo Games.
In Tokyo, Biles went back to the team final after performing only vault exercises, in which she suffered a mind-body disconnect, known in gymnastic parlance as ‘twisties’.
After skipping the individual, floor, vault and asymmetric finals on the following day, she competed with a modified exercise in the barre, with which she won the bronze medal.
At those Olympic Games, Biles used her example to highlight the mental health problems that threaten elite athletes and has been a reference in the fight for athletes’ rights ever since.
