Simone Biles opens up about withdrawal from Olympic competitions: "I don't think you realize how dangerous this is"
CBSN
Superstar gymnast Simone Biles defended her decision to withdraw from Olympic competitions on her Instagram story on Thursday night, explaining that she is still struggling from what is known as the "twisties," and isn't sure if she will be able to compete in individual competitions scheduled for next week.
This week, Biles pulled out of both the team final and the women's individual all-around at the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental health. Team USA won silver in the team event, and Biles' teammate Suni Lee won gold in the individual — the fifth American woman in a row to do so. Opening up on Instagram stories overnight, Biles, a six-time Olympic medalist, answered questions from her fans about a condition that gymnasts call the "twisties" — a frightening state of disassociation that prevents athletes from successfully completing a skill, which can lead to serious injury.Two more black-footed ferrets have been cloned from the genes used for the first clone of an endangered species in the U.S., bringing to three the number of slinky predators genetically identical to one of the last such animals found in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday.
There were 56 wild, endangered Puerto Rican parrots living around El Yunque National Forest before Hurricane Maria in 2017. After the storm, there was only one survivor. Wood thrushes, found across the eastern U.S.; 60% of them are gone. Baltimore orioles, also an eastern bird; two-fifths have been lost. Western meadowlarks, prevalent in the central and western U.S.; three-fourths have disappeared.