Olympics: Simone Biles Wins Bronze, Candy Jacobs Talks ‘Inhumane’ Housing

08.03.21
Olympics: Simone Biles Wins Bronze, Candy Jacobs Talks ‘Inhumane’ Housing (Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

U.S. gymnast Simone Biles won bronze in the individual balance beam final on Tuesday at the last Olympic gymnastics event of the Tokyo Games.

Biles initially dropped out of the three other event finals earlier in the games to prioritize her mental health. Tuesday’s win is Biles’ only individual medal at the Tokyo Games.

China’s Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing won gold and silver, respectively.

Biles is now tied with Shannon Miller as the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast of all time, with seven total medals.

“It’s been a very long week, it’s been a very long five years,” she said, speaking in the gymnastics center after the event. “I didn’t expect a medal today, I just wanted to go out there and do this for me and that’s exactly what I did.”

Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs claims that after testing positive for COVID-19 during the Olympics, she was put in quarantine at a hotel with “inhuman” conditions. 

The 31-year-old was in isolation for at least a week before returning home in the Netherlands and missed competing in the street event in skateboarding’s debut as an Olympic sport. Jacobs said she had no fresh air while in quarantine. 

“Not having any outside air is so inhuman,” Jacobs said in a now deleted video message posted on Instagram. “It’s mentally super draining … definitely more than a lot of humans can handle.”

After more than seven hours, she said, officials agreed she could stand at an open window under supervision for 15 minutes.

On Thursday, Jacobs said she left Tokyo and “will need some time to bounce back from this. Physically and mentally.” 

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