Simone Biles Skipped 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony for a Good Reason — Here’s Why

As Team USA cruised down the Seine river at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, gymnastics superstar Simone Biles was not among the smiling faces onboard

Biles, 27, skipped the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, choosing instead to focus on getting ready for her first competition, which is in just two days, her mom, Nellie Biles, told Today’s Hoda Kotb.

“The first competition is Sunday, which is women’s qualifier, and, of course, she needs to rest up before that competition,” Nellie said, while the athlete took to her Instagram Stories to share that she plans to watch a recap of the ceremony when it airs during primetime coverage on NBC.

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team — which also includes Sunisa “Suni” Lee, Hezley Rivera, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles — will compete in a qualifying event on Sunday, July 28, just one day after the men’s team takes the mat on July 27.

This is not the first time the athlete and her teammates have opted to skip the opening ceremony in favor of resting up. At the Tokyo Games in 2021, a spokesperson told The New York Times that the group did not walk in the ceremony because they were “focused on preparation” ahead of the qualifying round that began the next day.

The men’s and women’s artistic gymnasts did not walk,” the spokesperson told PEOPLE. “They will be competing within the next couple of days and are focused on preparation.

Later, on her Instagram Stories, Biles said that she and her teammates “did our own little walk outside where we are staying haha,” adding that the amount of standing and the risk of COVID also factored in to their decision to opt out.

Paris marks the third Olympic Games for Biles after Tokyo and Rio in 2016. She is a four-time gold medalist, and is the most decorated gymnast in world championships history.

During podium training on Thursday, July 25, Biles successfully landed a Yurchenko double pike vault, which is also known as the “Biles II.”

The vault holds a difficulty score of 6.4, per NBC. Biles debuted the skill in 2021 at the U.S. Classic and successfully completed it in 2023 at the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.

In a video shared by NBC, Biles appeared confident after landing the highly-difficult vault at Percy Bay Arena in Paris.

Meanwhile, LeBron James and Coco Gauff, who rocked custom white suits from Ralph Lauren in honor of the gig, lead Team USA at the opening ceremony as this year’s flagbearers.