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Elijah Wood hits out at Piers Morgan over Simone Biles rant as she withdraws from Tokyo Olympics
Elijah has hit out at Piers Morgan after he slammed Simone Biles (Picture: Getty/Rex)
Elijah Wood has hit out at Piers Morgan after he slammed Simone Biles, claiming she was ‘selfish’ to withdraw from the women’s team gymnastics final at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 24-year-old gymnast has also pulled out of the individual all-around final, with her decision to prioritise her mental health praised by the head of the US Olympic Team and fellow athletes.
Former Good Morning Britain host Piers was highly critical of her decision, saying that she ‘let her country down’ by quitting.
In his column for the Daily Mail, the 56-year-old wrote: ‘She quit. The world’s greatest ever gymnast just gave up at the first hurled of these Olympics.
‘She left her team to fight on without their leader and supreme motivational champion, and rather than win the Gold medal they were hot favourites to win.
‘When you quit you were performing as part of a gymnastics team, not yourself. What exactly is so courageous, heroic or inspiring about quitting on your team and country in an Olympics?’
Elijah accused Piers of attempting to ‘stir the pot’ (Picture: Twitter)
Now Elijah has blasted Piers for his comments in a series of tweets, accusing him of attempting to ‘stir the pot’ and not recognising the ‘amount of pressure’ Olympic athletes are currently facing.
The 40-year-old’s first tweet, which did not directly mention Piers, said: ‘As if it’s in question, @Simone_Biles remains the Greatest of All Time. Even more, for having the courage to listen to her heart and mind and take care of herself in the face of unimaginable pressure.
‘We bow to you!!’
Piers responded with a cheeky remark, in which he felt the need to correct a spelling error from Elijah’s initial tweet.
‘Hey Elijah, it’s “your,”’ he said.
To which Elijah replied: ‘No s**t, I already corrected it.’
The actor went on: ‘Hey Piers, you couldn’t even begin to conceive of what it could possibly feel like to be an athlete at that level with that amount of pressure. Sit down.
Simone Biles has withdrawn from the women’s team gymnastics final and has also pulled out of the individual all-around final (Picture: Getty Images)
‘You’re [your] impulse to stir the pot is not only routine but terribly unbecoming and boring.’
Other celebrities also weighed in, including David Harewood, who quoted a tweet which featured gif of the moment Piers famously walked off the set of Good Morning Britain following a debate with Alex Beresford over Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
‘This you bro?’ he said, adding an eye rolling emoji.
And columnist Karen Attiah added: ‘Good morning to everyone except @piersmorgan.’
Piers sarcastically responded: ‘Morning Karen!’
Piers has since responded to the criticism he has received, as he reshared the gif of him walking off the Good Morning Britain set.
He wrote: ‘So, to sum up today’s big Simone Biles debate, snowflake Twitter is 100% adamant that walking out on teammates at work is brave, strong, inspiring and iconic – and anyone who dies it should be celebrated as one of the world’s great heroes…
‘Good to know.’
More: Piers Morgan
Simone, who won four gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, scored her lowest vault score at the Games in the opening rotation before withdrawing from the final.
The American superstar left the arena before returning to support her teammates, who claimed silver behind the Russian Olympic Committee.
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