Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Simone Biles, the U.S. gymnast who withdrew from Tokyo 2020 Olympic events to prioritize her mental health, has thanked fans for their "love and support" amid an outpouring of praise and well wishes from people around the world.
The 24-year-old, who is one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, withdrew from Thursday's individual all-around competition yesterday after stepping away from a dramatic team competition earlier in the week. She cited mental heath concerns and the need to protect "her body and mind."
In a tweet published Wednesday, Biles addressed the support she has since received from fans and said it had shown her she was "more" than her sporting accomplishments.
"The outpouring love and support I've received has made me realize I'm more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before," Biles said.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that it supported her decision "wholeheartedly" and applauded her "bravery."
"Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many," USA Gymnastics said.
Biles, who had been a favorite to win gold in the final, has won every individual all-around competition that she has entered since 2013 and won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But on Tuesday, while attempting an advanced vault that involves a back handspring with two-and-a-half twists in the air before landing, Biles faltered and left the field of play close to tears.
Writing on Instagram earlier in the week she said she felt "the weight of the world on [her] shoulders at times."
"I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn't affect me but damn sometimes it's hard hahaha!" she wrote in the post.
Her honesty about the pressure of competition and mental health has been supported by fellow athletes, as well as sponsors including Visa, American Airlines and Uber Eats.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist and former teammate Aly Raisman is among those to voice their support for Biles.
She criticized USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee for a lack of leadership in supporting athletes and said athletes were "people at the end of the day."
"USA Gymnastics has been an absolute disaster for years and unfortunately not enough has changed for us to believe in a safer future, but I think this just really shows the lack of leadership [of] USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee," she told CNN's Jake Tapper Tuesday.
"Does Simone have the support that she needs?" continued Raisman. "Do other athletes have the support that they need?"
She added: "It's a tremendous amount of pressure... I'm completely devastated and I support her so much."
Paula Radcliffe, the former team GB runner who was labeled a "quitter" when she was forced to withdrawn from the 2004 Athens Olympic marathon a few miles before the finish line due to injury, spoke of her own experience in an interview with CNN Wednesday.
"Neither one of us quit. Our bodies just weren't able to do it," Radcliffe said.
"Very few people actually understand the relationship between your mind and your body ... particularly in something that's really physically, or mentally -- or both -- taxing, you really need to know when to push through it and when to listen to your body, and it's what has made her the great champion that she is," she added.
"I would argue that she's actually even stronger mentally for being able to make that call now," Radcliffe said of Biles.
Sports stars are becoming more open about the pressures they face.
In May, four-time major tennis champion Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing mental health reasons.
The 23-year-old revealed she had suffered with anxiety and depression.
"The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that," she said in a statement at the time.
"Anyone that knows me knows I'm introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I'm often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.