When I was growing up, I spent a great deal of time training as a gymnast. I was tiny, skinny, and very flexible. I learned how to tumble, vault, and was looked at as someone who could be trained for the Olympics. After talking to my coaches, my mother made the decision that I would not be trained that diligently and pulled me from the program.
I still trained in gymnastics though. Through classes at the YMCA, school teams, and on through high school. Gymnastics was my jam.
I sat spellbound watching Mary Lou Retton score a perfect 10. I tried to mimic her routines. She was an idol of mine for sure.
Eventually, I gave up most sports due to a knee issue that was only getting worse. It wasn’t an easy decision, but one I needed to make if I wanted to walk in my 40’s and 50’s. I know now, it was the right choice.
After all my sports training ended, I was still fascinated with gymnastics. I watched with amazement, and disgust, at what Kerri Strug did. She was begging to not do that second vault. She really did not need to as our points had already guaranteed a gold medal. But she was told “You can do it!” by her coach. And so she did. Thus ending her gymnastics career.
After all this, we then found out that the female gymnasts were being routinely sexually abused by the medical staff who should have been protecting them.
Which brings us to Simone Biles.
Here’s a gymnast who is so good, so talented, so over the top incredible that she has no less than 4 signature moves named after her. She’s the most decorated gymnast ever between World Championships and Olympic medals. She is at her 3rd Olympics at the ripe “old” age of 24. She is an elite athlete in every sense of the term.
Simone has endured the aforementioned abuse, spoke up about it, has opened her own gym so other girls can train safely, is a powerhouse in every event, and carries that beautiful smile with her every day.
She’s also been told she can not perform those signature moves for fear that others will try them and get injured. Not only that, but that she would be marked DOWN if she tried them. Think about that. An athlete being told that their incredible abilities are not going to be acknowledged. She has consistently shown up and blown people away with her athleticism. Simone has EARNED the right to be called GOAT.
And all the pressure, all the training, all the disappointment, all the pain she’s endured came to a head during this Olympics. Ms. Biles took a step back and realized she was not in a good head space to perform these often dangerous routines. She was slipping and did not want to put herself in danger. So she did the wise thing and took some time off.
Good for her!!
She owes us all exactly NOTHING. Her only allegiance is to herself. She knew she was at risk of failing, which would have been extremely detrimental to her team. It was better for her to walk away than to continue on. By taking a step back, she can get herself in a better frame of mind for individual events and her future.
We should be praising her decision to care for herself. Instead, I’ve seen some pretty misguided hot takes. People accusing her of performing badly and unable to handle that. Some saying she left her team in a lurch. Others basically calling her a coward. My guess is none of those people have ever trained like she does, and has never been in such a high pressure situation once, let alone three times.
There’s been such a push for us to stop stigmatizing mental health, but when someone like Simone Biles says she needs a break for her mental health, she’s ridiculed and bashed. That is not helping.
These athletes have the world on their back and all eyes on them. They are young. The pressures put on them are insane. So yeah, Simone needed to take a step back. Her team supports her, so we ALL should.
Made Dames 