OT: Simone Biles Suddenly Withdraws from Team Competition
The team declined to talk to the media afterward, though the 24-year-old did post on social media that she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and that the Olympics were "no joke."
Yet, something happened during the first rotation. She attempted an Amanar vault during warmups only to roll out of it upon landing. The code for that vault posted when she saluted the judges, but in midair things went awry.
This is something that has occasionally been discussed, but I'm noticing some examples of outstanding athletes facing some mental blocks - and their "invincible" status being challenged - over the past year. Simone even mentions it above.
We've sought out athletics to be a semblance of "normalcy" in a year full of crazy moments, and in some ways, I wonder if that pressure has had an outsize effect on athletes' attempts to deliver on that.
She says she isn't physically injured.
Afterward, Biles made clear the issue was not physical.
“I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat; and work on my mindfulness,” she said.
As for whether she would compete again in Tokyo, where she is next scheduled to perform in Thursday’s all-around, Biles replied, “We’re going to see about Thursday. We’re going to take it a day at a time. I know tomorrow we have a little bit of a break for training, so that’ll be really nice to have a mental rest day. And then injury, no. Just my pride is hurt a little bit.”
Yeeeeeesh. One has to wonder how her teammates who were neck and neck with Russia and needed her help felt about this. What if it's the 4th Quarter in a competitive game against OSU and suddenly the QB walks off the field and heads for the locker room. "Wanted to work on my mindfulness," he says.
Not making light of the mental health aspects of this high-level of competition, but this is someone who has been there and crushed it multiple times. I'm stunned. With all the gold medals, it's hard not to imagine this will be her legacy.
Anyone who has suffered from serious mental health issues can tell you that they can be physically debilitating, and I would contend it is absolutely a form of physical injury. If your brain isn't functioning, good luck performing at a high level.
Also, you say you aren't making light of it, but then go ahead and suggest she wasn't giving it her all because it isn't what most people consider to be a typical sports injury. This is a pervasive stereotype that makes it even harder for people to open up about their own mental health struggles because others are just gonna say they didn't want it enough or quit on their team.
I'm not surprised that a mental issue can be physically debilitating-- I'm just shocked that of all people, it was her. If you've followed her career, you'll know Simone Biles has just been a straight-up assassin. She'd be the first person I'd go to if I needed a sample of alligator blood.
Hope she sorts through it.
There have been some signs recently. I saw an article a few days ago talking about how she couldn't wait for the Olympics to be over because the combination of the pressure (both internal and external) as well as the physical beating gymnasts take was making the sport less fun for her.
Plus the instagram post yesterday or the day before following a "disappointing" qualifying for her where she talked about having the weight of the world on her shoulders.
I'm pretty sure I read that she had ADHD and was prescribed medication for it. She was also one of Nassar's victims. It's pretty remarkable that she's killed gymnastics for so long considering what she's overcome.
Just goes to show you never really know the internal battles that some of these people face. Public figures will project an image of themselves or have an image projected to the public in our limited exposure to them. But we don’t know what they’re going through behind the scenes.
Reminds me a bit of the Robin Williams suicide. We always got the happy/funny Robin Williams. Nobody was aware of the internal struggles he was going through that resulted in his suicide. The image of Robin that was projected to the public wasn’t a representation of his real life and his struggles. Athletes are the same way. We see what they/the media want us to see.
I just read recently that he was misdiagnosed. The autopsy confirmed it was not Parkinson’s. Can’t remember what disease was found, but the Parkinson’s meds almost certainly contributed to his downfall.
I believe it was Lewy body dementia.
Honestly, never gave much care to Simone Biles but many are questioning her heart. I say, hats off to her for having the big balls to come out and admit it was mental. Make no mistake, mental issues can have an unbelievably negative effect on performance. And it takes major balls to talk about it. She's made me a big fan today.
She choked… mental health indicates real issues. She pushed the boundaries of her routines and have several abilities named after her. In the moment, she couldn’t pull it off. Nothing wrong with that, but don’t hide behind the moniker of mental health when you psyched yourself out and let your team down.
Glad to see you have access to her mind,
She is a professional… she has cashed in for a decade. She won every US warm up meet before this. Why only now, on the biggest stage where she strewed up her routine, allowed to quit on her team under the guise of mental health?
You seem really hurt by her decision.
I don't try to answer other people's "why?"s. It often results in error. She explained that her mental state is not where it needs to be. You can choose to believe her or not. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Not hurt at all... just annoyed that they used this excuse. Mental health is real... there are plenty of examples of players (especially the NFL and NHL) where unchecked mental health leads to devastating outcomes.
If a kicker misses a big field goal before half and then decides to not take the field in the second half, is he brave? That is analogous to what happened here.
Again, she isn't a child. She is a professional. She cashed in big time on her status. She wants to do the individual event despite indicating mental health being the reason she couldn't compete in the team event. What am I missing?
Empathy. Class. Optics. Sensibility....I could continue but I think you already knew.
You are "annoyed" by her choice. Okay. "Mental health is real" yet she isn't permitted to have struggles with it. Okay.
What are you missing? Well, lots.
I don't think you're missing anything. I just think your take - about a young woman who has given her whole life to the sport, brought the country a ton of glory, and kept competing despite being a sexual abuse victim of her program, not to mention the many articles about her abuse this very week - makes you an unmitigated asshole.
If a kicker comes out again in the second half and misses another FG, he just costs his team. If Biles isn't in the right headspace and tries and messes up flipping four times 15 feet in the air she can break her neck pretty easily. Someone like you, whose biggest pressure moment was probably having to take a big dump during a world of warcraft game, wouldn't get that.
Lots buddy. You’re missing lots. So much that it’s hard to tell where to begin.
I’ll simply say that you’re not her therapist, and you’re not her. You don’t know what makes her tick. You don’t know what’s going on in her life, in her head, or how she handles those happenings. Different things affect different people in different ways. Sometimes it becomes too much and you simply need to step back for a day or two, gather yourself, and clear your mind. She’s entitled to do that.
Instead of trying to be the gatekeeper for who is and isn’t struggling with their mental health, try having some damn compassion and understanding when someone says there’s too much on their shoulders and they need a break for a day or two for their mental health. I’m sure we’ve all reached a point where there’s so much pressure and stress on us, that we need to just take a step back and regain our composure. Athletes are no different.
And she was still winning.
oh, fuck right off.
Depressed people don’t fake being depressed, they fake being ok.
I really wish I can give this more than 1 upvote.
+1000. Shout this from the rafters. When depressed, it's sometimes all we can do to make it out of bed and to work. And ignorant people are like "oh, you seem down"...... yeah, no shit.
coldnjl; not the best way to put it like that and then getting a few dozen or more downvotes. You sure didn't sugar coat your comments.
Simon is human and has overcome a lot to get at the level she achieved. I have compassion for her. She might return to the floor in a few days, so stated to a wait and see approach.
thanks Doctor.
I commented to my wife the other night that Simone looked completely unfocused in the prelims, almost as if she was mailing it in. This observation helped on by the fact that there was a camera in her face ALL FUCKING NIGHT! As usual NBC coverage just absolutely gloms on to the big stars and completely overwhelms their story until you are actually embarrassed to be watching, almost like a voyeur.
That said Mike Tirico is terrific and his segments with Michael Phelps are really good.
Maybe she shouldn't proclaim herself "The greatest of all time" if she can't take the pressure.
She literally said a reason she hadn't retired was because she thought having a Nassar victim on the roster would push accountability. If you read this, you can see she was trying her best to carry through to do her part in the good fight. That is a lot of pressure, stress, and weight on her mind.
Imagine a player signing a deal to get over 7 figures that plasters their face next to a goat all over the internet. Then they declare they're sitting out of the OSU game to concentrate on the NFL draft.
I'm sure NBC played a big role in the over-the-top hype videos of Biles, but it's still a two-way street.
i think joey bosa did pretty much that.
and we still got our asses whipped.
Anyone who commits their entire lives to a sport, gives up their youth and shot at a normal life, and their developing bodies and health, in order to make it to the mountain top like Simone Biles can not be considered soft because they realize when things are going to implode.
We love to mock athletes who go crazy under the pressure of sport and fame, but also somehow mock the ones who say they just need some time to breathe.
She dominated her sport in ways that few other people have. This should not diminish her in any way.
The same could be said about her teammates who had a teammate quit on them.
I sort of agree with this even though it's not being said the right way. If she had quit before or during the trials then I'd be fully supportive. But she took a spot on the team, took the endorsements, marched in the opening ceremony, etc. At that point, you've got to push through and do your job because someone else could have easily been there in her place having a once in a lifetime experience. This mentality in society now that we can all shirk our responsibilities for mental health reasons is dangerous. She could have done her job and then gotten the help she needs.
Maybe she felt she was doing right by the team. That if she knew her performance wouldn't be up to snuff, having a third performer go that could do better was the course of action that gave the team the best chance.
To bash her you have to assume a good performance, and her own vault and her mindset suggests otherwise.
She has made a mistake in every event, and I just think trying to live up to Simone Biles has gotten to her.
I agree. Watching some of the preliminaries she was really off. She landed co.pketely off the mat in two events. I dont think I've ever seen that, let alone someone of her caliber. I think she got the yips and psyched herself out.
The difficulty on those routines was insane... she pushed the boundaries... even with those mistakes (which are totally understandable), her execution deductions wouldn't have been enough to kill her score. She won everything by a mile during the warm up meets despite those issues bc of the difficulty.
She said in her press conference that she doesn't trust herself right now. That's doom for a gymnast doing literally the most difficult routines in history - more flips, twists, and height than anyone else.
As for bailing on her teammates, you have no room to talk. In interviews, they understood and wished the best for her. They understand the pressures to an extent that you or I cannot. They feel more disappointed for her than for themselves.
The degree of difficulty on Biles routines is so far above the other competitors even if she has a few mistakes, she still ends up with the highest score. She didn't perform anywhere close to her highest level in the qualifying and she still had the highest overall individual score on the USA team.
"just my pride is hurt a little bit" That's absolutely pathetic. Pride comes before the fall.
Since you're cherry-picking Bible verses, give this one a whirl:
"Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12.
I'm conflicted. On one hand, I think its completely understandable to struggle with the pressure and what it can do to people. Its something that should be taken seriously. On the other hand, this was a team event and she, undeniably, let her teammates down. Quite frankly, there's a part of me that thinks it's a bit selfish of her. Like Biles, her teammates have worked for years and years to get to this point and then 'poof' its gone.
If I was her teammate I would try to have some empathy and understanding for her situation but I'd still be upset. Now, if she decides to go compete in the individual events I would be absolutely furious. Like, if it was men's athletics and one of my teammates did that, there'd be a physical altercation in the locker room type furious.
What if it was a broken collar bone? Would you still be furious? Unlike physical injuries, however, a mental state can change quickly, for better and for worse. If you've watched her perform this Olympics you can see she isn't "right", as other posters have noted. So, would you prefer someone ignore their injury (physical or psychic) to the detriment of the team, or to recognize that they are not at their best and give the second string a chance?
If anyone thinks that they are more disappointed than Simone, who has actually put in more work than anyone on the team, they might want to reconsider their perspective.
You didn't read what I wrote. I said, if I was her teammate and she chooses to come back and do the individual events I'd be furious. If she broke her collarbone and couldn't compete I wouldn't be upset with her being injured. If she had a mental event that didn't allow her to compete that's her prerogative. But saying your mental state doesn't allow for you to compete one day with your team and then going out the next and competing for individual prestige would come off to me as incredibly selfish.
Look at it this way. If Michigan had made the NCAA championship game and Isaiah Liver's foot injury kept him out of the game nobody would question it. If they lost the game and then the next day Liver's was competing in a dunk contest everyone would be saying wtf.
I’m not conflicted. You’re a moron.
Devastating.
Look at someone like Kerry Strug. Competed with a jacked up ankle and still pushed her way through it. I have sympathy for Biles, but at the same time, I can see and agree with everything you said here. I'm all for mental health and she clearly looked psyched out, and she has to be hurting inside, but me personally, I could never do that to my team, no matter the circumstances.
Using mental health is very en vogue now to dodge scrutiny. Shame Biles used it as an excuse after she herself jumped on the GOAT discussion.
US is flailing all throughout the olympics.