Simon Biles goes home devastated - quits in middle of team competition

I'm fully on board with this. But why did her initial announcement make a bunch of cryptic talk about her "doing what's best for her mental health" and "protecting my mental health" and one giant sob story about stress instead of just putting it out there that she was experiencing this condition? It just seems odd. There is only one quote of her actually saying she had the twisters. Just kind of odd.

I kind of agree with you, although she also referred to her physical health. The yips are associated with performance anxiety, so I don’t think there is a clear demarcation between mental health and the yips or the twisties. Certainly from her perspective they may seem intertwined.

To win, or not to win wrote:

The Greatest Of All Time doesn't quit in the middle of the biggest competition of all. If she wasn't mentally prepared, the best way to remove herself in light of her mental health would be to do so before the competition began or better, before the Olympics started.

She would maintain her GOAT status if she didn't do this in the heat of battle

Okay, I agree. But, the conspiracy theory that myself and someone else is forming challenges this. She planned on withdrawing from the Team Final before she stepped on the floor. However, in order to get paid by her sponsors, who created financial incentives that only kick in if she advances past the qualifying round, she had to appear in at least one event. So, she does one lame vault, walks off the floor, cashes a check for ten million dollars, and comes back on the floor, happy as a clam, and cheers on her teammates.

So, yes she withdraws in the middle of the competition jeopardizing her GOAT status, but no, not really. Her teammates and the announcers knew that would happen beforehand and she simply had to go through the motions in order to get paid.

I remember thinking it was odd that both Tim Daggett and Nastia Luikin literally started the Team Final broadcast talking about how much pressure the girls are under, and specifically how much pressure Simone was under. Coincidence? Or something else?

I’m not going to go thru a bunch of pages disparaging someone who has accomplished more than anyone posting in this thread but what I will say is … I’m giving any athlete who was sexually abused by a Team USA sanctioned dr a pass.

USA gymnastics should be disbanded.

I agree she isn't the GOAT, but for a different reason. If she wants to be the GOAT (at least undisputedly), she needs to defend her individual all-round gold medal as did Věra Čáslavská, but she just failed at that. If she did that and it'd been her third Olympic, her quitting wouldn't have an impact on her GOAT status.

To those who jump the “she’s a quitter” train, consider this:

It’s extremely dangerous to continue competing if you’re experiencing “twisties” a condition known in the gymnastics community that similar to vertigo while in the air. She could easily suffer horrific injury if she’s not fully dialed in and aware of her body relative to space. Then the lasting images we’d have of her would be leaving the games on a stretcher en route to a hospital. How would you feel then?

Whether the folks in here are trolling and don’t really care, or genuinely believe that she’s quitting or giving up ought to be ashamed. Given the nature of lets run, it’s usually a mix of both.

She made the right choice to take a step back before things got worse. Olympic-level athletes don’t owe you anything. They’re humans at the end of the day whose health and well-being should remain a priority.

Comparing the skill set required of gymnastics to that of any other sport is incredibly disingenuous and ignorant. Give this recycled talking point a rest.

florida wrote:

I’m not going to go thru a bunch of pages disparaging someone who has accomplished more than anyone posting in this thread but what I will say is … I’m giving any athlete who was sexually abused by a Team USA sanctioned dr a pass.

USA gymnastics should be disbanded.

You meant to say “accomplished more than anyone posting here in the realm of gymnastics.” Has she raised a family? Retired after 30 years in an industry? Made millions in the stock market? Ran a sub 4 mile?

Just because she has a gold medal doesn’t mean she is not open to criticism for not doing her job.

For the record I have not done any of these, my point is that there are people here who have accomplished good things in life

Why does the same persosn keep posting the same thing under different handles?

Extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence.

Where are all the major, proper medal winning gymnasts who have landed on their heads and died?

The twisities dont suddenly make you lose consciousness at the apex of a twist and fall on your head killing you; they just reduce your confidence and make your landings less likely to stick.

Its like Greg Norma saying; i was afraid i woud get the yips, not because i would pull the occasinal putt one inch left, but because i would tturn into a raging berserker and start killing people.

Evidence of your exaggerated and made up claims please.

Ray wrote:

G Cup wrote:

If Biles was having genuine issues with mental health, she would not have been willing or able to grin and chat through that ludicrous press conference afterwards.

Idiot post of the day

Enlighten me as to why? Have you got much experience of people with mental health issues? I have a fair bit.

'Mental health issue' is not synonymous with 'excuse', which is what Biles was in need of.

G Cup wrote:

Ray wrote:

Idiot post of the day

Enlighten me as to why? Have you got much experience of people with mental health issues? I have a fair bit.

'Mental health issue' is not synonymous with 'excuse', which is what Biles was in need of.

Is it possible she was having some issue that affected her confidence and ability to compete but it didn't affect her ability to talk and grin in a press conference? I'm guessing that sports psych issues that affect your ability to perform a skill could be very different from depression or other common mental health issues. You really are in no position to determine what she could or couldn't do based due to her 'mental health issue'.

Fair point. But 'mental health' is well understood to mean the latter. She could have said "I'm having a sports psychology issue" instead.

Yawn^9 wrote:

For the record I have not done any of these, my point is that there are people here who have accomplished good things in life

Epic self own!!

gymnast wrote:

Yawn^9 wrote:

For the record I have not done any of these, my point is that there are people here who have accomplished good things in life

Epic self own!!

+1 on that. Just sums up the typical LR poster beautifully.

gymnast wrote:

Yawn^9 wrote:

For the record I have not done any of these, my point is that there are people here who have accomplished good things in life

Epic self own!!

ROFL lol good one. Dodge the point entirely because you have zero purpose here.

Let's not confuse the mainstream media's take on it with what actually happened. I hate that the media is saying that she is stronger for quitting and we should applaud that. In reality she may have had a valid reason for not competing and that's unfortunate, but let's not applaud her as a hero because she had a valid reason.

In this age, heroes are not allowed to fall. When one of them does it has to be recast as a triumph - of showing they are "human" after all. But to be able to survive in the cauldron that is Olympic competition is what defines true champions. At the highest level, sport becomes more mental than physical. Biles has conceded the mental pressure got to her - so she pulled out. It is regrettable and we would feel sorry for anyone who found the challenge too great - as she did. But it is only delusion to dress up that failure - that inadequacy, sadly - as a demonstration of courage and of strength of character. To do so belittles the achievements of those who face up to and overcome their greatest fears. But what has become apparent is that those who are adulated for their talent are not allowed to fail when their fears exceed that talent, so we create another kind of myth - the myth that fragility is strength and giving in to fear is true courage - when it isn't. We can feel sorry for Biles, but her celebrating her withdrawal is a mistake.