Anyone catch the Simone Biles interview just now on main NBC feed?

JSCM wrote:

Doped Up Real Estate Broker wrote:

Nice conditioning, pops! You have just prepared your girl to suffer depression and anxiety later in life. NEVER quit! Stay in that abusive relationship! Keep vomiting until you reach that goal weight! Be thankful that you work for lousy wages with a sexual harasser for a boss in this economy! Daddy didn't raise a quitter!!!

You could teach your daughter about perspective or that she should exit a situation if it could cause her harm but, you opted for the testosterone driven guilt trip to NEVER, EVER, EVER quit. Our society is one f**ked up place because we keep teaching people to suppress their own instincts and emotions while encouraging others to bash them for their personal decisions.

Wow you took a lot of liberties there. Abusive relationship, anorexia, sexual harassment, really?! It's quite ironic that you speak about perspective, yet you found it apt to equate all of these things to someone quitting. Everyone is going to face challenges in life, but perseverance and determination is what sets apart those who succeed. If you quit everything at the first sign of adversity or hardship, then you will never accomplish anything. Obviously, Simone has exemplified these qualities over her career to get to where she is; however, this wasn't one of those moments and I have a problem with the messaging of it, which I think will do more harm than good. No good will come out out teaching your kids that it's ok to quit and make excuses when faced with challenges. I think we should teach our kids to cope with failure, adapt and overcome.

alanson wrote:

We always have a mix of young up and comers and older athletes trying to hang on for a last chance at glory. Biles is old for a gymnast and no doubt her physical skills are waning - winning even one gymnastics medal in a second Olympics is a major accomplishment. Mentally she's having a hard time adjusting, and she deserves our sympathy, but the screaming headlines about "twisties" leave little room for that. A similar thing is going on with Ledecky (who is almost exactly the same age). No medal in the 200, only a silver in the 400. Ledecky is (relatively speaking) a little less below her peak than Biles, but definitely past it. We've probably seen Coburn permanently eclipsed by Frerichs. Muhammed by McLaughlin. Benjamin by Warholm. Murphy discovered too late just how badly he can tactically mishandle a race, thinking that everything had broken his way going into the final. Just think how 4th place Jemma Reekie feels unexpectedly losing a medal because of a 19 year old phenom from her own country. It's an inherent part of the Olympics - way more losers that winners.

ABC used to run the picture of the ski jumper crashing off the hill ("The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat"). That's the melodrama that we love to watch and the media exploit. It's hard on the gladiators because so few feel the thrill, and we shouldn't be too hard on those who react badly to the agony.