Simone Biles: Quitter or Mental Health Hero?
- Thread starter Knight In TN
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Knight In TN: Troll or Mental Heath Basher?
Discuss.
Discuss.
I think people are being way too critical of her. When you're performing flips that can lead to you landing on your head if you aren't able to concentrate on the task at hand, it's probably a wise decision to sit that one out.
I agree with that. I am seeing people on twitter comparing to if Tom Brady or Lebron James quit before a superbowl or finals game. Of course the difference, is that what she does is far more difficult than what either of them do, and takes a much higher degree of concentration, and also has more risks for the most part. Obviously football is violent and dangerous, but in a different way.
Agreed. Whatever her issues are, whether emotional or physical, it was clearly affecting her enough that it was probably best she did.
Timing sucks, but ... it happens.
some of the same media that called Paul George ‘Pandemic P’ for a full year are circling the wagons shaming anyone saying remotely negative about Biles. most of us casuals don’t understand the rules on scoring but can still say it wasn’t a good look on this stage. That is Sports Celebrity and these younger athletes better learn to block out social media
I think a better comparison would be to someone who is falling asleep at the wheel. If you can't concentrate on the road, you probably better pull off to the side and take a break. There's no shame in that and anybody that would make fun of you for it doesn't care about you anyway.
that is true but she seemed to be projecting this was going to happen the last few days on social media complaining about the pressure . mistakes happen but not a fan of complaining about expectations, all top athletes deal with this and much more often than every 4 years
She's not exactly a professional that deals with this week in, week out, either. Hard to compare.
If you saw her vault you would see how bad it was, she is lucky she didnt break both her ankles. I think there is certainly more to it than just complaining of the pressure.
That’s pretty dramatic. It’s almost impossible to break both ankles on those mats.
Interesting responses.
As a person, hopefully she’s alright.
As an athlete, her legacy took a massive hit this week. We regularly criticize athletes who don’t seem to be able to get it done when the lights are brightest. Deciding not to even try is almost uncharted territory for an athlete of her caliber.
It looks like she’s going to attempt to compete in the individual all around, which will be received in a variety of ways. Should be interesting to watch.
Overall it just seems like another disappointing Olympic moment for this American group over in Tokyo.
As a person, hopefully she’s alright.
As an athlete, her legacy took a massive hit this week. We regularly criticize athletes who don’t seem to be able to get it done when the lights are brightest. Deciding not to even try is almost uncharted territory for an athlete of her caliber.
It looks like she’s going to attempt to compete in the individual all around, which will be received in a variety of ways. Should be interesting to watch.
Overall it just seems like another disappointing Olympic moment for this American group over in Tokyo.
As someone who coached nationally-competitive athletes for a decade, I could go either way on her decision. In the end, if the athlete says they can’t go, they can’t go.
I will point out that 24 year-old Simone Biles with 5 straight World Championships, Olympic Golds, 4 moves named after her, and the greatest career of all time gets a lot of support for her when she has a disastrous meet and kills the possibility of gold for her teammates. Many of the same people who are defending her today will be absolutely virulent when Adrian Martinez (or QB1 at your school), stinks it up in at least one game this season.
Australian ladies in the pool coming up clutch vs the American ladies ..it definitely feels like the fear factor is gone with Phelps not being the face of the Program .
Just saying it happens. There was a notable US Olympian that ****ed up her ankle on the vault too. Atlanta I think. But it might not count since it wasn’t both ankles.
Kerri Strug. She severely sprained her ankle with torn ligaments when she fell on her first vault. Then, knowing that she was hurt badly but that the team needed her, she went out there and nailed her second vault on that badly injured ankle to secure the gold medal for her team.
So she’s kind of the opposite of Simone Biles. Already injured but found a way to do something truly special.
The Essential Olympic Stories: Suffering like never before - How Kerri Strug won unprecedented gold
The Essential Olympic Stories: Suffering like never before - How Kerri Strug won unprecedented gold
www.google.com
Yeah i didn’t remember her being hurt bad at first but definitely after the last one she had to be carried off. National hero.Kerri Strug. She severely sprained her ankle with torn ligaments when she fell on her first vault. Then, knowing that she was hurt badly but that the team needed her, she went out there and nailed her second vault on that badly injured ankle to secure the gold medal for her team.
So she’s kind of the opposite of Simone Biles. Already injured but found a way to do something truly special.
The Essential Olympic Stories: Suffering like never before - How Kerri Strug won unprecedented gold
The Essential Olympic Stories: Suffering like never before - How Kerri Strug won unprecedented gold
Kerri Strug. She severely sprained her ankle with torn ligaments when she fell on her first vault. Then, knowing that she was hurt badly but that the team needed her, she went out there and nailed her second vault on that badly injured ankle to secure the gold medal for her team.
So she’s kind of the opposite of Simone Biles. Already injured but found a way to do something truly special.
The Essential Olympic Stories: Suffering like never before - How Kerri Strug won unprecedented gold
The Essential Olympic Stories: Suffering like never before - How Kerri Strug won unprecedented gold
The team didnt need her. They had enough points to win gold even without that vault. She was pressured into it by abusers. Her team doctor was Larry Nassar and the Karolyi's were here coach. She was a part of an abusive system that could care less about the athletes. IT doesnt take away from what she did, but it also isnt a system we need to be praising.
They didn’t know that at the time of her vault though. The Russians were very good on their exercises and you couldn’t have predicted that they were going to crap the bed. Her vault sealed it. The Russians ended up cracking but to say that she didn’t need that go is hindsight.
The Auburn gymnast was on floor with a much different landing surface.
Kerri Strug sprained one of her ankles in 1996, but not bad enough to not be able to gut it out and famously do her second vault.
Let's say it really is her mental health that was suffering: you think that's going to make a difference with some folks in this country? On this board?
These are people, not robots. We think we know--we don't. Most who criticize her probably have to pop 2 xanax if they do any sort of public speaking or presentations at work. If they screw up, they aren't on display for elevnety billion people to see.
I can't begin to understand what goes on inside her head or anyone else's for that matter.
These are people, not robots. We think we know--we don't. Most who criticize her probably have to pop 2 xanax if they do any sort of public speaking or presentations at work. If they screw up, they aren't on display for elevnety billion people to see.
I can't begin to understand what goes on inside her head or anyone else's for that matter.
I'd say if she had a broken arm no-one would be questioning her. I believe mental health is real and should be treated the same as a physical ailment.
For discussion’s sake: is there a danger of adopting a philosophy of celebrating giving in to adversity? Will that make us weaker as people?
This is an interesting discussion because it’s probably the first time we get a situation like this, and there are real questions here.
Is this someone recognizing that something is really wrong and taking necessary steps to address it, or is this someone giving up in the face of adversity?
It’s definitely impossible for us to know for sure.
Will this negatively inspire people to allow anxiety to convince them not to chase their dreams and do their best?
That’s probably my largest concern here, and given that she’s not the only high profile athlete to do this recently (she’s just the biggest star), I’m worried that it might become a trend.
I don’t think we’ll be better off to have more people retreating from pressure, especially if they’re on the cusp of doing great things.
I would rather have an athlete sit out because of anxiety than because they didn’t like a play a coach drew up or because the freaking air conditioning broke.
This is a good discussion. While I am ok with her choice, and based on her past performances she can be proclaimed the best gymnast in the world in general. Yesterday/today she is not the best. Part of being the best is having a certain mental state and will, she does not have that right now and someone else does. So they are the best today. This is not a criticism of her, I have "psyched" myself out on numerous occasions so I understand. But I also respect that those that bettered me were able to overcome the mental parts of the competition.
Mental fortitude is part of being the GOAT. Simone has been so much better than everyone else that she can have mistakes and still win. So there was pressure but not the same as someone who has to be perfect to win. She’s also, by and large, been left alone to be a gymnast.
Except that the Olympics were coming up again and everyone is looking for stories. Couple that with her physically reaching the late years of her optimal window and wanting to take up the challenge of addressing social issues (not to mention dealing with the Nasser crimes) and its obvious that she had a lot of things to have to wade through that didn’t strictly have to do with gymnastics. I wonder if we’ll ever find out how much all of this affected her mental state.
But is poorly handling adversity a mental health issue in and of itself?
Except that the Olympics were coming up again and everyone is looking for stories. Couple that with her physically reaching the late years of her optimal window and wanting to take up the challenge of addressing social issues (not to mention dealing with the Nasser crimes) and its obvious that she had a lot of things to have to wade through that didn’t strictly have to do with gymnastics. I wonder if we’ll ever find out how much all of this affected her mental state.
But is poorly handling adversity a mental health issue in and of itself?
I think she’s proven herself as one who is not scared to push through adversity. I’d give her, the beat ever gymnast, the benefit of the doubt. I’d suspect if she was not dealing with real issues she’d be out there. This is a systematic issue brought on by the pandemic. Our children are struggling. It’s been almost a perfect storm.
This is much bigger than she was in the wrong mental state. I suspect she’s been dealing with issues for a while now. I think you really don’t understand the issue.
Ok, we need to argue about what "issues" are bigger than others? I've seen a lot of champions over the years overcome a lot of different issues, loved ones dying, physical injuries, depression, etc. If you want to say that it was not healthy to compete in those situations, I can't argue with that. But today someone else was able to compete and win when Simone was not.
I’m feeling ya Twelfth but her peers are lauding her choice.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
1996 Olympic Gymnast Kerri Strug Praises Simone Biles’ Decision
Kerri Strug landed a one-foot vault with an ankle injury at the 1996 Olympics—see how Strug now praises Simone Biles’ decision after her own tough vault.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
If Simone Biles criticism doesn't convince you Black women shoulder too heavy a burden, what will?
There is nothing weak about Simone Biles, or Naomi Osaka for that matter. In fact, there is only remarkable strength in the face of impossible expectations that extend well beyond sports.
sports.yahoo.com
You gotta love it: Some fatass sitting in his recliner has the gall to blast the mental toughness of the greatest gymnast of all time.
Tell me, how mentally tough was this rape victim last Olympics?
Man I really didn't see the race baiting angle on this. Kudos to Yahoo sports.
If Simone Biles criticism doesn't convince you Black women shoulder too heavy a burden, what will?
There is nothing weak about Simone Biles, or Naomi Osaka for that matter. In fact, there is only remarkable strength in the face of impossible expectations that extend well beyond sports.
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