Simone Biles

[bkseven]

If her teammates are fully supportive then who the hell is anyone else to be upset about it?

What are they supposed to say.. lol. Do you think they'd say anything negatively about her, especially in public?

[ibraheim718]

Damn it she withdrew.. I just saw that. Bummer.. huge bummer.

[gmoney411]

If her teammates are fully supportive then who the hell is anyone else to be upset about it?

What are they supposed to say.. lol. Do you think they'd say anything negatively about her, especially in public?

Maybe they say thank you Simone for not being selfish and tanking any shot we had at getting a medal by continuing to compete when you know the end result would screw us over.

[dirkforpres]

She has given enough and then some to Team USA. She deserves a break

Then she could have taken that break earlier before the Olympics started... There were other US Olympians competing for her spot.

She thought she could handle it up until she realized she couldn’t. There’s no shame at all in her needing to step away for her self improvement

[ibraheim718]

the question is why did she quit midway and waste roster spot? nobody forced to do it.

Because she had anxiety due to crazy expectations and knew it was best to put her mental (and likely physical health first). You won't know this will be a problem until in the moment.

The U.S. has a great team with enough people to cover. Most of the others still ranked near the top and some barely didn't make the finals due to being squeezed out because only 2 people per country were allowed. And the team events we are fine.

The U.S. has plenty of roster spots.

Her health is more important to focus on.

We won't know the real reason until later. A number of things could've caused the anxiety. Only she knows and I'm sure she'll tell the truth. She kept the sexual assault quiet for a while so she does internalize things.

[bkseven]

She has given enough and then some to Team USA. She deserves a break

Then she could have taken that break earlier before the Olympics started... There were other US Olympians competing for her spot.

She thought she could handle it up until she realized she couldn’t. There’s no shame at all in her needing to step away for her self improvement

Have you watched her at her events prior to yesterday? Her facial expression said it all before the Olympics started.

[bkseven]

If her teammates are fully supportive then who the hell is anyone else to be upset about it?

What are they supposed to say.. lol. Do you think they'd say anything negatively about her, especially in public?

Maybe they say thank you Simone for not being selfish and tanking any shot we had at getting a medal by continuing to compete when you know the end result would screw us over.

Her first vault was not a good score and they ended up competing with 3 people. How did they not already get screwed...

[gmoney411]

She has given enough and then some to Team USA. She deserves a break

Then she could have taken that break earlier before the Olympics started... There were other US Olympians competing for her spot.

She thought she could handle it up until she realized she couldn’t. There’s no shame at all in her needing to step away for her self improvement

Funny thing is if she did that people would still be calling her a quitter. Simone Biles leaves team hanging right before Olympics. Instead she helped her team qualify for the finals and tried to go out and help them win the finals until she realized she couldn't get it done. How selfish of her.

[heezyo2o]

i am honestly sickened by the ignorance, meanness and stupidity of a lot of the comments in this thread. what a bunch of schmucks a lot of you are.

Simone Biles has been one of the most dominant, determined and daring athletes in the world for almost 10 years. Along the way she has endured endless abuse – physical, sexual and reputational – while bringing home to the USA more world championships than any gymnast in history. She has been let down by her sport and by her coaches again and again, she has fought for her teammates with great dignity and courage in court, and throughout she has been an exceptional role model for people of all kinds, but especially young women, athletes, and Black women. She has done all this as an amateur athlete, and as someone doing the sorts of death-defying tricks every day that literally nobody else in the world can do and that could easily lead to serious injury and even death if she screws them up.

But many of you guys are going to sit back back and crap on her and doubt her and question her toughness because she has the extreme good sense to realize that if she is not 100% physically and mentally that she should not be risking her life. gtfo

Does stepping back mean she is weak? are you kidding? how hard do you think she has had to push herself in past years, overcoming physical and mental and emotional pressure and anxiety of the absolute hugest kind, in order to win? don't you realize how much she has stepped up in the past, how developed her sense of her own capacities are, and how much she wants to win? You don't get to be GOAT by being a punk ffs. You think she would have stepped back if she felt she had any other choice?

I just can't believe how many of you guys sit back and look down on her. it's sad. talk about privilege, holy crap.

If the mental block was to put her in danger and not be able to perform a movement, that's one thing, but she does all the same routines and movements in practice just not on the day of competition. It seems her mental thing is not being able to perform to her expected GOAt level. She had an off night during the US trials and was crying, but she still won and won quite easily. Not being at her best still likely brings scores that are top level and likely gives the USA a team all around gold.

Not putting down Biles, but what if Lowry or anyone else on your team chose to sit out because of mental issues of worrying about failure and not being able to perform. Would you be defending him

[lobosloboslobos]

You gotta put a name on it playa....I’m not sure I’m seeing hate for her...but maybe I’m the problem..

it's not hate, it's just people thinking they know what challenges she is currently facing enough to judge her decisions as somehow selfish or weak when she is literally the GOAT who has pushed herself harder in her dangerous sport than any human in history.

[gmoney411]

What are they supposed to say.. lol. Do you think they'd say anything negatively about her, especially in public?

Maybe they say thank you Simone for not being selfish and tanking any shot we had at getting a medal by continuing to compete when you know the end result would screw us over.

Her first vault was not a good score and they ended up competing with 3 people. How did they not already get screwed...

Oh that score definitely didn't help the team. So if you want to say Simone never should have tried to compete at all that's a fair point. But she was still the best on the team in the qualifier and would have likely been a benefit to the team if she could have kept that level up in the finals. If you want to fault her for not knowing the perfect time to back out you can do that.

[ibraheim718]

Did she quit because she wasn't doing well?

I have no idea about her or gymnastics, so forgive my ignorance.

I do recall some girl a long time ago refusing to quit with a fractured tibia and landing an incredible vault.

I don't think she quit because she wasn't doing well. Even if she was not at her best, she would still medal because she is that great and her degree of difficulty would make up for any deductions. She wasn't her usual self during this Olympics. There is something else going on. I'm glad she pulled out. It took a ton of courage for the gold medal favorite to pull out.

She had a couple miscues during the qualifying rounds which are very uncharacteristic for such a great athlete.

Spoiler:

She flew out of bounds during her floor routine. Very uncharacteristic for a gymnast of her caliber. Starts at the 1:30 mark.

Watch on YouTube

Again, she stepped out on her vault attempt. Again, very uncharacteristic of her.

Watch on YouTube

Lastly, her last vault before pulling out of competition

Watch on YouTube

All of these are very strange for the GOAT gymnast and GOAT vaulter.

I don't know why I immediately thought something was going on with her boyfriend.

I've suffered from anxiety for around 20 years although it's been much less the last few years. Anxiety creeps.. if she had something this severe so quickly she had to be having signs of it way earlier.

But if let's say the night before she found out her boyfriend cheated on her yeah that could definitely cause an event like this. The camera's, pressure, crowds.. she's handled all that before. Maybe the release of emotion from the assault in that television interview.. that could've caused it too. Not the stuff she's used to dealing with. Something got in her mind that she couldn't stop thinking about.

[ibraheim718]

Wow I just saw her called a "selfish sociopath", "shame to the country" and part of a "generation of weak people".


I hate the people of this country sometimes man, I really do. Some people really just need a punch to the face.

I don't think people realize how screwed we are. The fall is going to be slow and painful.

[art_tatum]

Shes gonna regret it later. You only have so many chances at your legacy especially the oympics. Dont let the yips bring you down.
She also let her teammates down, and even tho they got silver all the attention is away from their medal and onto simone.

Other people have gone forward with broken foots and the russian guy who couldnt walk on his achilles surgery a week ago help win russian mens team gold. Im not saying she has to put health on the line but its disappointing for the supposed GOAT. Mentally weak. Its not like she had a previous chronic mental health issue. She has the yips. Lets be real.

Look at kohei the japanese mens goat, he messed up and failed to qualify for the finals. He had pressure too but at least he tried and failed.

[madmaxmedia]

I don't get what do people want from her, she's the who gave up years of hard work, you think she just threw it away for nothing?
I'm also glad she's raising awareness to the mental health problem rampant in modern societies.

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I don't think people want anything from her really.

But when you've watched male sports your whole life and commentators will literally rip players apart for being mentally weak and soft, you become conditioned.

So either one of two things have to happen.

1. We stop **** on men if they underperform in big games. For basketball specifically, we stop with the "Mamba Mentality" and "MJ's mindset".

Or

2. We say that women aren't as mentally tough as men.

You can't keep **** on male athletes year round for decades and then coddle women.

Some of the criticism and hot takes are too much in men's sports, but you also have to keep in mind the context which is largely between the lines. Many years back, Donnie Moore, a relief pitcher from the Angels gave up a huge home run in the playoffs to lose the series. He was never the same person again, ended up killing his wife and then turning the gun on himself. Obviously any discussion about Donnie Moore today is going to reflect that, not just 'hey, that dude sucks, he failed to bring his A-game when it mattered.'

Outside the lines there is a lot more awareness than before, I think guys like Kevin Love are applauded for their honesty and willingness to talk about their experiences.

Right now Ben Simmons is being crucified on RealGM, but if it turned out he had to interrupt his basketball career to seek mental help and counseling, I would hope (and expect) people to then be more sympathetic.

[CobraCommander]

You gotta put a name on it playa....I’m not sure I’m seeing hate for her...but maybe I’m the problem..

it's not hate, it's just people thinking they know what challenges she is currently facing enough to judge her decisions as somehow selfish or weak when she is literally the GOAT who has pushed herself harder in her dangerous sport than any human in history.

But we don’t know anyone’s challenges- like I don’t know what you or CP3 going through.


And while I feel bad for her as a human I know if CP3 walked off the court because a specific ref was calling the game after the game started because he couldn’t deal with it emotionally we would rip CP3.

I’m not questioning what she has done in the past but walking out on your team in the finals (regardless of the issue) is and should get scrutiny. If I were her...again...I would have left...and I would expect the heat. I don’t get the protection of her by people that don’t know the details of what she is going through. She is not above reproach- her teammates have rightfully been protecting her...but us....we should be asking wtf happened - the alternates should be like wtf why didn’T you let me go-

[Statlanta]

I don't care that she dropped out, but I do care that she's dominating the headlines every time I turn on the news when she does something mediocre to good.

The GOAT talk needs to stop.

[Shock Defeat]

Imagine if a NBA player decided before the NBA finals to sit this one out. Heck, we know what happened to LeBron after he zoned out against the Mavs in 2011. Just saying that in the culture of American team sports, this type of action would be unheard of.

[Jedi32]

Mental health is a serious issue, but some of these athletes are just using it as an excuse and it makes me sick...

An excuse for what? Doesn't call for celebration but it shouldn't be making you sick either.

Yeah that's a lame take. That poster is in no position to question these athletes mental health.

[Jedi32]

The excuse making for this woman is off the charts. She couldn't handle the pressure and had a nervous breakdown. It's a black mark on her resume. It certainly isn't something to be celebrated. Jesus.

What's your excuse for this lame foolish post? Smh