Simone Biles

[DroseReturnChi]

Don’t really understand the hate she’s getting.

If someone is not mentally or physically able to perform at their best, they have the right to choose not to. End of the day she has her own health to worry about which is more important than a silly medal.

her hate is not bc of mental health. if her medical doctor said she had a mental disorder including depression no one would blame.
shes pretty much making fun of players like kevin love who is sincere and serious abt this. but in reality the guy that deserves hero is mocked and vice versa.

[Mephariel]

I've purposely stayed away from this thread because firstly I don't watch gymnastics so don't have a great understanding of the sport and secondly, I always like to wait for all of the facts to come out before forming judgement.

After what's come out and has been said by Simone and her counterparts, I would say that I could perhaps understand the decision, but wouldn't exactly laud her as a hero for it. It seems to me that she got into an unfortunate situation where the mounting pressure was too much to handle, leading her to make mental mistakes which could possibly lead to serious physical injury. I hope that she'll be able to get over this if she's going to continue to compete at the highest level.

GOATs are not known to have mental breakdowns during the most important moments of their careers, so I wouldn't exactly call this a moment to be proud of; more so a major and unfortunate setback. We've been taught through childhood that bravery is fighting through adversity and not quitting despite having the odds against you so is this really brave and heroic? Only in today's society I suppose.

I believe that one's personal health is always the most important thing so if she backed out in fear of seriously hurting herself then who am I to say that it wasn't the right decision for her? If so then I can understand but would add that this decision is deemed as wise or rational at best. Brave and heroic? That's a bit of a stretch imo.

Maybe it's time to reevaluate bravery. We were taught a lot of things as children that we know now are harmful to others and ourselves.

What's being taught in the schools today is also extremely harmful to the children but I digress.

Read on Twitter

So what happened to these words of a champion?

Her decision to pull out and quit on her team was unfortunate imo. I wouldn't call it brave unless the definition of bravery has turned into protecting your self interests before that of others.

Again, I don't fault her for this decision if it was to protect herself from serious injury. I just don't see it as bravery, I see it as coming to an unfortunate but rational decision at the expense of the team.

She done more for USA than anyone in her sport.

[13th Man]

I get it. Just saying that this moment was not one to be proud of that's all, it was a setback. Since when is being unable to perform to your usual standards helping out your team? Just call it for what it is, which was an unfortunate setback. We don't need to twist every situation (no pun intended) into a flowery one these days.

Oliver McCall broke down and cried during his rematch against Lennox Lewis, unable to fight. Nobody called him a hero or brave for doing that.

[JRoy]

Bad timing but her decision.

[gmoney411]

I get it. Just saying that this moment was not one to be proud of that's all, it was a setback. Since when is being unable to perform helping your team? Just call it for what it is, which was an unfortunate setback. You don't need to turn every situation into a flowery one these days.

Nobody is proud of the moment. People are praising her for making the right decision in the moment. For realizing that continuing to compete would have hurt her team. For realizing that she couldn't safely compete and sitting out even though she trained 5 years for that moment. For making the decision to sit out knowing that people would attack her for it.

We are talking about a woman that overcame sexual assault and is the sole gymnast to make it back to the Olympics. A woman who won gold with broken toes in both feet. A woman that won gold with kidney stones. Why anybody would think quitting is easy for her is beyond me. You don't get to where she is going through what she went through without being a tremendous fighter that doesn't quit easily.

[Mephariel]

I get it. Just saying that this moment was not one to be proud of that's all, it was a setback. Since when is being unable to perform to your usual standards helping out your team? Just call it for what it is, which was an unfortunate setback. We don't need to twist every situation (no pun intended) into a flowery one these days.

Oliver McCall broke down and cried during his rematch against Lennox Lewis, unable to fight. Nobody called him a hero or brave for doing that.

People are proud of her decision, not the moment. I don't think losing and winning silver is something to proud of. But you can still be proud of her decision. I am not saying I am, but people are not saying they are proud of the outcome.

[DoctorX]

JT knows what's up.

Read on Twitter

Being a hero is self sacrificing to help your team and rising through adversity. It definitely isn't "Things seem off, I'm outta here. Good luck the rest of the way. Deuces."

What an idiot that Charlie Kirk guy is. This is a talk show host talking about an olympic multi time gold medalist with records at her young age?

She probably has worked harder in one month (and that's probably every other month for 7 or 8 years) than he probably has his entire life. Weak? What he's saying is weak. Extremely weak.

Charlie Kirk can't give any advice on being mentally tough and overcoming adversity. He's a rich kid whose dad is a multi-millionaire. This kid is projecting when he's spewing vitriol towards Bile about being soft and weak. This is a kid who dropped out of college and was handed opportunities that college dropouts normally don't get. This guy has had everything handed to him due to his connection. He has never worked hard for anything.

[TheGOATWill]

Curious, what's the reaction if Lebron decided not to play in a Game 7 of the NBA finals, citing mental health issues?

I understand that context matters and it's not fair to compare. I'm just genuinely curious what people's thoughts are.

I think Lebron might be the only other person on this planet that can relate to her. This guy was billed as the GOAT (I won't argue with anybody who says he went along with it) in 10th grade and has damn near delivered on it. If at any point, he had checked out of a playoff series it would have been understandable. Biles outclassed the competition so soundly in 16 that it became the standard for everything she did since. That level of expectation will wear anybody out after a while. I love sports and watching people compete and excel. But I'd estimate that at the top of her floor exercise, she's higher than an NBA rim. Moving as fast as a football player only she's not in a helmet and pads. Not the place to be if your head isn't all the way in it.

[13th Man]

I get it. Just saying that this moment was not one to be proud of that's all, it was a setback. Since when is being unable to perform helping your team? Just call it for what it is, which was an unfortunate setback. You don't need to turn every situation into a flowery one these days.

Nobody is proud of the moment. People are praising her for making the right decision in the moment. For realizing that continuing to compete would have hurt her team. For realizing that she couldn't safely compete and sitting out even though she trained 5 years for that moment. For making the decision to sit out knowing that people would attack her for it.

We are talking about a woman that overcame sexual assault and is the sole gymnast to make it back to the Olympics. A woman who won gold with broken toes in both feet. A woman that won gold with kidney stones. Why anybody would think quitting is easy for her is beyond me. You don't get to where she is going through what she went through without being a tremendous fighter that doesn't quit easily.

I'm seriously starting to wonder if her lackluster performance was due to her not being as good as what she used to be. I don't watch gymnastics much but was forced to watch it last month as the Olympic trials 1500m and 200m track finals were delayed in Oregon due to the heat. So they showed gymnastics before that and I remember seeing Biles not performing up to her usual standards then as well.

It seriously makes me wonder if she really quit due to the mental stress or perhaps due to the erosion of her physical abilities. Bear in mind that the prime years for gymnasts are girls in their teens so Biles' age in gymnastics could be equivalent to Lebron's age in the NBA.

[13th Man]

When was the last time that a GOAT in their respective sport suffered a serious mental breakdown? We've seen plenty of physical breakdowns though as they've aged or their bodies aren't as nimble as they used to be.

[Mavrelous]

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.

Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk

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.

this is the post


I firmly recall posters trashing D-Rose for taking a longer than usual time to return from his torn acl, calling him mentally weak and scared. I recall people calling Lebron a choker for his 2011 performance. Or made fun of Fultz. Many many players have been insulted for showing any sort of weakness or tentativeness. Don't make me go through your post history and quote you.

Those same posters are adopting this covertly sexist attitude that Biles did something heroic or that she cannot and should be questioned or criticized.

The And-1 begging virtue signalling on the first couple pages of this thread is nauseating.

"omg how dare ANYONE criticize her!"
"she's a hero!"
"she doesn't owe anyone an apology!"

Get a grip. She talked big, called herself the GOAT and essentially choked under the pressure. It happens. It happened to our very own Chosen One Bron Bron in 2011, he wasn't spared criticism and he's the better player for it. If she's really the GOAT or near it, she shouldn't be shielded from critique.

You can both not engage in childish virtue signaling by woke leftist clowns such as BLM types calling her hero for declining to participate and not call he mentally weak like right wing clowns such as Charlie Kirk for opting not face the pressure of the biggest stage in the world while dealing with mental problems.

[JayMKE]

Nike and her wrote checks she wasn’t prepared to cash, mental preparation should have been of equal importance to being ready physically. I know its embarrassing to get the yips and quit after building up this girlboss character and the self proclaiming GOAT status but claiming a mental health crisis as means of shielding yourself from criticism for failing to meet expectations and to salvage your brand is just too cynical for me.

[MrPerfect1]

JT knows what's up.

Read on Twitter

Being a hero is self sacrificing to help your team and rising through adversity. It definitely isn't "Things seem off, I'm outta here. Good luck the rest of the way. Deuces."

I mentioned this in a prior post, but Simone accomplished so much while enduring routine sexual abuse from her team doctor and even won an Olympic gold medal while passing a kidney stone. Questioning her ability to rise above adversity is insulting, and frankly, displays your lack of knowledge of her athletic and competitive stature.

Charlie Kirk is an impressively repulsive racist and sexist demagogue who routinely distorts the truth. I'm certain that flabby-armed imbecile can't do a single pull-up but has the gall to brand one of the greatest athletes in human existence as weak.

1)She is nowhete near 1 of the Greatest Athletes in Human Existence. You can argue she is 1 of the most accomplished, but nowhere near 1 of the Best. For example, she wouldn't be even a Top 100 most athletically gifted in today's NBA.

2)I would say your lack of understanding that mental toughness is a primary component of top athletes displays a lack of understanding a sport.

Jesse Owens won Gold in the Berlin Olympics. Jordan played after his father was murdered. Lebron was a villain for a year minimum every road game went after the decision. Ronnie Lott had part of his finger amputated so he could continue to help his team.

Heck, even in her own sport, Strugg did a vault on a badly injured knee/leg because she thought it was needed. I'm sure she wasn't under any stress!

Representing your country is the greatest honor an athlete can have. Quitting because you feel stress (stress that she brought onto herself!!!!) is the definition of putting yourself before your team and your country.

[Aurelius]

Jay Cutler got absolutely killed by fans and the media for not finishing the NFC Champ game while injured.

Also Djokovic, the tennis GOAT, weighed in:

"Pressure is a privilege," Djokovic said when asked about the attention on him after reaching the singles quarter-finals and also winning a mixed doubles match on Wednesday.

"Without pressure there is no professional sport. If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure. And how to cope with those moments on the court but also off the court, all the expectations."

[th87]

I've purposely stayed away from this thread because firstly I don't watch gymnastics so don't have a great understanding of the sport and secondly, I always like to wait for all of the facts to come out before forming judgement.

After what's come out and has been said by Simone and her counterparts, I would say that I could perhaps understand the decision, but wouldn't exactly laud her as a hero for it. It seems to me that she got into an unfortunate situation where the mounting pressure was too much to handle, leading her to make mental mistakes which could possibly lead to serious physical injury. I hope that she'll be able to get over this if she's going to continue to compete at the highest level.

GOATs are not known to have mental breakdowns during the most important moments of their careers, so I wouldn't exactly call this a moment to be proud of; more so a major and unfortunate setback. We've been taught through childhood that bravery is fighting through adversity and not quitting despite having the odds against you so is this really brave and heroic? Only in today's society I suppose.

I believe that one's personal health is always the most important thing so if she backed out in fear of seriously hurting herself then who am I to say that it wasn't the right decision for her? If so then I can understand but would add that this decision is deemed as wise or rational at best. Brave and heroic? That's a bit of a stretch imo.

Maybe it's time to reevaluate bravery. We were taught a lot of things as children that we know now are harmful to others and ourselves.

What's being taught in the schools today is also extremely harmful to the children but I digress.

Read on Twitter

So what happened to these words of a champion?

Her decision to pull out and quit on her team was unfortunate imo. I wouldn't call it brave unless the definition of bravery has turned into protecting your self interests before that of others.

Again, I don't fault her for this decision if it was to protect herself from serious injury. I just don't see it as bravery, I see it as coming to an unfortunate but rational decision at the expense of the team.

Brave in that she opens herself up for attacks from the incel brigade.

[th87]

Being a hero is self sacrificing to help your team and rising through adversity. It definitely isn't "Things seem off, I'm outta here. Good luck the rest of the way. Deuces."

I mentioned this in a prior post, but Simone accomplished so much while enduring routine sexual abuse from her team doctor and even won an Olympic gold medal while passing a kidney stone. Questioning her ability to rise above adversity is insulting, and frankly, displays your lack of knowledge of her athletic and competitive stature.

Charlie Kirk is an impressively repulsive racist and sexist demagogue who routinely distorts the truth. I'm certain that flabby-armed imbecile can't do a single pull-up but has the gall to brand one of the greatest athletes in human existence as weak.

1)She is nowhete near 1 of the Greatest Athletes in Human Existence. You can argue she is 1 of the most accomplished, but nowhere near 1 of the Best. For example, she wouldn't be even a Top 100 most athletically gifted in today's NBA.

2)I would say your lack of understanding that mental toughness is a primary component of top athletes displays a lack of understanding a sport.

Jesse Owens won Gold in the Berlin Olympics. Jordan played after his father was murdered. Lebron was a villain for a year minimum every road game went after the decision. Ronnie Lott had part of his finger amputated so he could continue to help his team.

Heck, even in her own sport, Strugg did a vault on a badly injured knee/leg because she thought it was needed. I'm sure she wasn't under any stress!

Representing your country is the greatest honor an athlete can have. Quitting because you feel stress (stress that she brought onto herself!!!!) is the definition of putting yourself before your team and your country.

It's been repeated to you ad nauseum that SHE COULD DIE if she can't get locked in for the vault. And that she was winning medals for her team as she was being sexually assaulted, which is 5 trillion times more stressful than f-ing Lebron getting laughed at about The Decision.

Yet you persist in this idiocy.

[mtron929]

I get it. Just saying that this moment was not one to be proud of that's all, it was a setback. Since when is being unable to perform helping your team? Just call it for what it is, which was an unfortunate setback. You don't need to turn every situation into a flowery one these days.

Nobody is proud of the moment. People are praising her for making the right decision in the moment. For realizing that continuing to compete would have hurt her team. For realizing that she couldn't safely compete and sitting out even though she trained 5 years for that moment. For making the decision to sit out knowing that people would attack her for it.

We are talking about a woman that overcame sexual assault and is the sole gymnast to make it back to the Olympics. A woman who won gold with broken toes in both feet. A woman that won gold with kidney stones. Why anybody would think quitting is easy for her is beyond me. You don't get to where she is going through what she went through without being a tremendous fighter that doesn't quit easily.

I am not even sure if it is the right decision. We don't have the counterfactuals so it is impossible to determine. The ideal situation would have been her to overcome this condition and wound up winning bunch of golds. I think that would be more praiseworthy compared to what has happened. But again, she shouldn't be criticized for what has happened. It is what it is.

[MrPerfect1]

I mentioned this in a prior post, but Simone accomplished so much while enduring routine sexual abuse from her team doctor and even won an Olympic gold medal while passing a kidney stone. Questioning her ability to rise above adversity is insulting, and frankly, displays your lack of knowledge of her athletic and competitive stature.

Charlie Kirk is an impressively repulsive racist and sexist demagogue who routinely distorts the truth. I'm certain that flabby-armed imbecile can't do a single pull-up but has the gall to brand one of the greatest athletes in human existence as weak.

1)She is nowhete near 1 of the Greatest Athletes in Human Existence. You can argue she is 1 of the most accomplished, but nowhere near 1 of the Best. For example, she wouldn't be even a Top 100 most athletically gifted in today's NBA.

2)I would say your lack of understanding that mental toughness is a primary component of top athletes displays a lack of understanding a sport.

Jesse Owens won Gold in the Berlin Olympics. Jordan played after his father was murdered. Lebron was a villain for a year minimum every road game went after the decision. Ronnie Lott had part of his finger amputated so he could continue to help his team.

Heck, even in her own sport, Strugg did a vault on a badly injured knee/leg because she thought it was needed. I'm sure she wasn't under any stress!

Representing your country is the greatest honor an athlete can have. Quitting because you feel stress (stress that she brought onto herself!!!!) is the definition of putting yourself before your team and your country.

It's been repeated to you ad nauseum that SHE COULD DIE if she can't get locked in for the vault. And that she was winning medals for her team as she was being sexually assaulted, which is 5 trillion times more stressful than f-ing Lebron getting laughed at about The Decision.

Yet you persist in this idiocy.

You could die in just about any sport, we still expect them to push through stress and adversity. Sports is about competition, teamwork, and rising up through adversity, not peacing out because it is no longer fun or you feel stress.

This applies even more so when you are representing your country.

Her past has nothing to do with today. If she was too stressed then don't go to the Olympics. 100% no problem with that.

It's also funny if you think the "stress" (most of which she brought on herself) compares to Jesse Owens or even Lebron. Lebron post decision faced round the clock scrutiny and expectations. By contrast, she has been under pressure for all of 3 days? out of the last 5 years.

Nobody talks about or has a single word of criticism towards the gymnasts outside of a few days at the Olympics.

[itlnsunsfan]

This is not the same as basketball. In basketball, ending up in a wheelchair permanently is not in the range of outcomes. In gymnastics, ending up in a wheelchair permanently is very much in the range of outcomes. Please stop drawing this comparison. It's stupid.

Fixed

[EmperorLocky]

I don't see much of a difference between Simone Biles and Ben Simmons. Zero mental fortitude. One absolutely destroyed by fans and media. The other getting the bubble wrap treatment.