[RickFLM4]

NY Yankees should follow her example and withdraw from 2021 for mental health.

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

NY Yankees should follow her example and withdraw from 2021 for mental health.

No, in baseball they beat their wives instead.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by ASAP

Except thats just about the reverse of what happened, she pulled out and literally cost her team the gold.

I've noticed someone has a "mental issue", it only happens when they are losing... my friend these are excuses, just like Naomi Osaka.

Naomi Osaka I can somewhat give a pass to. When she beat Serena, she got shit on constantly from the social media trolls. I could understand why she doesnt want to do the media press conferences.

For Simone, she kept saying how there is an enormous amount of pressure on her and she had to pull out because of that. However, the pressure is there from what she has been saying leading up to the Olympics about being the GOAT, how she is so much better than everyone else, etc. She hyped herself up so much, and then when she didnt live up to that, she bailed.

This isnt to demean anyone that goes through similar pressures and pulls themselves out, but we need to stop acting like it was a heroic move to pull herself out and address "Mental Health", because that doesnt seem to be what happened here. She performed poorly in the qualifiers, then performed poorly in the vault, and couldnt handle losing.

On the flip side, I can see why she would pull out to preemptively curtail the criticism she would be getting yesterday. No one was talking about how she performed poorly, or if she had continued the competition and continued to perform poorly, about how she cost the team the gold. Instead they are celebrating her. Im curious to see what happens if she goes through with individual events. Will she pull herself again if she starts doing bad?

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by TheWatchGuy

Naomi Osaka I can somewhat give a pass to. When she beat Serena, she got shit on constantly from the social media trolls. I could understand why she doesnt want to do the media press conferences.

For Simone, she kept saying how there is an enormous amount of pressure on her and she had to pull out because of that. However, the pressure is there from what she has been saying leading up to the Olympics about being the GOAT, how she is so much better than everyone else, etc. She hyped herself up so much, and then when she didnt live up to that, she bailed.

This isnt to demean anyone that goes through similar pressures and pulls themselves out, but we need to stop acting like it was a heroic move to pull herself out and address "Mental Health", because that doesnt seem to be what happened here. She performed poorly in the qualifiers, then performed poorly in the vault, and couldnt handle losing.

On the flip side, I can see why she would pull out to preemptively curtail the criticism she would be getting yesterday. No one was talking about how she performed poorly, or if she had continued the competition and continued to perform poorly, about how she cost the team the gold. Instead they are celebrating her. Im curious to see what happens if she goes through with individual events. Will she pull herself again if she starts doing bad?

I thought she withdrew from individual events too in order to “focus on mental health issues.”

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I thought she withdrew from individual events too in order to “focus on mental health issues.”

i havent looked today. last night she was undecided.

Looks like she announced it while i was sleeping.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by TheWatchGuy

i havent looked today. last night she was undecided.

Looks like she announced it while i was sleeping.

Someone probably advised her she really had no other choice. Can't withdraw from team events to focus on mental health, then immediately recover to compete in individual events. Even those who think she is a hero would question that, I think.

[TiMSport]

Why are any of us pretending to know what is really going on here? While I can see the argument on both sides, I will reserve final judgement until it becomes clearer on what has transpired. Again, whether it was a cop out due to her struggles in the Olympics or not, she may very well have brought the team down further and I wouldn't want that.

Remember Michael Phelps, the swimming stud that conquered the world? Did you know he had suicidal thoughts and struggled mentally throughout much of that time? He now talks about it openly and has put together a foundation to help people cope with mental issues.

So again, let's not pretend to know what her deal is. These people are tough on the outside and have done a good job of potentially hiding how they truly feel within. I'm sure the pressure can be overwhelming.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

Why are any of us pretending to know what is really going on here? While I can see the argument on both sides, I will reserve final judgement until it becomes clearer on what has transpired. Again, whether it was a cop out due to her struggles in the Olympics or not, she may very well have brought the team down further and I wouldn't want that.

Remember Michael Phelps, the swimming stud that conquered the world? Did you know he had suicidal thoughts and struggled mentally throughout much of that time? He now talks about it openly and has put together a foundation to help people cope with mental issues.

So again, let's not pretend to know what her deal is. These people are tough on the outside and have done a good job of potentially hiding how they truly feel within. I'm sure the pressure can be overwhelming.

You're right I do recall that about Phelps

They showed him the other day and that dude looks rough....not like Meth head rough, just rough and ragged.

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

Why are any of us pretending to know what is really going on here?

Because it allows them to build a narrative and be judgmental. In just 3 posts we saw it happen. One person says. "Of course she bailed on her team but is staying in the individual events!" without actually looking to see if she was competing in the individual events. Then when proven wrong the narrative then is, "Well of course she had to, else it would have looked bad. Someone had to have told her."

Instead of the possibility she is just having some personal issue (which would also get her shat on for being weak).

But its the narrative these guys always wanted to tell, so they just make up things to run with it.

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

You're right I do recall that about Phelps

They showed him the other day and that dude looks rough....not like Meth head rough, just rough and ragged.

Lots of people crash and burn, especially when they peak at such a young age. I mean, look at the curse of the child star. Youre groomed your whole childhood to be the best at something, you get there, and then it goes away. And its usually in something that, honestly, doesnt translate to other successes in life. Its not like being a good swimmer is going to lead to a successful career in project management once youre not the fastest swimmer in the world.

People in the less popular sports likely fare better, they knew it was always going to be a hobby. Nobody is kicking down the door of the steeplechase winner to sign them up for contracts, have guest spots, interview them, invite them to the white house, etc. They just go back to the job they had to do the whole time while they were training for their sport.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by ryan stewart

Because it allows them to build a narrative and be judgmental. In just 3 posts we saw it happen. One person says. "Of course she bailed on her team but is staying in the individual events!" without actually looking to see if she was competing in the individual events. Then when proven wrong the narrative then is, "Well of course she had to, else it would have looked bad. Someone had to have told her."

Instead of the possibility she is just having some personal issue (which would also get her shat on for being weak).

But its the narrative these guys always wanted to tell, so they just make up things to run with it.

There is also a narrative that she is a courageous hero, but I suppose that’s ok because it makes people feel good. No reason to question that either.

We will never truly know what happened. She can say whatever she wants to say and no one will ever know whether it is the truth or not. So we are each led to form opinions based on what we observe.

[ryan stewart]

And youve picked your side obviously. Youre not sticking to observations, youre making up things about how someone told her to bail on individuals because of the optics. Hell, she could have just lied and said she had a temporary injury and gone ahead. But that doesnt fit YOUR narrative, which was damaged when she did bail on the individuals, so you made something up.

BTW Im not calling her a courageous. Im calling her a 24 year old kid who bailed on the Olympics for some unknown reason and nothing more. She had been whooping up on everyone in every other national and international event thus far so its not like she is a fraud. Like said, it could just be the yips. Anyone who has ever played a competitive sport knows what that is. It doesnt take some conspiracy.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by ryan stewart

And youve picked your side obviously. Youre not sticking to observations, youre making up things about how someone told her to bail on individuals because of the optics. Hell, she could have just lied and said she had a temporary injury and gone ahead. But that doesnt fit YOUR narrative, which was damaged when she did bail on the individuals, so you made something up.

BTW Im not calling her a courageous. Im calling her a 24 year old kid who bailed on the Olympics for some unknown reason and nothing more. She had been whooping up on everyone in every other national and international event thus far so its not like she is a fraud. Like said, it could just be the yips. Anyone who has ever played a competitive sport knows what that is. It doesnt take some conspiracy.

Uh, you're the one making stuff up. I speculated something fairly logical, and didn't make up something and state it as a fact as you claim I did.

24 isn't a "kid" either. She is an experienced athlete who has been competing for years. Mental health is a lot more difficult to verify than a physical ailment. If she said she had a physical ailment, there would be a lot more scrutiny to understand what happened. She could have also bailed from everything when she initially said she wanted to focus mental health, but didn't until later. So think whatever you want. Or don't.

[flybigjet]

My wife's an ex-elite gymnast and has been getting up at 0400 every morning to watch the gymnastics coverage-- so I've been getting daily recaps (because I am NOT getting up at "oh-dark-hundred" for ANYTHING unless I'm getting paid!).

She follows the sport fairly closely and still knows a fair number of the people on the sidelines from when she used to compete. As an interesting sidebar-- when the Qualifying Event was going on in St. Louis last month, we were watching and she turned to me and said "Something's wrong with Biles-- she's not performing like she should." That was a month before the Olympics (and even with her mistakes, Biles crushed every other gymnast on the floor).

A few thoughts--

1. Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast in history. Period. She does things that blow the minds of any other competitive gymnast out there-- even on a "bad day" (for her), she still stands on the top of the podium compared to any one else on the planet-- she's THAT good. Most gymnasts go through their entire career without ever having a set of moves named after them-- Biles has FOUR. That's simply unheard of.

2. If she's not in the right mental space-- with the frankly unbelievable amount of force she's launching herself with on the vault/floor/etc., she runs an excellent chance of crippling injury, paralysis or death if she mis-lands. The penalty for failure is beyond terrifying. Yes, every sport has its moments of "do this wrong and it can kill you"-- but (imho) gymnastics stands alone as pretty much a sport of "perfection every single moment, or death/crippling injury". She was able to turn a 2.5 into a 1.5 on the vault in MID-AIR-- something that would likely have been impossible for 99% of the gymnasts competing in Tokyo-- having the situational awareness to recover like that in mid-flight is quite frankly preternatural.

3. Even as a professional-- sometimes the stress/expectations/whatever becomes too much. And if you're a *true* professional-- you learn that as much as it eats you up, sometimes you have to take a look at the bigger picture and take a step back, regardless of expectations or consequences. We're all only human. Who here can honestly say that they could handle the years of internal and external pressures of being the best there ever was in something without cracking? And that Every. Single. Time you step onto the floor, you're literally putting your life at risk?

I have NOTHING but admiration and compassion for Simone Biles-- what she did takes a hell of a lot of guts and courage. She's the best in the world at what she does and is one hell of a role model-- bar none. But some of the comments on this thread show a terrifying lack of understanding, compassion or empathy. The courage it took for her to step back and say "I can't do this" in front of the world, despite the enormous expectations placed on her, is quite honestly deeply humbling.

We could all take a lesson there I think.

[TiMSport]

^^ I agree with everything above.

On a side note, let's remember that Simone Biles is also someone that suffered through a period of time with Larry Nassar. That alone is something that could damage people for life.

As for her condition, I read in an article today she was experiencing what gymnasts were referring to as the "twisties" which can also be called the "yips".

The twisties is the feeling of being lost in the air making an athlete unable to complete skills to their usual ability. It's a mental performance issue that many top gymnasts have also experienced and can be dangerous when they are flying in the air and attempting high-difficulty stunts.

Needless to say, she could have suffered serious injury if she stuck with it. Can anyone blame her?

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by Littlebear

I also have trouble with a 'mental health' pull-out.
But my problem is where is the support for these young women? Why do they think the weight of the world is on them so heavily?
These athletes were sexually abused by their docs, & this was basically ignored. They are not in an easy place mentally. Are they getting the support they need?

Repost of #18

[flybigjet]

From Yahoo news--

The 'frightening' phenomenon Simone Biles experienced before her Olympics withdrawal (Brendan Morrow, Staff Writer)

Simone Biles shockingly withdrew from team competition at the Olympics this week after experiencing a "frightening" phenomenon known as "the twisties."

Biles, after withdrawing from the women's gymnastics team final Tuesday, explained that she had "a little bit of the twisties," and her teammates "saw it a little bit in practice." This term, The Washington Post explains, refers to a "frightening predicament" similar to the yips, in which gymnasts "lose control of their bodies as they spin through the air." With this "mysterious phenomenon," a gymnast is suddenly "no longer able to do a twisting skill she's done thousands of times before," CNN writes.

"The rhythm is off, and your brain will like stutter step for half a second and that's enough to throw off the whole skill," gymnast Laurie Hernandez told Olympics.com. "And, so, it happens, and it takes a second to get over that. … I've had the twisties before. Hated it — so much. It's painful. It actively makes you feel like you're not the caliber of athlete that you are."

Gymnast Aleah Finnegan, who said she has "had the twisties since I was 11," also explained on Twitter that "I cannot imagine the fear of having it happen to you during competition," adding, "You can't control yourself and what your body is going to do next [therefore] literally risking your life."

Biles has since also withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Olympics. She spoke about her decision Tuesday, saying, "We have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do." CNN's Elle Reeve, who has experience as a competitive gymnast, explained that Biles withdrawing due to her mental health doesn't "mean she felt sad, or didn't have her heart in it to compete," but rather that "her psychological state put her at significant physical risk."

[TiMSport]

By the way, speaking of critics of her decision, was Piers Morgan born a d-bag? I swear that guy tries hard to be one.

[243Racing]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

By the way, speaking of critics of her decision, was Piers Morgan born a d-bag? I swear that guy tries hard to be one.

He's made a career out of being edgy, it's hard to know if he means what he said or if he's just trying to be shocking

[TiMSport]

True.

[TiMSport]

Hey on a positive note, the US is starting to kick some ass with their swim team!!

[243Racing]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

Hey on a positive note, the US is starting to kick some ass with their swim team!!

Are we allowed to cheer for American athletes or is that a form of white supremacy these days?