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She was lazy with her training and preperation for these Olympics, thought she would just walk through it on skill alone. She knew that she didn't prepare thoroughly after the first day or two, and knew she was going to embarrass her reputation. So, she's taking a Naomi Osaka page out and going to claim that "depression" or "anxiety" are to blame.
Just a theory, of course. I hope she doesn't perform in the all-around.
It could be this too, and we've seen champions perform poorly because of lack of preparation for their repeat championships in many sports.
I'm inclined to believe her at face value however.
Well, the team supports her. She was performing so poorly they might not have medaled. She was scoring the worst on the team. They won silver without her which is still an accomplishment.
We'll see how she does in the individual events, if she competes.
So maybe she was being less than completely selfish. But my opinion still stands.
In my opinion, she should not compete in the individual events. If she does, this would just cement the notion that she's only in it for herself.
I am very disappointed in Ms. Biles. I doubt very much that she is the first Olympic athlete to feel stressed and/or depressed during the Olympic Games. My own theory is that Biles has enjoyed being hailed as the greatest gymnast ever; and, being stressed during the pre-finals at the Olympics, and perhaps realizing that many of her competitors were younger, she did not want to tarnish her reputation by getting lower scores. It's just a theory; and I could be wrong.
I think that Biles should have decided not to compete in the Olympics months ago; she could have kept her greatness without looking like a quitter or letting down her teammates.
I wish her no harm; Biles is a fantastic athlete possessing great talent, power and skill.
I am very disappointed in Ms. Biles. I doubt very much that she is the first Olympic athlete to feel stressed and/or depressed during the Olympic Games. My own theory is that Biles has enjoyed being hailed as the greatest gymnast ever; and, being stressed during the pre-finals at the Olympics, and perhaps realizing that many of her competitors were younger, she did not want to tarnish her reputation by getting lower scores. It's just a theory; and I could be wrong.
I think that Biles should have decided not to compete in the Olympics months ago; she could have kept her greatness without looking like a quitter or letting down her teammates.
I wish her no harm; Biles is a fantastic athlete possessing great talent, power and skill.
True...there are other athletes who were world champions multiple times, who also competed against younger folk and never won an Olympic gold medal, but they still put forth the effort and didn't quit. Michelle Kwan comes to mind.
So maybe she was being less than completely selfish. But my opinion still stands.
In my opinion, she should not compete in the individual events. If she does, this would just cement the notion that she's only in it for herself.
Or it would just prove she was having a temporary anxiety attack and got over it.
I'll say, she could have handled the PR better. This is the first I've ever heard of her struggling with mental health. She has, however, now that I search for it, talked about mental health before... but she did not let the American media know very clearly in the short term before this incident.
It does appear that the pandemic affected her; 2020 was not a good year for her. It talks about how she slept and stayed in bed for days on end... she was depressed about her gym closing down... well she wasn't training if she was doing that stuff. She admitted to 60 minutes she took 2 months off of training... have to wonder if she was low-balling it. Notice the American articles kind of end with "it's no big deal, she's over it." But apparently it was a big deal, she's not over it, and her PR people should have communicated that.
Actually I think there are "brown" people in Eastern Russia. Minorities, as it were.
But...their gymnastics team clearly didn't have the "strength" of diversity that we are all told in America today is so powerful.
I think Biles is pulling a fast one on all of us, as others have hinted at.
There are no fans in the stands - hard to believe that stress or whatever was keeping her down. Apparently she's taken a page out of the Naomi Osaka playbook here.
You seriously need to read the book, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, so you have an idea the pressure and outright abuse women's gymnastics and figure skating endure. This is reminding of the time Nancy Kerrigan was built up so much by the media, and when she failed to capture the Gold because she doubled one of her planned triples, the media turned on her.
With that aside, while I like Biles, I really love Gabby Douglas and wished she could have been there. She does well under pressure.
True...there are other athletes who were world champions multiple times, who also competed against younger folk and never won an Olympic gold medal, but they still put forth the effort and didn't quit. Michelle Kwan comes to mind.
Yeah, I thought mental tenacity was a part of the Olympian's spirit, in addition to their physical gifts and strengths. You know, pushing through the pain, and giving it your best, regardless of the circumstances.
Instead, come up against obstacles - and just give up. Oh well.
Strug didn't perform anywhere NEAR the difficulty that Simone does. She never even performed a double twisting Yurchenko, never mind the 2-1/2, or the Double Pike that Simone unveiled this year.
FYI, Strug didn't NEED to vault the 2nd time, because we had the gold already locked up by that point. The rules at the time said you take the higher of the two vault scores, so she could have received a zero for the 2nd vault and we still would have won.
You have no clue just how dangerous this sport is, at the level it is being performed today. Pretty stupid to compare Simone to a gymnast that retired 25 years ago. If Simone is doubting herself, or is having trouble executing her more dangerous moves, the LAST thing she should be doing is trying to compete.
Google Elena Mukhina or Julissa Gomez if you want to see what happens to gymnasts who are trying to do moves when they are not in the best place physically or mentally. Would you rather have seen Simone injure herself?? No gold medal is worth that, and she has NOTHING to prove to anyone.
Last edited by ContraPagan; 07-27-2021 at 08:09 PM..
Strug didn't perform anywhere NEAR the difficulty that Simone does. She never even performed a double twisting Yurchenko, never mind the 2-1/2, or the Double Pike that Simone unveiled this year.
You have no clue just how dangerous this sport is, at the level it is being performed today. Pretty stupid to compare Simone to a gymnast that retired 25 years ago. If Simone is doubting herself, or is having trouble executing her more dangerous moves, the LAST thing she should be doing is trying to compete.
Google Elena Mukhina or Julissa Gomez if you want to see what happens to gymnasts who are trying to do moves when they are not in the best place physically or mentally. Would you rather have seen Simone injure herself?? No gold medal is worth that, and she has NOTHING to prove to anyone.
Imo, she's taken away from the elegance of the sport. What good is doing 50 flips if she can't stick the land without flopping all over the place?
Same argument is being made in figure skating with all the flips - the elegance of the sport has just been turned into brute force and how high someone can jump.
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