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Original poster

Simone Biles

211 replies

Cwtchycoopark · 29/07/2021 16:02

I had never seen her perform so I am currently down a YouTube rabbit hole and I am awe struck.She is phenomenally, jaw droppingly talented and you can just tell how much she loves it. She is a complete joy to watch. She has shown such courage in prioritising her mental health over what is expected from her.

OP posts:
fallfallfall · 29/07/2021 18:23

Well said @RedToothBrush!

terrywynne · 29/07/2021 18:25

@BoredZelda

Remember back when Kerri Strug was forced to do he final vault on torn ligaments and everyone said she was a hero.

She wasn't. She was bullied by her coach. I'm glad nearly two decades on we realise the athletes are more important than results.

This I watched that Athlete A documentary and one bit that stuck with me was an athlete talking about how US gymnastics put results above the children in their programme. They ignored an abusive environment and their athletes got their only kindness from a man who turned out to be sexual abusive... results should never be valued above the health - physical and mental - of competitors.

Simone Biles may not have known how she would be affected until she was competing. Mental health is funny like that.

maxbabi · 29/07/2021 18:38

Listening to Beth tweddle discuss the twisties earlier and whether Simone will be able to compete she was unsure whether its a specific move or apparatus that affects her. If its a move (the vault) then she could perform the other ones but I guess the coaches etc will know more and hopefully care!!
I adore her. If its twisties its not mh but a known sporting condition

Nicknacky · 29/07/2021 18:52

Thanks @terrywynne and @Cwtchycoopark, I am going to read up on it tonight.

I totally agree that once there is a slight dent in confidence the consequences could be disastrous. I hope she can overcome it.

AntiWorkBrigade · 29/07/2021 19:00

Depressing but unsurprising that there is any criticism of this decision. Real understanding of MH issues lags way behind how much society claims to care about it. If it isn’t so obviously serious that it can’t be denied or mild enough to be cured with a duvet day, ‘we’ too often don’t put in the legwork to understand.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 29/07/2021 19:02

She's an example for us all.

24 years old and look at what she has achieved and look at what she has overcome.

If Larry Nassar and the other abusers were still in charge she would not have the freedoms to advocate for herself and pull out.

It is a triumph of her boundary-setting to pull out and it is only through her and the other women who gave evidence that changed the disgusting attitudes and abuses in the sport that meant that her "no" was heard.

I think it's wonderful.

nypost.com/2021/07/28/simone-biles-shares-message-on-larry-nassar-abuse-after-opting-out-of-olympics/

stairway · 29/07/2021 19:02

She’s amazing and only 4ft 9, shining a torch for all the petite ladies out there. Can’t believe what Piers wrote, I knew he could be bad but that was just jaw dropping for someone without an ounce of her courage. She is 24 which is old for a gymnast I believe, she has to think about protecting her body for her life outside gymnastics. She made the right decision.

CovidDoesNotExistDuh · 29/07/2021 19:03

@Lanaa Elena Mukhina was her name. Tragic. The Thomas Salto is impressive but I'm glad it's not in competition anymore.

Original poster
Cwtchycoopark · 29/07/2021 19:24

@BoredZelda

Remember back when Kerri Strug was forced to do he final vault on torn ligaments and everyone said she was a hero.

She wasn't. She was bullied by her coach. I'm glad nearly two decades on we realise the athletes are more important than results.

I had no idea about this. That's horrifc.
OP posts:
MistySkiesAfterRain · 29/07/2021 19:26

I went on a you tube watch of her first thing this morning! She's tiny and like flexible steel! Absolutely incredible.

I found the twisties really interesting, essentially your brain wants to do it and the body isn't computing and puts in extra moves etc.

In a very general way this sounds really relatable to situations of burnout where you keep going, don't perform as well, and eventually make costly mistakes.

Decompress, don't get in a twist!

DownUnder87 · 29/07/2021 19:29

Make sure you watch her Rio routines. She has so much joy and personality in her performances. She definitely has been off her game this season, unfortunately.

Here is Kerri Strug's vault. You can see how much pain she's in, but she was credited with winning the US their first gold and on home turf.

MistySkiesAfterRain · 29/07/2021 19:30

Piers Morgan criticises Simone Biles for 'walking out' - wait, isn't that what Piers did onset at GMB, walked out?

IntermittentParps · 29/07/2021 19:34

she should have recognized when to change from the ultra competitive mode and allowed someone else the opportunity.
Eh? She did recognise when she wasn't on her game; that's when and why she pulled out.
And I don't understand about 'allowing someone else the opportunity'. She qualified for the Olympics, on merit.

MistySkiesAfterRain · 29/07/2021 19:34

The way out of the twisties is to go back to crash mats to get back into the feel of it but they don't have crash mat practise areas at the olympics.

IntermittentParps · 29/07/2021 19:35

they don't have crash mat practise areas at the olympics.
Do they not? I didn't know that. Why not?

MistySkiesAfterRain · 29/07/2021 19:35

she should have recognized when to change from the ultra competitive mode and allowed someone else the opportunity.

Not sure it works like that.

MistySkiesAfterRain · 29/07/2021 19:36

Do they not? I didn't know that. Why not?

Idk, I read it on BBC I think. Space?

DownUnder87 · 29/07/2021 19:38

The warm up gym is just the basic equipment, a state of the art training gym has a range of different mats, floors, trampolines and pits (like enormous ball pits) to land in.

TooManyPlatesInMotion · 29/07/2021 19:38

Her call, and a brave one to make. It is dangerous to do it if she is not mentally in the right place - she could injure herself or worse.

I don't think she cost her team the medal. Look at it another way - they were already behind, they might well not have caught up in any event. They definitely wouldn't have caught up if she was below par (which she was). I suspect her decision benefited the team tbh. So nothing in that.

She is a young woman who has dealt with an awful lot both in and outside the world of gymnastics. Gotta respect all she has done and her decision on this.

stupiduser · 29/07/2021 19:40

You could tell she wasn't feeling her best on the first day of competition and she was still awe inspiringly incredible. The way she tumbles is amazing. She is a freak of nature in a totally amazing way. She truly is the GOAT

TheWeeDonkey · 29/07/2021 19:41

@Needaholiday101

She is amazing and inspirational. My daughter had followed her for years and we emailed her last year for a school project. She replied with a lovely personal video clip message.
This makes me like her even more. What an amazing woman
DownUnder87 · 29/07/2021 19:42

Do you know her backstory too OP? She is one incredible young lady.

daretodenim · 29/07/2021 19:42

I love the support she's getting. I know there's here too but there's a lot of love.

I just wish it wasn't so hypocritical. Most of these people saying she's brave etc and that she needs to prioritise her MH as it's the most important thing wouldn't be saying that if their colleague said on Monday lunch time, before a team deadline on Wednesday, that they needed to go home because of mental health difficulties.

I'm someone who has long term symptoms of trauma caused by long term abuse. Situations of high stress are hard for me to regulate my nervous system adequately. Usually I manage to smile and look - and sound - like everything is fine and get through it. Other times I have to leave. I've also fainted from stress. I do not see understanding in the general society. People say they support others' mental health problems, they say Biles was right to protect her mental health, but in reality, most do not respond well to the reality of what happens when, for instance, an individual already dealing with extreme stress has to deal with more.

I'm not, btw, comparing the stress in my life to that of the world's media on you while performing death-defying feats. My point is more that there's a lot being said right now that is most definitely not how people behave in real life.

Original poster
Cwtchycoopark · 29/07/2021 19:43

@Doorhandleghost

She’s an amazing person as well as an amazing athlete. She came back to gymnastics in part so that the Larry Nassar business wouldn’t be forgotten, as at least one of his victims would be in the limelight still.

I can’t imagine the pressure she felt this week. She’s been a bit off her game all season and I’m not hugely surprised she pulled out. Definitely a good decision for her. Also the rest of the team were totally relying on her scores to get the gold - she was carrying more than 25% of the responsibility for the team event for sure.

I hope she feels well enough to defend her individual titles next week.

To my shame, I had totally forgotten about this. I remember hearing about it on the news. I refuse to type his name into google though, so I don't know the details.

I didn't know she could possibly still compete next week. I think I heard that this would be her last olympics though?

OP posts:
TheSkatesOfCoachBombay · 29/07/2021 19:43

Figure skaters can get a form of the twistees, so you end up not being able to calculate where you are in the revolutions of the jump/in the air. So you can either open out early resulting in a catastrophic fall at high speed as your suddenly no where near where you expected to be and you crash in to the ice or you can land it but over rotate on the edges on the ice, this can be saved by just gliding on the edge and maintaining balance but still not great for your score. Or worse you descend in the jump still spinning in the legs crossed position and again crash in to the ice, I've seen bad injuries from a late landing.

I can't imagine for a gymnast who is not only revolving but also possibly upside down how frightening this could be be!

Jump blindness/twistees is like a mental block sometimes but it can also be caused by a certain element/apparatus. Where the inner ear just can't function properly when performing that element and it's exhaserbated by stress or poor mental health.

They are tumbling at fast speeds, it's just not worth the possibly life long injury.