Did Simone Biles quit or did she do the right thing by checking out of the Team Finals?

[Madmick]

It’s tough because what I really think is she didn’t have her A game and once she realized it she bounced out instead of risking looking bad which is weak as fuck. If she wasn’t a media darling, criticizing her would be much more widely accepted. Problem is if you say all that you’ll be pitchfork’d by all the softies.

Plus I truly am not in her head and don’t know what she’s really going through and she’s not doing something that is truly important in the big picture so I could honestly care less, to each their own. Live your own life

Mckayla Maroney wasn't on her A-game when the Olympics rolled around. You could tell even in warm-ups she was struggling that week. She pooched it in the team comp.

Did she wilt? Did she quit? No, she went out and put up the best vault in the competition, easily, only to be robbed blind by the shitty judges. Did she cry and stay in her room when the medal ceremony took place? No, she went out and put on the most timeless "I-am-disappoint" bitchface the world has ever seen. It was glorious. Meme for the ages.

And guess what? Maroney is still getting commercials because of that unflinching, stoic honesty in the face of a failure that could only be judged a failure by the measuring stick of her greatness in the event. Still getting commercials, and she's not even competing, LOL!

That's what Simone could have had. Instead, I'll be annoyed as fuck if I ever see her face again on my television. The Wheaties box is reserved for those who refuse to let greatness escape their grasp. No sprinkles on Simone's ice cream, IMO.

 

[Phlog]

Phelps had more pressure and guess what? He killed it and became the GOAT Olympian. That’s the difference.

You're joking right?

Biles was the face of the Olympics, Usain Bolt level this time around.

She's 24, usually gymnasts in her areas of expertise age out at 22.

Phelps partook in the least physically punishing of all the athletic sports.

Biles is the greatest female gymnast of all time, they changed the rules in competitions she was in to give others a chance, she invented new moves and furthered the discipline.

 

[Madmick]

You're joking right?

Biles was the face of the Olympics, Usain Bolt level this time around.

She's 24, usually gymnasts in her areas of expertise age out at 22.

Phelps partook in the least physically punishing of all the athletic sports.

Biles is the greatest female gymnast of all time, they changed the rules in competitions she was in to give others a chance, she invented new moves and furthered the discipline.

LMFAO, Phelps rose to the challenge in one of the more competitive sports in the world.

Gymnastics is a niche sport. People who live in towns the size of 25,000 people are like, "Yeah, we have six girls who train that." Fucking joke of a sport compared to swimming.

 

[dirtypablo]

You're joking right?

Biles was the face of the Olympics, Usain Bolt level this time around.

She's 24, usually gymnasts in her areas of expertise age out at 22.

Phelps partook in the least physically punishing of all the athletic sports.

Biles is the greatest female gymnast of all time, they changed the rules in competitions she was in to give others a chance, she invented new moves and furthered the discipline.

I thought it was a question of mental health, not physical? If thats the case, why does the fact that swimming is less demanding play a part?

And Phelps was every bit as big of a star, if not more so than Biles. I think you're misremembering how big he was.

 

[Ingjr]

Sounds to me like she knows she might not win and quit instead of accepting silver or bronze gracefully. "If I can't win, I'm taking my ball (figuratively) and going home. Screw her. she said she's not even in it for the American team but rather to show girls of color what could be achieved. Sorry but we've already got millions of girls of color who are quitters. Along with many, many whites.

 

[europe1]

People need to seriously adopt more of Hollaway's "it is what it is" attitude towards these things and not go for the hot takes and value-judgments all the time.

 

[burningspear]

Only she knows. Have you're opinion but don't express it as fact.

 

[syct23]

Mckayla Maroney wasn't on her A-game when the Olympics rolled around. You could tell even in warm-ups she was struggling that week. She pooched it in the team comp.

Did she wilt? Did she quit? No, she went out and put up the best vault in the competition, easily, only to be robbed blind by the shitty judges. Did she cry and stay in her room when the medal ceremony took place? No, she went out and put on the most timeless "I-am-disappoint" bitchface the world has ever seen. It was glorious. Meme for the ages.

And guess what? Maroney is still getting commercials because of that unflinching, stoic honesty in the face of a failure that could only be judged a failure by the measuring stick of her greatness in the event. Still getting commercials, and she's not even competing, LOL!

That's what Simone could have had. Instead, I'll be annoyed as fuck if I ever see her face again on my television. The Wheaties box is reserved for those who refuse to let greatness escape their grasp. No sprinkles on Simone's ice cream, IMO.

Could you imagine the commercial with McKayla getting that guys stuff off the roof but instead with Simone..

Guy: my stuff is stuck on the roof.

Simone: hold on, I'm not feeling it...

*Walks off screen.

 

[tangata motu'a]

She was doing nothing more than protecting her legacy. She was rightfully considered the goat before these olympics. however, for whatever reason she just doesn't have it now. rather than underperforming, getting less than gold medals or not even medaling at all and making herself look bad, she quit. that way the focus is not on her not winning, flying off the matt, falling, etc....it is on how brave she is. So she still "wins" when she certainly wasn't going to do it in competition.

Pitching in baseball is a perfect comparison. I pitched up to the college level. A lot of times i felt unhittable. but there were a lot of other times where i didn't have it. the curve ball wan't breaking, no movement on the fastball, etc. Never ONCE did i think of telling my coach i didn't have it that day and i didn't want to pitch. I buckled down, tried to get smarter, and push my way through. Sometimes it worked, and others it didn't. but i NEVER said i didn't want to go

 

[armbarforhire]

On a side note, I worry for the mental health of Naomi Osaka. She must be taking it hard that she is no longer the face of snowflakes and mental weakness

Needs to snowflake harder.

 

[Madmick]

Can someone who is defending her please explain this to me.

Her reasons for pulling out were

1. I just wasn't feeling it
2. There are no crowds
3. It's been a long week

How does that equal a mental health issue? To me that is just a case of mental weakness over mental toughness. Every single person on the planet does stuff they don't want to. It is like she is suffering from a disorder. She just did a couple of bad routines and crumbled. Why is that a mental health issue?

It's not.

Never before has anyone mentioned anything about Simone being mentally ill. There's no previous episodes. She isn't on medication. They've never talked about her leaning on a sports psychologist, or having a special relationship with someone like that to cope. It's so conveniently sudden. Why isn't that being questioned? Her career at this level is a decade old. This would have turned up. She's been on this stage before. In fact, I recall many broadcasts where the opposite was repeated by these same fawning commentators. Canned praise like...
"She's a rock."
"She's so good at all aspects of gymnastics, and that includes the non-physical side of it. She's a master at dealing with stress."
"The pressure just doesn't affect her the way it does everyone else."
"She seems to thrive in these moments. She lives for this."

This speaks to a larger problem in our culture. Previously, we've done it mostly with evil, for example mass shooters, dismissing people who aren't mentally ill as just that rather than call them what they are. They're people who knew exactly what they did, and why they did it, but we let them off the hook by calling it "mental illness". Two reasons for that. First, it gives a sense of control over the chaos that evil introduces. Mental illness can be treated. Evil cannot. It can only be fought, and it's not a fight you win when it ambushes you. Second, ideas about how to influence that control serves political and financial agendas. So many seize on that opportunity.

Now we're doing it for people who are simply mentally weak. It's the most convenient excuse.

 

[TheNinja]

She was doing nothing more than protecting her legacy. She was rightfully considered the goat before these olympics. however, for whatever reason she just doesn't have it now. rather than underperforming, getting less than gold medals or not even medaling at all and making herself look bad, she quit. that way the focus is not on her not winning, flying off the matt, falling, etc....it is on how brave she is. So she still "wins" when she certainly wasn't going to do it in competition.

Pitching in baseball is a perfect comparison. I pitched up to the college level. A lot of times i felt unhittable. but there were a lot of other times where i didn't have it. the curve ball wan't breaking, no movement on the fastball, etc. Never ONCE did i think of telling my coach i didn't have it that day and i didn't want to pitch. I buckled down, tried to get smarter, and push my way through. Sometimes it worked, and others it didn't. but i NEVER said i didn't want to go

You clearly weren't as brave or courageous as Simone.

 

[TrueBias]

Usa has been a comedic episode this year.

That dumb bitch who didn't salute the flag getting 3rd place to qualify, usa soccer team losing badly, and now simone, cracking under pressure.

 

[Provocateur]

I just don't like the example this trend is setting for kids. It basically tells them it is ok to quit. If you don't like pressure then don't play sports (especially professional ones).

 

[PaleMoonlight]

Kobe wouldn’t approve.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

You're joking right?

Biles was the face of the Olympics, Usain Bolt level this time around.

She's 24, usually gymnasts in her areas of expertise age out at 22.

Phelps partook in the least physically punishing of all the athletic sports.

Biles is the greatest female gymnast of all time, they changed the rules in competitions she was in to give others a chance, she invented new moves and furthered the discipline.

1. face of the olympics - lol, let's be real. maybe in some places in america. you think she was the face of the olympics in china, europe, or russia? lmao.
2. greatest gymnast - come on now, by what metrics? she's not even top 15 in number of olympic medals, she's got nothing like the image of Nadia Comaneci. greatest gymnast is just some buzzword that the us media made up and is accepted nowhere else around the world. stop believing all that crap.
3. she invented new moves - she literally does every time she's competing moves named by other girls. there's a shitload of people that invented moves. she's nowhere special in that regard.
4. changed the rules in competition - that's what her trainers whined about. there was zero objective analysis of her claims. but it was on twitter so hey, it must be true.

 

[Holic]

Hardcore porn

God is not so kind.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

It's not.

Never before has anyone mentioned anything about Simone being mentally ill. There's no previous episodes. She isn't on medication. They've never talked about her leaning on a sports psychologist, or having a special relationship with someone like that to cope. It's so conveniently sudden. Why isn't that being questioned? Her career at this level is a decade old. This would have turned up. She's been on this stage before. In fact, I recall many broadcasts where the opposite was repeated by these same fawning commentators. Canned praise like...
"She's a rock."
"She's so good at all aspects of gymnastics, and that includes the non-physical side of it. She's a master at dealing with stress."
"The pressure just doesn't affect her the way it does everyone else."
"She seems to thrive in these moments. She lives for this."

This speaks to a larger problem in our culture. Previously, we've done it mostly with evil, for example mass shooters, dismissing people who aren't mentally ill as just that rather than call them what they are. They're people who knew exactly what they did, and why they did it, but we let them off the hook by calling it "mental illness". Two reasons for that. First, it gives a sense of control over the chaos that evil introduces. Mental illness can be treated. Evil cannot. It can only be fought, and it's not a fight you win when it ambushes you. Second, ideas about how to influence that control serves political and financial agendas. So many seize on that opportunity.

Now we're doing it for people who are simply mentally weak. It's the most convenient excuse.

I think you are conflating diagnosed clinical mental illness with mental illness, and the two are not necessarily the same. Many instances of mental illness are not clinically diagnosed, as some people may fear the social stigma associated with the term, may not recognize the signs, lack access to mental health care professionals etc. Severity of mental illness also exists along a continuum and is dependent on classification - general anxiety disorder is a recognized form of mental illness, as is being bi-polar. Despite both falling under the umbrella of mental illness, comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges.

In all fairness, we don't know whether Simone is mentally ill, and I'm not about to be an armchair psychologist and postulate about what she is dealing with. With that being said, if she herself thinks that something is wrong, sufficiently so that it impedes her ability to perform at the one thing she has done her entire life (and at the highest of levels), then I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Who else is better qualified to say "I don't feel okay", than a person who has dealt with the stress and gravity of the situation countless times?

Irrespective of whether she has been dealing with performance anxiety for an extended period, or it happened to her in the hours before the competition, she reached her breaking point and opted out. Everybody is okay until they aren't. How many stories about people committing suicide are accompanied by 'They seemed so happy', "They were always smiling"? We are not in Simone's shoes and will never know what it is like to be her.

To me, the bigger issue with our culture of "What have you done lately?". Simone is the most decorated gymnast of all time, overcame a horrible childhood, and brought gold to her country multiple times..... the idea that we are debating whether she is a quitter is ludicrous.

 

[n...not crazy]

Of course she quit. What does quit mean?

This word is not going to be re-defined due to some secret bias or something. Quit means quit. She quit.

Duh

 

[D3THRONED]

You're joking right?

Biles was the face of the Olympics, Usain Bolt level this time around.

She's 24, usually gymnasts in her areas of expertise age out at 22.

Phelps partook in the least physically punishing of all the athletic sports.

Biles is the greatest female gymnast of all time, they changed the rules in competitions she was in to give others a chance, she invented new moves and furthered the discipline.

And she quit on her team. Nothing else to be said. Acted like a brat while at it. She’s a beast still, but not a role model for anyone who wants to persevere through adversity.