This morning I woke up to the headline; Olympic champion Simone Biles pulls out of women’s team gymnastics final at Tokyo 2020. It turns out it was for mental health reasons, not a physical injury. Nevertheless, I am not mad at her; I actually have a different take than many of the tweets I have seen already with reactions.
I understand and have a take on the situation I want you to consider. As someone who has been through sexual and physical violence in the past, I understand having to protect yourself by not participating in future events by the perpetrator of the abuse against you. The ‘need’ to continue to achieve in the same field that you worked so hard to achieve greatness in, with these people still in the ‘community’ you are a part of building up. Especially when the abusers (other leaders in a control situation – livelihood, choosing who gets to compete/participate) are not showing, their guilt, their ‘sorry’, apologetic, with little changes made for improvement for future athletes, etc. In addition, maybe the competitor in me takes a different viewpoint and stance as well.
I watched several interviews, prior to the Olympics where Simone said she was competing because she wanted change in USA Women’s gymnastics. She felt that if she did not compete the sexual abuse story that affected her and so many other top athletes would just go away with the new crop of athletes. She wanted the story to get out there. She had already cemented her place in history as the greatest gymnast of all time. With skills so great that the Olympic committee lowered the difficulty score to help even the playing field, knowing that no one could beat her in a fair competition. She had nothing to prove as far as ability goes.
I am actually hoping that she does compete in the next few individual Olympic events and earns more Gold’s for herself. The coming days will show. But seeing her playful, cheering on the other athletes, dancing on the sidelines after taking a ‘mental health’ moment for herself was; BRAVE, and probably needed for her to accomplish her goals. We the public, fans, and media put on her that she would win gold for us and her team, she never said in any interview that was her goal for this Olympics.
Did she let her three-team mates down by dropping out? Nope, she actually let them shine to their full glory and they each rose to the occasion. She could have got a gold for them, but they earned a silver. They will forever feel the feeling of earning that honor. At the same time, she will get endorsements and remain the GOAT, not that it was in jeopardy. She also proved that she could bring home the gold for the USA and compete with all the pressure of the USA, fans and media on her while her abuser was still denying his actions at the last Olympics. I see her need to step back as a way to accomplish her goals as a survivor and being held up by the same people who were involved in her abuse for years and not giving them the glory of gold medals for a system that seems broken, made aware, and not yet fixed.
I do see it as safety for her own mental health, a way to cheer on and lift up the other athletes coming after her, and a spotlight on the changes that need to still happen in USA Women’s Gymnastics.
Whether she chooses to compete or not for the individual gold, she will remain the greatest of all time. I hope that this was also helpful for others who when thorough what she went through as a way to secure a feeling of something is going to be done about the abuses that occurred and that these young women need to be validated.
In her first statement to the media this morning, she said, it was a mental health decision not a physical injury. She was at peace, something I have not seen from her in a long time. Nevertheless, her first question to the reporter was about how the public felt about what she chose to do. Well, I say to her, ‘Go Simone! Go Team! You help make us the best we can be even if everyone sees it differently. I say, Thank YOU!’
Best Wishes and Blessings, Barby
