Simone Alone - The Sequel

Simone Biles withdrew from the vault and uneven bars events of the Tokyo Olympics gymnastics program, though she will compete in the balance-beam event.  The reason for her withdrawal was a case of the "twisties," a term you have never heard of unless you yourself are a gymnast.  Basically, it refers to a condition where you're up in the air and you don't know which way is up and which way is down, you can't perceive your position from the floor, and you lack the ability to land on your feet.  It's a condition that has periodically affected gymnasts for years.

I wish people would stop picking on athletes performing feats that these same detractors can't perform even if they tried.  I am not a gymnast.  If Simone Biles says she has a condition that would make it dangerous to vault or straddle the uneven bars, then she is making the right decision to withdraw.  It's a matter of health and safety.  Some folks are comparing her unfavorably to Kerri Strug, the perky gymnast who performed a second vault in team competition at the `1996 Olympics in Atlanta with a bad ankle and ended up injuring herself severely but managed to secure the gold medal for the U.S. women's team.  The irony is that no one could have known at the time that, with a Russian gymnast yet to complete a floor routine that would lead the Russians to come up short in the scores, a second vault from Strug was unnecessary.  Had Kerri Strug not performed a second vault, and had not American coach Bela Karloyi - who frantically tried without success to get the scores to see if Strug needed to vault again - told her to go ahead with a second vault, the Americans would still have won the gold medal.  The comparison is tenuous at best.  Strug may have physically injured herself in her second vault - and kudos to her for taking the risk, even though no one would have held it against her had she not, especially after it turned out that the gold medal for the American women's gymnastics team was already money in the bank - but she was of a clear mind and had confidence in what she was doing, even though she didn't want to do it.  In fact, she more or less had to, but that doesn't make her second vault any less inspiring.  Biles is dealing with mental health issues that no attempt at self-confidence can overcome.  She did the right thing by withdrawing.  

Oh yeah, how many of Biles' detractors even pay attention to gymnastics when the Olympics aren't going on?

I've seen this before, with other athletes being criticized when they win a swim or track race but by a time not up to par their personal bests.  Since when is winning bad when it's not by much?  Or how about Sam Kendricks, the pole vaulter from Mississippi, who withdrew from competition upon testing positive for COVID?  Mississippi's senior U.S. Senator, Roger Wicker, chastised Kendricks for not competing despite his infection.  Hello?  Kendricks caught the corona!  Maybe Senator Wicker should use his influence to get people in his virus-laden state to get vaccinated rather than picking on an athlete who's already caught the corona bug.   

This sort of nonsense directed at athletes like Biles and Kendricks will continue because people think of athletes as deities of perfection and don't excuse them for being human.  The Olympics are supposed to be about the athletes?  Right.  I'll believe that when more fans have greater concern for the athletes.