How the Olympics Are Doing Right by Simone Biles This Year
After Simone Biles struggled with the twisties and an unfathomable level of pressure at the last Olympics, the USA Gymnastics team is working to make the 2024 Paris Olympics different for her.
Biles is considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. She’s a six-time world all-around champion and has won seven Olympic medals. Unfortunately, during the 2020 Olympics, she was under an unimaginable level of stress. Not only was she expected to continue performing as one of the best gymnasts on Team USA, but she unexpectedly lost her aunt during the competition. On top of that, it was her first Olympics competition after she came forward as one of Larry Nassar’s victims and revealed how USA Gymnastics had protected and enabled Nassar. During the competition, she was the only member of her team to qualify for all the individual finals.
However, citing mental health struggles, Biles withdrew from most of her events, except for the balance beam, for which she took home a bronze medal. Later, she revealed she was suffering from a very dangerous psychological phenomenon known as twisties, in which gymnasts lose spatial awareness while in the air. Despite the fact that she withdrew for her own safety, many trolls who knew absolutely nothing about gymnastics used it as an opportunity to call her a quitter and launch disgusting racist and sexist attacks on her. Fortunately, the Olympics is taking steps to offer more support to Biles this year.
USA Gymnastics is working to alleviate the pressure on Simone Biles
After a brief hiatus following the 2020 Olympics, Biles made an outstanding comeback, returning to the 2023 World Championships with a winning performance. She quickly qualified for the 2024 Olympics, making her the oldest woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team in 72 years. However, things will be different for her this year.
As reported by USA Today, Biles will not be required to compete in all four events in the team finals if she doesn’t wish to. In team finals, three members of the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team are chosen to compete in each event, and all three individual scores are tallied. It’s well-known that Biles shines in practically every event and holds the potential to drive up the team scores. However, four events are a lot for one gymnast to compete in, and it’s unfair for the team to ride wholly on Biles’ performance.
So, the team had a simple solution. Technical lead for the team Chellsie Memmel told USA Today that Biles will be allowed to opt out of the team finals if she thinks it’s what’s best for her. She stated, “If that’s what she needs to continue to be at her best for the team and herself, that’s what we’re going to do because there are still four other members on our team. Whether she takes it or not, it’s going to be completely up to her.” Biles was presented with this same option at the World Championships, although she ultimately chose to compete in all four events. Simply knowing that she has options and will be permitted to prioritize her health makes a big difference.
On top of that, the USA Gymnastics team will not tolerate anyone calling Biles their “gold-medal token.” According to Biles, she was called the “gold-medal token” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by someone within the team, which only exacerbated the intense pressure she experienced. Last time at the Olympics, many people seemed to forget that besides being a gold medal winner and Olympian, Biles was human. No matter how great an athlete is, there is such a thing as too much pressure and strain. An unnecessary level of stress was placed on Biles because a disproportionate amount of expectation was directed at her while her teammates’ skills were underestimated. It’s fortunate that this time around, the team is going out of their way to prevent Biles from being painted solely as the team’s ticket to a gold medal.
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