I have no fixed opinion on Simone Biles

Except that she’s an incredible gymnast, of course.

Here are two different perspectives on her recent troubles. Feel free to add your opinion in the comments.

Simone Biles is a role model for prioritizing her own mental health over an Olympic medal

Sorry Simone Biles, but there’s nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you’re not having ‘fun’ – you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country

14 thoughts on “I have no fixed opinion on Simone Biles”

  1. I think there’s a lot of overdramatization of the idea that she’s the first person ever to pull out of a sporting event with a high risk of injury because she wasn’t mentally prepared. I really, really don’t think that’s true.

    I don’t know if her decision was hasty or appropriate because I don’t know as much about the situation as either people well acquainted with world class gymnastic competition, or keyboard warriors who never backed out of anything in their lives but are sure that Simone Biles owes it to the world to stay in the competition because of Iwo Jima, or something.

    I guess I would sum up my position as: people need to keep their commitments, follow through on things they’ve qualified for at the cost of eliminating others, and sometimes push through pain and stress. I also believe that there are limits to all those things, and so “quitting” is not an absolute evil.

    1. I also don’t think she should be used as a “role model” for this. It might have been the right choice for her but it might not have been, and using her as an example of a good choice when almost no one is the position have all the facts about her personal situation as well as the nature of the competition, is really nothing more than people who have an agenda, finding something to point to.

    2. My inclination is to say she did the right thing. What they’re doing has to be dangerous — flying through the air, flipping and spinning and whatnot, with the danger of landing on your head the wrong way — and if you don’t think you can do it safely, you don’t do it.

      But pulling out isn’t brave, it’s prudent.

      Continuing on with a broken ankle, as I believe somebody did last Olympics — that’s brave.

      So I’m going to knock her for it, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to hold her up as a model for pulling out.

        1. It honestly makes no difference to me what Miss Biles did. It’s just sports…and one I don’t care much about. I haven’t hardly watched any of them…less than two hours maybe less than one.

          What she did or didn’t do has no effect on me. Seems like everyone has to have an opinion about everything.

          1. Exactly! I’ve been wondering why this has been such a bone of contention for some. Despite her decision, she’s still an Olympic gold medalist champion. That and her talent can’t be denied. I suspect the biggest critics of Biles couldn’t do a fraction of what she’s done. The ones trashing her now would have likely trashed her anyway if she had competed, lost and injured herself. She made a decision based on what she and her advisors thought was best…end of story.

            That said, now that gymnast Suni Lee has won Olympic gold, I wonder if she will be celebrated as an American champion by the yahoos who were attacking Americans of Chinese/Asian descent and blaming them for the “Kung-Flu”.

      3. QUOTE: Continuing on with a broken ankle, as I believe somebody did last Olympics — that’s brave.

        How do you know that it was bravery that motivated Strug to continue? According to fellow gymnasts, they believed Kerri Strug was conditioned to push through her pain under an abusive environment where girls were afraid to challenge authority. If this is indeed true, bravery doesn’t seem to be the right label.

        That said, in cases like this the most prudent thing to do is to recognize the talent and contributions of the athlete and not speculate about things that have no clear basis in fact.

  2. Reminds me of the neverending arguments on the fairness of various playoff arrangements, or whether it’s right to aim to score when you’re way ahead, etc.

    The point that if you want to make sure you get in the playoffs then just win more games, and if you don’t want the other guys to score then play some defence, isn’t a slam-dunk response but IMHO it has a lot of weight.

    She earned the right to play. She left for reasons which might be good or bad, and if I knew more of the facts (any of them?) maybe I’d have a take, but when she earned the right to play she earned the right to make the call. If this became a pattern maybe that’d be a different conversation, but once?

    ‘sides, I’m a winter sports guy anyhow.

    1. Yeah, your point about a pattern or the absence thereof makes a lot of sense. There are a lot of people who haven’t finished a 5K once calling her a “quitter”. In the literal sense she’s a quitter because she quit (but not precisely, she withdrew from some events but competed or is scheduled to compete in others), but not according to the connotation people intend when they use it as an epithet. Quitters don’t make it to her level.

      1. So, newness is a requisite quality for being interesting? I suspect “interesting”, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

        For me, it was interesting to see the perspective of a fellow athlete…someone who might understand what it could be like to be in Biles’ situation. People in her position tend to have more credibility (given her experience) than the average pundit or keyboard warrior who shares their unfounded opinions for likes, clicks and views. As well, how she was able to speak about her personal reflection and demonstrate humility in publicly indicating she was wrong about her initial perceptions. It’s rare to see such qualities on display these days.

Comments are closed.