Simone Biles withdraws from Olympics

Marvanelli

Marvanelli

Well-known member
What's everyone's thoughts on her decision?

It's coming across very mixed.

I see Piers Morgan is about to publish a damning column about her decision....there's a shock.

Safe to say it's creating a lot of traffic on social media/online.
 
Morgan is a cretin.

I'm not sure that Biles is really a household name is she? Well not in the UK.

I feel sorry for the person who's place she took but that's for the USA, not us in the UK.

And if she wants to pull out then so be it, who are we too criticise?
 
Has she withdrawn from the Olympics completely though? I can only find stories that she withdrew from the all-around individual competition. US Gymnastics is saying she might still take part in the individual event finals.
 
I don't blame her for pulling out, and I have no doubt that she's genuinely struggling mentally, mental health is no joke and it impacts all of us.

But I'm not really a fan of the portrayal that she's a hero for withdrawing mid-competition.
Though I suppose it's far better than the media lambasting her for having mental health issue.
 
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Nosmo-King said:
She’s a champion - and has nothing to prove to anyone. If she feels she can’t obtain the exceptional standards she sets due to individual factors and reasons then so be it. She should be respected
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Mental health should be at the forefront for her.

I am not sure how I would feel if it was my daughter who missed out on the Olympics team after years of effort and training for her.
 
She was having an off day and pulled out stating mental health issues. She probably cost her team gold. She managed to come back to cheer them on, in her interview. She then congratulated herself on being brave enough to do so I.e pull out. She’s now pulled out from the all round event but is currently still in the individual events at the weekend. That concerns me - is she mixing up having a bad day at the office with mental health issues.

personally I think if her head is not right she should pull out completely and remove herself from the spotlight she is currently under, or someone should intervene and pull her out.

from what she says it reminds me of the Ronaldo I situation when he wasn’t right but the powers that be and money men
Ensured he played in the World Cup final.

we will probably never know what’s going on in camp etc but so that she doesn’t spoil it for the rest of the team and detract from their hard work and she cannot compete herself she should maybe remove herself from the situation.
 
I really don't think it's anyones place to comment on whether they do or don't agree, why not just let her make her own decisions and if she feels it's the best thing for her, at this moment in time, then crack on.

Regardless of that, this one incident shouldn't overrule all of the great, and there has been an awful lot of that, that she has achieved so far in her career. She doesn't need to justify her decision to anyone.
 
It is because of idiots like Piers Morgan and Alan Brazil that people are still afraid to speak up about their mental health.

If she doesn't feel able to compete then she shouldn't have to, it's a sport for crying out loud, if she had a physical injury then nobody would question her decision but because its related to mental health then idiots like Morgan think it's fair game to have a go.
 
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If she is struggling mentally then no one can say anything about it, only she knows whether it was the right or wrong decision. I hope she gets into a position where she can compete further in the single competitions.

Morgan is a cretin of the highest order who is looking for publicity and controversy. People are being encouraged to talk about their mental health and clearly she is a role model for many. Good luck to her and I think she deserves a lot of credit for being brave enough to do what she has done.
 
Nosmo-King said:
She’s a champion - and has nothing to prove to anyone. If she feels she can’t obtain the exceptional standards she sets due to individual factors and reasons then so be it. She should be respected
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Plus if he mental health is distracting here form her usual high standards she could easily injure herself. One landing slightly mistimed because your head isn't in the right place and you could get hurt.
 
FatCat said:
She was having an off day and pulled out stating mental health issues. She probably cost her team gold. She managed to come back to cheer them on, in her interview. She then congratulated herself on being brave enough to do so I.e pull out. She’s now pulled out from the all round event but is currently still in the individual events at the weekend. That concerns me - is she mixing up having a bad day at the office with mental health issues.

personally I think if her head is not right she should pull out completely and remove herself from the spotlight she is currently under, or someone should intervene and pull her out.

from what she says it reminds me of the Ronaldo I situation when he wasn’t right but the powers that be and money men
Ensured he played in the World Cup final.

we will probably never know what’s going on in camp etc but so that she doesn’t spoil it for the rest of the team and detract from their hard work and she cannot compete herself she should maybe remove herself from the situation.
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Totally agree — I think she’ll regret her actions as she’s let herself and the team down — ok you say she should look after number one but perhaps she knew before that this was going to happen — not only that I bet many of athletes felt the same way with all the protocols in place to get from A to B. Kind of like being in the military. As for her team mates they’ll only get one chance to win gold — she’s already won and bagged a boat load of cash in the meantime.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
Totally agree — I think she’ll regret her actions as she’s let herself and the team down — ok you say she should look after number one but perhaps she knew before that this was going to happen — not only that I bet many of athletes felt the same way with all the protocols in place to get from A to B. Kind of like being in the military. As for her team mates they’ll only get one chance to win gold — she’s already won and bagged a boat load of cash in the meantime.
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Maybe she was having an off day because of her mental health? Just a thought
 
I saw an interview with her last year on US TV, ( I work with the Father of one of the other US gymnasts, so it was something that peaked my interest)

At the time she said she was struggling with the 2020 games being postponed (or even cancelled at the time) after having spent so much time preparing and honing her training for this one occasion.
Maybe the whole, on, off, on again nature over the last 12 months has pushed her and other athletes over the edge and just exhausted their last ounce of mental resilience.

You can be sure that they set much higher expectations for themselves that anyone else could put on them.

I have absolutely no time for people who question others mental health decisions base don the fact that they themselves don't see it or believe its a "real" issue. Its not happening to me, so its cant be real.
 
uncle_rico said:
Morgan is a cretin of the highest order who is looking for publicity and controversy. People are being encouraged to talk about their mental health and clearly she is a role model for many. Good luck to her and I think she deserves a lot of credit for being brave enough to do what she has done.
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I agree with this 100%, questioning mental health is the "new" day equivalent of questioning if racism or sexism are real things. There is a real undercurrent in some areas of lets just admit that its just some weak pathetic people who are looking for an easy ride or another excuse why the world is being mean to them. Never did me any harm in my day etc etc.
 
Alzi said:
It shouldn't be seen any differently than a physical injury stopping her from competing.

Just like with racism, we have a long way to go with attitudes towards Mental Health.
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I came on here to post exactly this.

It's MASSIVE news here in the US and the reaction here has been mixed too (although there is a nice meme going round that says that most of the people berating Biles for lack of mental toughness are the same people who say it's psychologically too hard to wear a mask in Walmart!)
 
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