The Summer Games of the XXXII Olympiad

[DisneyJamieCA]

Well...she's a quitter. Plain and simple. Feel bad for the rest of the team.

She made a mistake on her first run out, then packed up her things and called it a day. Tom Brady goes to the Super Bowl and throws an interception on his first pass. Lebron goes to the NBA Finals and throws an air ball on his first shot. Don't think they'd be applauded if they packed up and went home.

Indeed.

If you want to stick with comparisons to gymnastics instead of football/basketball...how many other young ladies did you see last night who fell off the balance beam, or fell during their floor routine? Heck, there was that one poor Russian girl who looked petrified on the balance beam. I didn't see any of them quit after they made mistakes. Sorry, I guess I do see it as that simple...she quit on her team.

Wow, there is a lot to unpack here. Where to start?

First, she didn’t quit. Mental health doesn’t work on a timetable. It’s not because she did poorly on the vault. She did poorly on the vault BECAUSE of her mental health. Twisties are a real thing and multiple gymnasts have come out over the last few days explaining how scary & dangerous it is. You’d be wise to listen to one of them. In summary, continuing and having one misstep could have resulted in grave injury or death. Which makes your football analogy ridiculous. Tom Brady missing a pass results in an incompletion. Her missing an element could lead to her death. And she’s not a quitter - she has competed with a kidney stone, broken toes, achilles problems. She wisely understood this wasn’t something she could just push through.

Second, understand the immense pressure she was under. Not only was she carrying the weight of this team, she is the lone member who suffered the abuse of US Gymnastics. And this was her first time back at an Olympics without her abusers. Repressed trauma is very real. Go back and look at the video of Keri Strug’s vault. Not only did they not need it to win gold, she asked not to do it again and was told she had to. She was then handed off to the team doctor, the one who sexually abused them. And it ended her career at 18. None of the other girls have any of that going on, so you can’t compare them. That said, if any of them needed to walk away, I’d applaud them too.

Lastly, she did it FOR the team. Even if she had put her own health aside and pushed through, she likely would have tanked it for them and they’d be walking away without medals. And they wouldn’t have placed higher than they did with an alternate. But you should be happy, she’s pulled out of the AA and Jade will take her place. So using your analogy, if a QB said “hey team, I’m suffering some blindness” your answer would be “it’s ok, go ahead and keep going”? Doubtful. You’d want them replaced with somebody who could see where to throw it. Twisties means she couldn’t tell spacial awareness. So you expected her to do flips, twists and blind dismounts when she couldn’t tell where the floor was?

You should really do some research on gymnastics and then on mental health. And know it’s ALWAYS ok to put your mental health first. That’s the lesson we should be teaching our kids.

This is from a former gymnast. Definitely worth the read.

 

[monsterkitty]

I wonder what Marta thinks about this situation. No way in hell would this have happened when she was in charge and I am not saying that is a bad thing!

Who cares what Marta thinks? She and Bela abused their athletes and allowed Nasser to sexually abuse girls while at the Ranch.

It's not a bad thing. It's a horrible.

 

[Klayfish]

Aside from Simone what's something else you have about the Olympics? Any other events you were excited for? Any events you found yourself cheering even if it was for someone not from the U.S. Share with us that

I think I'm more of a fan of the winter Olympics than summer. I'm not a basketball fan and I just can't get into things like equestrian, skateboarding, handball, table tennis, badminton, etc... I still like to watch what I can though. I think the gymnasts are amazing athletes, as are the swimmers. I was even watching some water polo the other day. While it's not something I'd really get into, it takes incredible stamina to play that sport.

 

[Karin1984]

It is the best day for the Netherlands in history with 8 medals in one day the record of 7 medals in one day was in 1928.

 

[PezRuth]

I think I'm more of a fan of the winter Olympics than summer. I'm not a basketball fan and I just can't get into things like equestrian, skateboarding, handball, table tennis, badminton, etc... I still like to watch what I can though. I think the gymnasts are amazing athletes, as are the swimmers. I was even watching some water polo the other day. While it's not something I'd really get into, it takes incredible stamina to play that sport.

I have been very surprised but I have gotten into taekwondo and shooting. Also lifting. I am looking forward to the sport climbing.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Who hates it?

I've seen only praise from what Naomi Osaka has been doing

Go spend some time on Twitter

 

[jrmasm]

I did say that. Go back and read my posts. I'm a big fan of hers and approve her decision.

However, the idea that she doesn't owe anybody anything (which one poster proclaimed) is patently false.

Again that’s your opinion. Treating her like a commodity and not a human is disgusting.

 

[Pooh's World]

The men have never been good except for in 1984 when the Soviet teams boycotted. The women have been superior for longer but only since 2012. The women in 1984 only won a silver with the boycott.

The men were okay when they had the Hamm brothers from Wisconsin.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

Again that’s your opinion. Treating her like a commodity and not a human is disgusting.

People treat themselves as a commodity all the time. What do you think being famous or a celebrity is all about?

 

[jrmasm]

People treat themselves as a commodity all the time. What do you think being famous or a celebrity is all about?

Stop, she owes no one but herself.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I feel bad for Simone Biles. This is damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. FWIW I feel she made the right call, but perhaps at the wrong time. It feels unfair that she took that spot when we can now look back and tell that she wasn't in the right mindset days if not weeks ago. USAG needs to be burned down and rebuilt from the ground up. No one wants to see a talented young lady breakdown on the international stage.

 

[Pooh's World]

I feel bad for Simone Biles. This is damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. FWIW I feel she made the right call, but perhaps at the wrong time. It feels unfair that she took that spot when we can now look back and tell that she wasn't in the right mindset days if not weeks ago. USAG needs to be burned down and rebuilt from the ground up. No one wants to see a talented young lady breakdown on the international stage.

I didn't follow the Olympic Trials but it seemed like she was falling down and missing things in the short video they played.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I didn't follow the Olympic Trials but it seemed like she was falling down and missing things in the short video they played.

She fell of the beam, which was very unlike her. But it wasn’t a night of mistakes.

She clearly struggled in the qualification round of the Olympics. I think she really hoped to push through like she had done so many times before and realized she just couldn’t.

 

[Pooh's World]

She fell of the beam, which was very unlike her. But it wasn’t a night of mistakes.

She clearly struggled in the qualification round of the Olympics. I think she really hoped to push through like she had done so many times before and realized she just couldn’t.

If you look at other sports like Euro 2020 (played last month) soccer tournament, they had 11 own goals in the tournament which is more own goals than in the last 50 years of the Euro tournament combined.

And that one Danish player had a heart attack on the field and almost died on the field. Technically he was dead for around 7 minutes.

So nothing has been normal this year.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

If you look at other sports like Euro 2020 (played last month) soccer tournament, they had 11 own goals in the tournament which is more own goals than in the last 50 years of the Euro tournament combined.

And that one Danish player had a heart attack on the field and almost died on the field. Technically he was dead for around 7 minutes.

So nothing has been normal this year.

Agreed. And I don’t want to speculate on more that has been said about Simone, and it would apply to a lot of the athletes - I wonder how much the extra year for these Olympics has effected them? Some will benefit not having to had waited until 2024, but for some, already hitting some upper ages in their sports, that extra year without the same training, competitions/meets, etc has to be really hard. Both mentally & physically.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

USAG needs to be burned down and rebuilt from the ground up. No one wants to see a talented young lady breakdown on the international stage.

I think we can all agree on that!

 

[Pooh's World]

Agreed. And I don’t want to speculate on more that has been said about Simone, and it would apply to a lot of the athletes - I wonder how much the extra year for these Olympics has effected them? Some will benefit not having to had waited until 2024, but for some, already hitting some upper ages in their sports, that extra year without the same training, competitions/meets, etc has to be really hard. Both mentally & physically.

Also not having fans. Some athletes thrive off that.
It definitely creates a different atmosphere with a bubble and no fans.

 

[BrianL]

Wow, there is a lot to unpack here. Where to start?

First, she didn’t quit. Mental health doesn’t work on a timetable. It’s not because she did poorly on the vault. She did poorly on the vault BECAUSE of her mental health. Twisties are a real thing and multiple gymnasts have come out over the last few days explaining how scary & dangerous it is. You’d be wise to listen to one of them. In summary, continuing and having one misstep could have resulted in grave injury or death. Which makes your football analogy ridiculous. Tom Brady missing a pass results in an incompletion. Her missing an element could lead to her death. And she’s not a quitter - she has competed with a kidney stone, broken toes, achilles problems. She wisely understood this wasn’t something she could just push through.

Second, understand the immense pressure she was under. Not only was she carrying the weight of this team, she is the lone member who suffered the abuse of US Gymnastics. And this was her first time back at an Olympics without her abusers. Repressed trauma is very real. Go back and look at the video of Keri Strug’s vault. Not only did they not need it to win gold, she asked not to do it again and was told she had to. She was then handed off to the team doctor, the one who sexually abused them. And it ended her career at 18. None of the other girls have any of that going on, so you can’t compare them. That said, if any of them needed to walk away, I’d applaud them too.

Lastly, she did it FOR the team. Even if she had put her own health aside and pushed through, she likely would have tanked it for them and they’d be walking away without medals. And they wouldn’t have placed higher than they did with an alternate. But you should be happy, she’s pulled out of the AA and Jade will take her place. So using your analogy, if a QB said “hey team, I’m suffering some blindness” your answer would be “it’s ok, go ahead and keep going”? Doubtful. You’d want them replaced with somebody who could see where to throw it. Twisties means she couldn’t tell spacial awareness. So you expected her to do flips, twists and blind dismounts when she couldn’t tell where the floor was?

You should really do some research on gymnastics and then on mental health. And know it’s ALWAYS ok to put your mental health first. That’s the lesson we should be teaching our kids.

I agree, and I think the issues are endemic to USAG and there needs to be some serious changes made!

One note about Keri Strug, they didn't know they didn't need her vault at the time she did it as the Russian's were still performing. Keri's second, successful vault mathematically clinhed the gold medal. That said, was it really worth it to force a kid to do something so harmful and dangerous? The pressure on these kids is so intense - Simone is 24 but Keri was 18, and there are many even younger than that. They absolutely need to examine this system closely and decide what's most important.

 

[Pooh's World]

Agreed. And I don’t want to speculate on more that has been said about Simone, and it would apply to a lot of the athletes - I wonder how much the extra year for these Olympics has effected them? Some will benefit not having to had waited until 2024, but for some, already hitting some upper ages in their sports, that extra year without the same training, competitions/meets, etc has to be really hard. Both mentally & physically.

Also look at Missy Franklin.

She dominated at one Olympics and then was a shadow of herself at Rio. But like Simone had all the endorsements and was the "It" girl, so maybe felt like she had to do it.

Then someone like Ledecky who was lower profile is becoming more and more dominant over 3 Olympics.

Everyone is built different and then also maybe money changes things too. Like in Rocky, once he became champ and had all the money he lost the eye of the tiger.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I agree, and I think the issues are endemic to USAG and there needs to be some serious changes made!

One note about Keri Strug, they didn't know they didn't need her vault at the time she did it as the Russian's were still performing. Keri's second, successful vault mathematically clinhed the gold medal. That said, was it really worth it to force a kid to do something so harmful and dangerous? The pressure on these kids is so intense - Simone is 24 but Keri was 18, and there are many even younger than that. They absolutely need to examine this system closely and decide what's most important.

They didn’t know 100%, but Karolyi miscalculated. Even with a perfect score from the Russians it would have been almost impossible for them to win. So yes, they basically knew. And even if they hadn’t, winning the gold wasn’t worth injuring an athlete.