In regards to the mental health aspect of Biles’ Olympic performance, I think a lot of people are drawing connecting lines that they probably shouldn’t. I figured it was common knowledge by now, but she has been dealing with a condition that gymnasts refer to as the twisities. This is a severing of the mind-body connection that is in some ways similar to the yips in other sports.
https://www.livescience.com/simone-biles-what-are-twisties.htmlIf you know anything about the yips, you know that they are not something you can just “walk off” or “gut” through. It takes time to work through them and the work involves going back to the basics. Some of you ridiculed Biles bronze on the beam while failing to realize that she was performing a stripped-down version of her routine. In fact, she utilized a dismount that she had not used since she was 12. And she still won the bronze! She could not have done this without putting in the work behind the scenes since the team final to make competing even a possibility. For those that claimed she quit on her team are way out of line. It was the best decision both for her and the team. The margin error is razor thin and a compromised Biles could have easily dropped the team out of medal contention. That would be the very least of the risk. When you try to rush back from the twisties, this is what can happen.
https://www.si.com/olympics/2021/08/02/simone-biles-twisties-physical-risk-former-gymnasts-left-paralyzed
Like the yips, the twisties also come without warning and their precise origins are hard to trace. I initially thought Biles was wrong to take the Olympic spot. However, I now realize that this came on quickly. It wasn’t something she could have foreseen occurring.
I know some of you will look at this condition as a sign of mental weakness, which I don’t think holds up under scrutiny. This one competition does not erase what she has already accomplished. She has already excelled on the largest stages. She has 4 moves names after her, which only occurs when you are the first and ONLY person to successfully land a move in a major world competition. Is anyone going to claim that doesn’t take courage or mental toughness? Would anyone claim Jon Lester, world series champion and cancer survivor, as being mentally week because he had a period in his career where he couldn’t throw to first base.
A lot of this hints at a larger issue we have in sports fandom. We treat athletes like they are machines, and disposable ones at that. More than one person on this thread has championed the accomplishments of Michael Phelps, at rightfully so. However, I have not seen anyone mention his struggles with the mental pressures involved with being the best in the world at what he does. In 2014 he was arrested for a DUI and subsequently struggled with suicidal thoughts. In interviews, HE drew a direct line to the pressures he faced as a competetor. But because his lapse didn’t happen during a competition, we applaud him. But which is more egregious, pulling yourself out of a team competition because your competitive capabilities and physical safety have been compromised, or choosing to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while intoxicated. To his credit, Phelps has and continued to fight his demons. This is courageous, but that doesn’t mean that those who have succumbed were not courageous. I am willing to bet my net worth that if you asked Phelps what pulled him off that metaphorical ledge, he would not say it was his gold medals. I would bet anything that he leaned on the connections and support group that he has in his life.
We as fans need to be better and try to redirect our values. We don’t need the Ted Johnson’s of the world to get on to a football field despite dealing with concussions. We don’t need college programs like Wisconsin making up a shoulder injury for Joel Stave so as to protect him from the un-informed stigma behind the yips. We do not need the Jacoby Miles’ of the world to push themselves beyond what is safe because of or jacked-up value system.