Everyone continues to analyze the move from Simone Biles to withdraw from team and individual Olympic competition, citing mental health issues. Her teammates and many athletes have come out in support of the 24-year old gymnast. Still some are criticizing her exit, but I believe Biles showed great courage in her decision to step back on a worldwide stage.
There were a number of folks that were critical of her decision. I was really taken aback by the insensitivity and lack of understanding of what she is going through, but what really struck me more than anything else was the her completely and totally selfless act. When she realized she needed to be there for her teammates and went out and participated in the first event, then came to the realization, “I'm not there,” the easy thing to do would have been to just go ahead and compete, not do so well and chalk it up for a bad day. Think about that for a moment. That would have been the coward’s approach to this. Can you imagine the pressure on her to come out and make that admission? It was such a breath of fresh air of complete and total honesty.
What really impressed me more than anything else is knowing that she was going to have to face everyone on a worldwide stage and say, my head is not in this space, I'm disconnected on the mental side of my approach to what I do, I'm struggling. To make that admission on that world stage... I don't know about you, but I was completely and totally moved by it.
I am proud of Ms. Simone Biles... you have to have everything peak at the ultimate level of both your physicality and your mental strength, complementing one another to be able to do some of the most incredible gymnastic moves. A lot of credible individuals that are out there that have competed at that level said this is not unusual, not unusual at all. In fact, most of the athletes that have competed at that level, they're all coming out now talking about it. They've gone through the same thing.
I would jump into foxhole with Simone Biles any day of the week, because that level of honesty, that level of courage, is not one that you see very often.
