Simone Biles

[Go Budaw]

What the hell is going on with her withdrawal? One of the strangest sports stories I think I’ve ever seen.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

She was doing horrible in the prelims stuff. What medical reason was there for the withdrawal?

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Instead of downvoting, how about provide some clarification to the situation.

 

[VegasDawg13]

She was doing horrible in the prelims stuff. What medical reason was there for the withdrawal?

It appears there is no "medical" reason but instead a mental health thing.

I saw someone tweet earlier that she is bi-polar (could be ********; this was not a verified reporter or anything).

 

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

Instead of downvoting, how about provide some clarification to the situation.

Based on the news conference… sounds like she basically said “I literally can’t even!” and has just decided to sit the rest out and watch.

 

[MSUDC11]

She is claiming to have withdrawn for mental health reasons. Said she is physically fine but mentally wasn't in it.

Far be it from me to judge an Olympic athlete who has won multiple gold medals for her country, I'm just a guy on the internet. Does seem like an odd situation, though. The U.S. was the heavy favorite to win gold in that event and they ended up with silver.

 

[dorndawg]

It appears there is no "medical" reason but instead a mental health thing.

I saw someone tweet earlier that she is bi-polar (could be ********; this was not a verified reporter or anything).

Mental health is "medical". Maybe you meant "physical"?

 

[jethreauxdawg]

It appears there is no "medical" reason but instead a mental health thing.

I saw someone tweet earlier that she is bi-polar (could be ********; this was not a verified reporter or anything).

Gotcha. She was clearly off in the early stages. I’ve never seen someone go as far out of the boundary on a floor routine as she did and then the first vault wasn’t much better. That’s a bummer.

 

[ezsoil]

She is claiming to have withdrawn for mental health reasons. Said she is physically fine but mentally wasn't in it.

Far be it from me to judge an Olympic athlete who has won multiple gold medals for her country, I'm just a guy on the internet. Does seem like an odd situation, though. The U.S. was the heavy favorite to win gold in that event and they ended up with silver.

I think part of may be the scoring guideline changes that were put in place to make it more "fair"for others.... she no longer is rewarded for doing things others can't physically do...why don't they give everyone a participation medal rather than merit based medals.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I didn't watch, but if you look at all the reports, it appears she got mad and quit when she didn't do well. Is that the story here, and no one will actually say it? Didn't appear she was injured.

I don't know anything about her background. Is she the typical coddled athlete?

Anyway, just questions, so downvote away dorn/olblue/anonymous/etc.

 

[VegasDawg13]

Mental health is "medical". Maybe you meant "physical"?

I put "medical" in quotes because I was using the word he used in the way I interpreted jethreaux to be using it. So yes, I meant "physical."

 

[11thEagleFan]

I kinda have a different take on it. She obviously hasn’t done well in these games and knew it. At one point she was actually hurting the team with her performance. I liken it to a pitcher who just doesn’t have his stuff on a given day. By actually stepping aside, maybe she thought that she gave her team the best chance to win.

Sorry, but I’m never gonna **** on an Olympic athlete who has represented our country well. And to boot, she’s brought home numerous gold medals. Good luck to her.

 

[Irondawg]

I started a thread on the other board about it and getting roasted over there so I’ll just agree that it’s odd and highly unusual.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

If that’s the case, she just cost herself a lot of future endorsements.

 

[dorndawg]

I put "medical" in quotes because I was using the word he used in the way I interpreted jethreaux to be using it. So yes, I meant "physical."

Roger that

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I'm not into gymnastics in any form. But I have a good friend whose daughter is on Oklahoma's gymnastics team. From the time she was in 5th grade she has spent 2 hours before and after school in the gym and almost all weekend. All year round. It's the most intense and demanding sport I have ever seen anyone participate in.. She was putting in 30 hours per week in high school and killed it in the classroom too. (She was Big 12 Scholar athlete of the year this year.) If ever there were a sport that would break you down mentally, I could see it being that one.

 

[dorndawg]

I'm not into gymnastics in any form. But I have a good friend whose daughter is on Oklahoma's gymnastics team. From the time she was in 5th grade she has spent 2 hours before and after school in the gym and almost all weekend. All year round. It's the most intense and demanding sport I have ever seen anyone participate in.. She was putting in 30 hours per week in high school and killed it in the classroom too. (She was Big 12 Scholar athlete of the year this year.) If ever there were a sport that would break you down mentally, I could see it being that one.

Completely agree. It'd be like if somebody was an amazing pitcher, but there was only 1 single elimination tournament every 4 years.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

And the ump said since you throw really fast, you have a smaller zone.

 

[Sapsdawg]

I didn't watch, but if you look at all the reports, it appears she got mad and quit when she didn't do well. Is that the story here, and no one will actually say it? Didn't appear she was injured.

I don't know anything about her background. Is she the typical coddled athlete?

Anyway, just questions, so downvote away dorn/olblue/anonymous/etc.

There's no question she's a coddled athlete. At that level they all are. BUT, if she didn't have it and she knew she was having a bad off day for whatever reason, then there is nothing wrong with her giving her teammates who have worked just as hard a better chance to win the gold. Coddled doesn't equal quitter, but if she was convinced she wouldn't help them win gold, then respect for stepping back and giving someone else a chance who was not having an off day. We aren't there we don't know the real deal, but there are many potential reasons here.

 

[DAWG61]

From what I read she's got basically vertigo for gymnasts where you lose track of the floor while flipping in the air. She's lost basically. Scary feeling I'd imagine when doing 2.5 flips in the air over and over. Dangerous too. Her last performance before she pulled out she only did 1.5 flips on the final move instead of the 2.5 and that was it. Idk when the individual events are but I think she can still compete in those if she finds the floor again.

 

[johnson86-1]

There's no question she's a coddled athlete. At that level they all are. BUT, if she didn't have it and she knew she was having a bad off day for whatever reason, then there is nothing wrong with her giving her teammates who have worked just as hard a better chance to win the gold. Coddled doesn't equal quitter, but if she was convinced she wouldn't help them win gold, then respect for stepping back and giving someone else a chance who was not having an off day. We aren't there we don't know the real deal, but there are many potential reasons here.

I don't think they all are. And I don't see any reason to think she is. Having a lot of people working to let a world class athlete focus on his/her craft does not equal coddled.

 

[Irondawg]

I just don’t like the way it was phrased and presented in the interview - to me it made her look bad.

Injury, vertigo, whatever it may have been if it was a medical type issue then it makes sense. Clearly something is going on. This isn’t her first Olympics and she’s the best in the world.

Maybe this reminded me too much of Osaka

I’ll add that I don’t think this is coddled. Gymnast aren’t usually that type of athlete.

 

[8dog]

Coddled is not a word I would ever use to describe a competitive gymnast at this level

 

[dorndawg]

There's no question she's a coddled athlete. At that level they all are. BUT, if she didn't have it and she knew she was having a bad off day for whatever reason, then there is nothing wrong with her giving her teammates who have worked just as hard a better chance to win the gold. Coddled doesn't equal quitter, but if she was convinced she wouldn't help them win gold, then respect for stepping back and giving someone else a chance who was not having an off day. We aren't there we don't know the real deal, but there are many potential reasons here.

Probably also worth remembering she was sexually assaulted by larry nassar, as were many of our women's gymnasts going back 30 years.

 

[Bulldog from Birth]

Deleting this post. Didn’t realize Biles’ connection with the Nassar mess at the time. Should have offered more grace and learned more before responding.

 

[fishwater99]

Probably also worth remembering she was sexually assaulted by larry nassar, as were many of our women's gymnasts going back 30 years.

^^^^This is her mental health issue...

 

[blacklistedbully]

And yet that didn't stop her from dominating previous Olympics and World events.

 

[Dawgg]

I'm not into gymnastics in any form. But I have a good friend whose daughter is on Oklahoma's gymnastics team. From the time she was in 5th grade she has spent 2 hours before and after school in the gym and almost all weekend. All year round. It's the most intense and demanding sport I have ever seen anyone participate in.. She was putting in 30 hours per week in high school and killed it in the classroom too. (She was Big 12 Scholar athlete of the year this year.) If ever there were a sport that would break you down mentally, I could see it being that one.

Does she know your feelings about OU fans?

 

[Dawgg]

Here’s my one question. And it’s the key question to make a fair judgment.

Yeah, but who are you to judge?

 

[SirBarksalot]

Gotcha. She was clearly off in the early stages. I’ve never seen someone go as far out of the boundary on a floor routine as she did and then the first vault wasn’t much better. That’s a bummer.

Off, yeah maybe, it didn’t she still score highest in most of the qualifying events? She made it into every damn one of them.

 

[Bulldog from Birth]

People make personal judgments and opinions about major sports stars and teams all the time.

Many did it here about Landon Jordan when he quit our baseball team mid season. If you go into major big-time athletic competition, it’s kind of just part of the deal. The great part about the experience is that people care about it and talk about you. The bad part is the same. People care about it and talk about you.

Yeah, but who are you to judge?

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Off, yeah maybe, it didn’t she still score highest in most of the qualifying events? She made it into every damn one of them.

Did you watch the events? She was clearly not her normal self. She didn’t just step on the boundary line of the mat, she went all the way off the platform it was on. I’ve never seen that on a floor routine. She scored high because her level of difficulty was very high, but it was uncharacteristically sloppy by her standards. On her first attempt at the vault, she almost missed the podium they push off of with their hands, which caused her to not get a good push, and she again missed the landing mat. Her second attempt was much better. I know her score was still acceptable, but it was nowhere near what she normally does. Again, did you watch the event or just see the score?

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

You got one thing right. She is physically fine.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Did you watch the events? She was clearly not her normal self. She didn’t just step on the boundary line of the mat, she went all the way off the platform it was on. I’ve never seen that on a floor routine. She scored high because her level of difficulty was very high, but it was uncharacteristically sloppy by her standards. On her first attempt at the vault, she almost missed the podium they push off of with their hands, which caused her to not get a good push, and she again missed the landing mat. Her second attempt was much better. I know her score was still acceptable, but it was nowhere near what she normally does. Again, did you watch the event or just see the score?

I didn't see it but I did see a flood of advertisements for the Olympics and products that featured her. It may have been over exposure for her mental state. You need serious focus for those routines. Some folks can't handle that kind of exposure then turn it all of and focus on the routines. Sort of like a coach working their team too hard before the championship and they perform like ****.

 

[Go Budaw]

From what I read she's got basically vertigo for gymnasts where you lose track of the floor while flipping in the air. She's lost basically. Scary feeling I'd imagine when doing 2.5 flips in the air over and over. Dangerous too. Her last performance before she pulled out she only did 1.5 flips on the final move instead of the 2.5 and that was it. Idk when the individual events are but I think she can still compete in those if she finds the floor again.

If true that makes a lot of sense. And even if she had a complete mental breakdown, that’s also understandable….and to be clear I was in no way questioning her determination or attitude in the OP. But I don’t think anyone could dispute that such a withdrawal at the pinnacle of competition in a sport that you spend 4 years prepping and traveling across the globe for is anything short of a highly unusual situation.

 

[BossDawg78]

I saw a quote from her recently where she said she felt as though the weight of the entire country was on her shoulders or something that. I'm wondering if she's just way too stressed out.

 

[Fighting Irish.sixpack]

She quit on her team. That is pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

Can you imagine Michael Jordan saying he is mentally not prepared in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and then not playing?

Can you imagine Tom Brady saying he is mentally not prepared the Superbowl and then not playing?

 

[dorndawg]

Can you imagine Michael Jordan saying he is mentally not prepared in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and then not playing?

Can you imagine Tom Brady saying he is mentally not prepared the Superbowl and then not playing?

Can you imagine Michael Jordan getting molested by the team doctor, his coaches and the entire NBA knew it was happening to him and hundreds of other players and then fought for years to prevent the assaults from coming to light?

Me either.

 

[anonymous.sixpack]

If that’s the case, she just cost herself a lot of future endorsements.

That is doubtful.

 

[fishwater99]

And yet that didn't stop her from dominating previous Olympics and World events.

Which were before all of this came out publicly.