Over the past few weeks, the Olympics have dominated headlines across the country. Many Union residents may have seen where the star American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from competition to focus on her mental health, and many other Union residents may have also seen people condemning her for this decision. Those who condemn Simone Biles for her decision do so out of ignorance (or just sheer rudeness), and Union residents should understand why. Union residents should both know Biles’ story and respect her decision.
As one of the most famous American athletes of all time, Union residents should know Biles’ story. Born on March 14th, 1997, she spent the first few years of her life in foster care until her grandparents adopted her in 2003. She first tried gymnastics at the age of 6 and began training with a coach at 8. At just 14 years old, Biles competed at the 2011 American Classic in Houston and the 2011 U.S. Classic in Chicago; she did extremely well at these events, and her performances the next year qualified her to compete in the 2012 USA National Gymnastics Championships. Over the next few years, she won various medals in several national and international competitions; for several of these, she won the competition entirely, had the highest score, or both. All of these accomplishments earned her a spot on the United States’ team for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics where she won four gold medals, setting an American record for the most gold medals in women’s gymnastics at a single Games. Over the course of the Games, she equaled several other records with her accomplishments and made history with some others. While these earlier successes certainly prove her ability as a great gymnast, she has continued to only improve with time.
After a break in 2017, Biles returned to competition in 2018, winning awards and outscoring everyone in various competitions. She then competed in the 2018 World Championships, and at this competition, she gained a signature move; the Biles is a gymnastic vault that has proved one of the most difficult women’s vaults in existence. Biles then continued to lead the United States’ team to victory while winning several gold medals and setting records in the process. In 2019, she became the first gymnast in the world to perform the move known as a double twisting double somersault dismount off of the balance beam. Later in the year, she invented more gymnastics moves, and each prove some of the most difficult for gymnasts to complete. As usual, she continued to win many medals in competitions and effortlessly qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Furthermore, despite all of her fame, Biles is also a survivor of sexual abuse; hundreds of women have discussed allegations against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, and Biles is one of these women. This highlights one serious problem with USA Gymnastics; over 300 gymnasts have reported sexual abuse by various people working in the sport. Despite this, Biles still competes, and she hopes to draw attention to this unfortunate fact of USA Gymnastics, showing her immense personal strength and commitment. She truly has proven herself as the greatest gymnast of all time.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles withdrew from competition in order to focus on her mental health, and some people on social media have criticized her for this decision, calling her “selfish” or saying that she “let her country down;” however, these criticisms are ignorant, rude, or both. No one in the world can perform in the way that she can, and until those criticizing her can perform at her level, they should not comment on her decision. Furthermore, for many people wondering how mental health affects gymnastics, Biles states she experienced something called the “twisties.” This phenomenon causes gymnasts to lose their sense of awareness while in the air, which makes them lose control of their bodies. If Biles had continued to compete under such circumstances, she could have potentially not landed safely. This could kill or paralyze her as she would fall from a great height. Moreover, even if she had not experienced the “twisties,” any doubt at all for the level that she performs at might lead to a similar outcome. In almost all cases, mental health affects physical health, and for Olympic athletes, this most certainly proves true. One must always remember that Biles and other Olympic athletes are humans first; their mental and physical health simply is not worth a cold piece of metal.
No one can deny that Simone Biles has proven herself as the greatest gymnast of all time, and anyone can take inspiration from her story. Union residents should now know her story and have the ability to see the ignorance and rudeness behind the criticisms of her decision to withdraw from competition. One newspaper article does cannot adequately tell of her accomplishments; however, one can read more about her online if one wants to reinforce any information learned in this article. Everyone should respect her decision, and Union residents can learn from Biles as well. The citizens of the United States express pride in the fact that the greatest gymnast of all time calls the country home.
Send your Union community news or column ideas to Matt Hennington at mch.2000@hotmail.com.
