Still, Biles traveled to Tokyo to compete after a years-long delay due to COVID-19, and not just to help her team rake in the medals: She came for fellow survivors. She has signature moves named after her that no other gymnast in the world can pull off. She has a combined total of 6 Olympic medals and 25 World Championship medals.
Turning Point USA founder and right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, however, took a much nastier turn as he seemingly used Biles as a conduit for a number of standard conservative outrages.Simone Biles certainly did not need to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But instead of being ashamed of that, or apologizing to her teammates and her countrymen, Biles seemed to revel in taking care of her ‘mental health,’ whatever that means.” It happens to LeBron James all the time (and when it does, you can tell he stops trying and lets his team lose). She wasn’t mentally tough when she needed to be,” he said, adding: “That’s fine.
#SIMONE BIKES QUITTER PROFESSIONAL#
What she experienced wasn’t that, it was something more common among professional athletes: she got psyched out.
“Biles doesn’t suffer from a specific mental illness, at least not that we know of or that’s ever manifested itself before. Over on the far-right website The Federalist, editor John Daniel Davidson was even more unforgiving, saying that Biles made the Olympics all about herself while leaning into the criticism that she lacked a certain mental toughness other athletes possess. “Is it all that surprising that someone this overconfident-some might say arrogant-would struggle to mentally rebound from a poor performance?” Athey wrote. The suggestion here was that the only reason Biles dropped out was the fear of tarnishing her legacy. Kids need strong role models not this nonsense.”Ĭonservative writer Amber Athey, for her part, labeled Biles a “quitter” while arguing that the gymnast lacked “mental toughness” and was self-centered for only deciding to withdraw after the competition had started. “Just admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time. “Are ‘mental health issues’ now the go-to excuse for any poor performance in elite sport? What a joke,” he tweeted.
#SIMONE BIKES QUITTER TV#
This is ‘Oh, you didn’t stand up to the bully?’ So to speak… No, I think that’s the not brave move.”įuming that they couldn’t “ever remember an elite athlete” dropping out in this manner, the duo declared that this was the “antithesis of what the elite athlete credo would be.”Įlsewhere, Piers Morgan-the former British TV host who has repeatedly mocked Meghan Markle for saying she contemplated suicide and was a victim of racism-jumped at the chance to criticize Biles. “The blue checks have already rallied to Simone Biles’s defense and said, ‘Oh, it’s so brave,’” Travis sneered, prompting Sexton to add: “Why is this brave? What’s brave about not being brave? Cause that’s what we’re talking about here. Talk radio hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, who recently took over the coveted early-afternoon time-slot vacated by the late Rush Limbaugh, took turns on Tuesday’s show blasting both Biles and the praise she received for admitting her withdrawal was due to mental health concerns. While Biles drew plenty of support and sympathy from both teammates and fans over her decision to drop out, that sympathy was lacking from the denizens of right-wing media. “I feel like if there weren’t a remaining survivor in the sport, they would’ve just brushed it to the side,” she said in April. Her return to the Games this year, in her words, was largely about being a voice for sexual assault survivors. The legendary gymnast has also spoken in the past about the sexual abuse she-along with hundreds of other young women-suffered at the hands of former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar, saying she’s needed therapy and anxiety meds since. So that just hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people.”Īfter her error-prone preliminary round, meanwhile, Biles hinted that she was dealing with increased pressure and potential mental health challenges, writing on social media: “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times.” “I came here, and I felt like I was still doing it for other people.
“I know that this Olympic Games, I wanted it to be for myself,” a tearful Biles said afterward.
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