Self-centered . . . or altruistic – commentators on Simone Biles



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What the experts say about Simone Biles.

Biles was selfish

No one was harder on Biles’ decision than British commentator Piers Morgan. Hitting his quote on “I feel like I’m not having so much fun,” he wrote for The Daily Mail: “You’re not just at these Games for yourself, Simone. You are part of Team USA, representing the United States of America, and the hundreds of millions of Americans watching over you, not to mention all the sponsors who have shelled out huge sums of money to support you.

The decision was selfish, he said. “What exactly is so brave, heroic or inspiring about leaving your team and your country at the Olympics? “

Biles was selfless

Biles was selfless, writes Alexandra DeSanctis in National Review. She would have lowered Team USA’s scores if she had really been that bad, and chose not to take any chances. “It was a brave and humble thing to do. “

. . . But his timing was out of sync

Biles performing the jump at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on July 27, 2021.
Simon Biles performing the jump at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 27, 2021.
REUTERS / Lindsey Wasson / File photo

Amber Athey at The Spectator says when Simone Biles decided to give up presents a problem. If she had any doubts, she should have given way earlier to someone else. And it seems unfair for her to participate in individual events next week. “Will the media and the U.S. gymnastics team consider the effect Biles’ withdrawal may have had on [her teammates] Mental Health?”

Gymnast Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the women's team final of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Gymnast Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the women’s team final of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.REUTERS / Mike Blake

The “twisties”

It’s mysterious what contributes to a talented athlete suddenly losing his ability, like a golfer who keeps shaking the ball. Gymnasts call her “the twisties”, slang for “her mind physically prevented her from doing what she could normally do,” Louise Radnofsky and Andrew Beaton explain in the Wall Street Journal. It’s not just frustrating, it’s dangerous. “If a gymnast’s ankle isn’t working properly, or if her head is in the wrong place, and she turns at high speed and it doesn’t work, she can die.”
And most importantly, “Biles just couldn’t get away with this. “

Biles celebrating the silver medal in the Women's Team Final with her teammates on July 27, 2021.
Simone Biles celebrating the silver medal in the Women’s Team Final with her teammates on July 27, 2021.
Photo by Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Whatever you think, don’t celebrate quitting smoking

It’s perfectly normal for Biles to retire from competition, especially if she thought she might get injured, writes Dan McLaughlin to National Review. But that shouldn’t be used as a larger lesson that if the going gets tough, stop.

“It’s part of a larger trend these days to medicalize our language and celebrate victims and suffering rather than celebrating heroism, accomplishment, persistence and endurance. What a society chooses to glorify and encourage, it gets more, ”he writes.

“Because living, not withdrawing from it, is always the goal of life.”

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