First of all let me say i find it hard to believe her doubts came out of the blue. If she had them before the competition and should have given the team the chance to start a substitute.
Other than that i think the Federalist is absolutely wrong.
She was NOT supposed to do anything for other people. She put in the work, she made the sacrifices to get were she is, it his her body and her health she`s putting on the line every time she competes, so nobody else gets to have a say.There is no margin for error or doubt in top level Gymnastics. She might easily have injured herself severely had she forced herself to go on.
And how would it have helped her team? If her vault is anything to go by she probably would have scored low, maybe lower than the girls who had to stand in for her.
And no, i don`t think Kerry Strug is a role model. It was an extremely dangerous and, frankly, stupid thing to do. With all the flak coaches get for mistreating their athletes she`d never be allowed to do it now.Not for nothing the now discredited and fired Karolyis were here coaches.The health of the athletes, often minors,should come first.
That said, there are countries where athletes are still mistreated physically and psychologically without consideration for their longtime health. Those systems break many, many athletes. Those who make it through will probably not falter under pressure.
Artur Dalaloyan from Russia helped to win team gold in Tokyo three months after surgery for a torn achilles tendon even though his doctors hadn`t cleared him and it usually takes more like 9 months to come back from that kind of injury. He is the product of just such system. He might have crippled himself for life. Would that have been worth it? Is it right to expect that from an athlete?
Eastern block countries just have a different mind set when it comes to athletes. They are pushed to extremes in all kinds of sports
That young English girl at Wimbledon got raked over the coals when she quit due to medical reasons.