Posted on 07/31/2021 6:58:46 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
It started with Phil Donahue and was massively amplified by Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jessy Raphael, and countless others.
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...the Olympics, the most venerated of sporting events. The forgot to add: Once upon a time...
Athletes compete through injuries all the time. I’m sure this young woman did, too. But when the most important part of your body - your mind - is not working properly, there is no powering through. Willpower resides in the mind, the spirit lives in the mind, the ability to choose action over pain comes from the mind.
We have a tendency, as a species, to view mental illness as not that serious. From the outside, everything appears to be okay. We are engineered by God to make judgments based on the visual as part of our survival instinct.
But mental illness is like any other illness. No one would walk up to a cancer patient and say, “Just get over it.” People battling it cannot wish it away. Were it that easy, my child would have done so. Because of the stigma attached to it, many people don’t get the treatment they need, or even ask for help, until things really fall apart inside.
It is only when the internal manifests in obvious external signs that we see it for what it is...deadly serious.
She deserves more pity than censure and prayers over scorn.
That was my point. They are now all professional athletes..Let them play for their corporate sponsors, or their own idiotic causes.
As an ex college athlete that spent half his life playing ball, I’m thinking she has nothing to prove and is tired of it. She’s starting to feel that she’s past her peak and might cripple herself. She’s been doing it since she was 6 years old!
That’s what I understand too. She apparently takes something for adhd which is not allowed at the olympics. She’s off her meds and can’t focus to compete.
I feel bad for her teammates who lost out on gold because another teammate quit on them, many of whom will not get another chance, it’s especially galling since Simone Biles has been wearing a GOAT emblem on her uniform, someone who proclaims themselves as the Best of All Time then quits on their teammates forfeits that title
I agree. This Olympics is different from all previous Olympics and previous major competitions in that the athletes’ normal support systems are not there. They might have one coach but they have no family members or others who are usually with them.
The major difference with Gymnastics from just about any other sport is the danger factor. In most sports you might sprain your ankle or break your leg but you will probably not kill yourself or end up paralyzed if you lose your concentration in the middle of a performance.
Could be a marketing ploy. Winning more gold medals she would have been forgotten in a month. But now... She will be talked about for decades, get endorsement contracts, book deals, paid interviews, and be heralded as a super hero like Kapernick. I have a feeling she knows exactly what she is doing and the nation is more then willing to have another black victim playing games for a living canonized,
You won’t get an argument from me on the damage that was done to her team mates. This event put a very sad end note, for now at least, on what was otherwise a stellar career.
Fine, f’em..
This woman should have said no to being on the team in the first place. That was probably a very hard thing to do. I suspect there was massive pressure on her to deliver one more time — for the US Olympic Team, for herself and family economically, etc. Competing at that level requires an iron will and total concentration. I doubt she has any payback agenda — just can’t summons the will to wring out her last ounce of energy.
EXACTLY.
If she is not gonna participate in any further events then she should get off the stage. Oh, wait, all the limelight without any of the pressure.
It's black privilege never, ever to be accountable for your own behavior.
I am thinking, Simoan knew she couldn’t beat her teammate, so she folded.
There is no chance of her breaking her neck. There are pads everywhere. Skate boarding skiing and pro wrestling all have far more dangers than gymnastics.
She quit on her team because she didn't want to embarrass herself.
True GOATS (greatest of all-time) suck it up under pressure. Michael Jordan lead a team to a championship while playing with the flu. Tom Brady won a Super Bowl last year playing with a torn MCL. Kirk Gibson hit a game-winning home run hitting with an injured leg.
Payback? She has been scorned and overthrown by a Hmong. She is nothing now, but a sore loser who dropped out because her initial performance wasn’t that good.
What about the person whose slot at the olympics she took? She definitely screwed that person over completely.
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