at some point, she doesn’t owe anyone anything, but when you try out, make the team and head to Tokyo to compete, then pull out just before the competition, you have not only quit on yourself but you quit on your teammates many of whom may not ever make back to the Olympics....
You can make a very long list of athletes, male, female, black and white who sucked it up and competed, especially in team sports.....
If you are involved in a sport that isn’t a team sport like golf or tennis, then if you want to pull out or quit, go for it...
But if you are in a team sport, gymnastics is a little different in that they have a team competition followed by individual competitions....she quit in the team competition...
She’s the latest darling of the Left, who will do whatever is necessary to protect her image and never acknowledge she quit....plain and simple...
While I’m sure the PR team couched it in pretty terms, no one knows just how serious her condition is except her and her doctors. I get why people are upset by this move; on the surface, it seems like a slap in the face to her team.
I see it a little different, as someone who did gymnastics and a mom with a child that battles depression.
Gymnasts can make their aerial moves look easy, but they are extremely dangerous if not properly executed. A life altering injury can and does happen.
She is a champion. Her many medals prove it and represent years of hard work, pain, and sacrifice. She is not a fragile snowflake. You don’t get to the Olympics be being weak.
That being said, if she knew she couldn’t perform, it was better for her to walk away.
My middle child has an endocrine disorder. Chronic depression is one of the side effects. It is debilitating, like any other serious medical condition. I witnessed my straight A honor student, with offers from Ivy league schools, crash and burn in her Junior year of high school, turn suicidal, engage in self-harm...it was agonizing.
All these folks in the media putting their spin on her situation is not helping her. Just wish her the best and pray that life after sports is not a trainwreck.