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.
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.