Context dependant. If it’s in normal play, no. If it’s a stupid injury attempting some unnecessary stunt in a meaningless game, possibly
Speaking of which, a favorite place for us in high school was Sugarloaf in Deerfield, but all of us participating in high school sports were banned from skiing because of the risk of injury. If you defied the mandate and were discovered, you were suspended from whatever team you were on. If you got yourself injured, you were done.
I would have supported Biles either way, but I think for some people, it might be important to see that this is not “just” a mental issue.
Her body is no longer doing what she expects it to, in what are supposed to be totally or mostly automatic movements. Imagine being in the middle of running, and suddenly your brain/body connection stops working right, and you need to consciously think about moving one leg while planting the other foot, pushing off, etc. And maybe some of those things still don’t happen when you consciously think about them.
In the article I read, a former gymnast talked about getting the “twisties” and no longer being able to do any skill without twisting. The automatic, muscle memory, system isn’t responding as it should. So, it’s more like no longer having control over what your body does. It’s obvious that it would be extremely dangerous for her to keep competing under those conditions.
The article also suggested that overcoming the problem would likely involve going back to extremely basic moves, into a foam pit for safety, and working one’s way back up to higher level skills.
Every gymnast I saw commenting on it said you can’t work your way back from this in the middle of a competition.
If it’s a stupid injury from a non-game incident, such as stepping in a hole at your ranch while dodging a wild boar during your off-time recovering from heel surgery (I’m looking at you, Yoenis Cespedes) then yes, it will be perceived negatively.
This is in stark contrast to players who get hurt by putting it all out there for the team. While there is disappointment about the player being out, they’re thought of as heroes. I think with mental issues, it’s hard to separate whether the problem is due to the impact of heroic effort vs. the impact of sloppiness.
Biles also dropped out before something truly bad happened. When Rick Ankiel forgot how to pitch in the middle of a playoff game, we got to witness first hand that he simply couldn’t do it anymore. It was a disaster on national TV, repeated a few days later, and ended his pitching career. Biles made the call before harming herself, or screwing up the team with bad scores, which denied viewers the ability to see how bad the situation is.
Yeah. Well, Biles went off script.
She was supposed to EITHER
- compete no matter what to fulfill her duty and if she wins, even if injured or maimed, the plucky little lady gave it her all! (But screw supporting her for any long-term costs of it, because heros can’t be “freeloaders” and vice versa)
OR
- if she killed herself she gave her life for her country, etc., etc.
In either case, the “approved” scripts always come down to her life is not her own, her body is not her own, she only has worth when she is serving someone else. Nothing for her own self, that’s not “womanly”. That’s not the “place” for a person “like her” (yes, there’s a racist sub-text there). And the answer for a woman (especially a dark-skinned one) who dares to watch out for herself is that she is “selfish”. Or “spoiled”. Or “ungrateful”. Or worse words than that.
Bravo for Biles for refusing to play a game she can’t win.
It actually irritated me all the 30 years of my marriage that people refused to address me as “Mrs” even when I asked them to do so.
So, yeah - that form of address is pretty much dead and has been for several decades.
There are some instances of high-level gymnasts literally snapping their necks attempting to force their bodies to do something their body no longer wants to do, or when they are for whatever reason having performance problems.
For once, I’m glad that an athlete had the courage to walk off the field BEFORE the catastrophic injury.
I think this should provide some good “shut the fuck up, asshole” arguments: Miss Biles’ actual employers are all very supportive.
Man, that sure is a downer that somehow what’s going-on with Simone Biles can end-up being politicized like that. ISTM people of a certain persuasion sensed sympathy for Biles from a certain quarter, and rather than educating/understanding the situation themselves, or just not caring at all, they went straight to “well, if THEY think one way, WE gotta think the other way! And we gotta come out with guns blazing!” Sad and pathetic.
I am not suggesting that everyone around the world has to agree with the trend of this thread or this board, but if you don’t have something positive or interesting to contribute, then STFU! Whiny babies.
This.
Biles’ critics seem to imagine that, had she simply “pushed through” her mental problem and performed anyway, she would have done well and USA would have won - as if Biles had a gold-medal performance in her to offer but purposefully withheld it from the nation.
When in fact there is direct relation between an athlete’s mental well-being and his/her performance, re the baseball pitcher example.
Had Biles just pushed forth, she would have just done badly, the team would have done badly, everyone is worse off.
That’s what I was going to post. It’s not just protecting herself but also helping out her team. Even someone not as good as her can come in and do better than she can right now.
I hope she doesn’t have to relearn from the ground up, though. I hope it’s more about learning to manage anxiety, training herself not to be so worried.
You can completely understand why having the “twisties” would only make you more scared, which then results in the problem getting worse, in a runaway feedback loop. Hopefully she can break the cycle.
They wanted to see her fail in spectacular fashion.
The impression I got is that it isn’t quite that. You have to go back to very basic skills and relative safety (foam pit) to work out the issue. Then, when you have worked it out, you still have your skills. You may have to work back up to them, in a way, but not like you are new to them.
I do wonder about something I heard her say in an interview, though. She said at 19, she was fearless, but at 24, she was more afraid when doing certain skills. I wonder if she has a stronger self preservation instinct now that her brain is more mature. I’m not saying that’s the cause of the issue, but I do wonder if part of aging out of such a dangerous sport is that, as you get older, you see the danger more, and know the consequences.
How much mental energy does it take to suppress the fear at 15 vs at 25? At what point can you no longer suppress it, or not suppress it and still do the skill, or you can suppress it but you’re miserable as a result?
In a person’s mid-20’s their executive function matures. I suspect that’s the point people start realizing they are neither unbreakable nor immortal, because the executive function is what lets you fully consider the future/long term consequences of your actions. At 19 doing something feels like “Oh, fun! What a rush!”. At 25 it can suddenly feel like “Oh, shit, this could maim or kill me!”
Yes, exactly.
Yes, perhaps she is even starting to think about having children and that too can change your priorities or how you think about risk.
I fully support Ms. Biles’ decision to withdraw. I think it was a brave choice and a choice only she is entitled to make. I wish her nothing but success in her future endeavors.
I also believe she is no longer on my Mount Rushmore of Greatest Athletes of All Time. Not that that matters at all.
Mental health for athletes has been politicized for a while now. This? This is just plain old racism.
The people on the wrong side of this would also be critical of a white football player not playing through a concussion, but the level of vitriol directed at Biles is telling.
Biles posted to Instagram regarding her condition this morning, including a video of her practicing on the uneven bars and landing flat on her back. I’d encourage anyone who’s berating her for withdrawing “just” because of a mental health issue to read the article.
One positive to Biles stepping aside - other than her NOT getting hurt - is that it gives other team members opportunities. Such as Sunisi Lee, who replaced Biles on floor exercises and won gold. I think too many people in both the media and the general public have forgotten that Biles is not the only gold medal quality gymnast on the team and these other young women work just as hard and as just as deserving of that moment on the podium.