Simone Biles

[Pelon chingon]

Spoiler:

There is a new "it girl" in women's gymnastics, congrats to Sunisa Lee from Minn who brought home the gold for the united states. Sunisa "suni" lee is the first Hmong American to participate on the U.S Olympic team and she repped the united states proudly and bravely.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/07/29/1022077328/as-gymnast-sunisa-lee-goes-for-gold-her-hometown-hmong-community-has-her-back

[13th Man]

Yes, I'm saying that an injury can be mental or physical, and that an injury of either kind could be a legit reason for pulling out of competition. Glad you figured it out.

Well when you're talking about injuries in sports it usually means of physical nature. Why add more confusion to the matter by representing mental health as an injury?

You may want to consider the possibility that you're the only one who was confused. Anyway, my point stands.

I was only confused because due to your mental gymnastics performed. Injuries in sports normally refer to that of a physical nature.

Can't wait for the public to refer to guys choking in games as being injured. We're almost there!

[MostValQuitter]

There's nothing heroic about quitting.

I am glad she is getting help for whatever she needs but she should have realized she wasn't able to do the Olympics from a mental standpoint before cracking during an event. She made the decision to compete and then quit and at the end of the day cost someone else a spot and their dream of competing in the Olympics.

[Pointgod]

Mental health problems are things like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. not this ****. Pressure comes with sports. If you can’t handle it then ok, but you shouldn’t be labeled a hero. Also, why didn’t she just pull out before the Olympics? I’ll tell you why, she wanted the attention.

So anxiety and depression aren’t mental health problems? Where exactly did you get your medical degree?

She’s not depressed, and anxiety comes with any kind of pressure. Greatness is overcoming that. Her legacy has taken a huge hit. She’s a great athlete but shouldn’t ever be compared to Olympians like Usain Bolt for example.

Where’s your medical degree that you’re using to diagnose mental illness. And you literally no zero about what you’re talking about, all you’ve done is spew garbage. This doesn’t mean anything for her legacy. Unless you’re 13 this idiotic trolling isn’t a good look

[bwgood77]

There's nothing heroic about quitting.

I am glad she is getting help for whatever she needs but she should have realized she wasn't able to do the Olympics from a mental standpoint before cracking during an event. She made the decision to compete and then quit and at the end of the day cost someone else a spot and their dream of competing in the Olympics.

A lot of people crack during events, or an NBA game or whatever that may be, and then they keep shooting and make it worse, instead of allowing another teammates to play. There were other people there to take her spots. It's not like the team was short a person on any event because she allowed someone else to come in and relieve her, which many players in sports do all the time if they need a break. It's better than continuing and hurting the team. True team players do what is best for the team instead of wanting it all for themselves.

[itlnsunsfan]

Some of ya'll are so dumb lmao comparing this to Ben Simmons. Gymnasts are one small mistake away from life altering injuries when they're performing these complex air routines. Not exactly the same as shooting a free throw or jump shot in a basketball game.

This. I'm getting a migraine from people comparing an airball to quadriplegia. Mind blowingly stupid.

[13th Man]

You guys realize that Biles is competing on borrowed time right? The peak age for Olympic women's gymnasts are in their teens and most retire by their early 20s out of their prime. With women's gymnastics, it relies on a very small frame with maximum flexibility and agility hence why their bodies quickly grow out of their peak frame.

Imo, nothing happened to her mentally. GOATs or potential GOATs in every sport have never mentally crumbled as she did here. They just don't do that. The fact that Biles has achieved all that she has up to this point just shows how mentally strong she really is.

I think that this excuse was more of a copout than anything. She wanted to preserve the perception of her being heads and shoulders above everybody else when she clearly isn't anymore. She was in the past but not currently. Her underwhelming performance at the Olympic Trials signified this but nobody really took account of it because of all the immense hype surrounding her which she benefited from financially as well.

I'm sorry but you can't have it ALL ways. She is deserves to reap the accolades of the past, nobody can take any of that away from that but what has she done currently to deserve such high praise? Decide to continue with extremely difficult routines that she can no longer perform? That's just setting her and her team up for failure.

So she comes into the Olympics with a picture of a goat on her uniform, flounders again, yet gets a free pass for quitting blaming it on mental health. All the while getting to keep her reputation in tact as being so much better than everyone else. Again, you can't have it all ways, saying that she's too good for the competition while not having done anything today to back that up. All she did was save herself from getting truly exposed in the individuals competition imo, that is not praise worthy nor brave.

I'm sorry but I am not so gullible and naive as some of you guys. I have tons of life experience, been watching all sorts of sports for decades and have a bit better understanding of sports performance and psychology than some kid with a 4 year degree in health sciences calling themselves a mental health expert in all aspects of life including sports. If doctors with PHDs can be sol biased when it comes to recent political issues, what makes you think some grad with a B.A. cannot? So spare me with the rhetoric that you cannot have a say in the matter unless you are "qualified".

[13th Man]

Bottom line is that she failed and let her team down, you don't celebrate failure. Remove everything that she's done in the past and look at what she's done for her team at this year's Olympics in a vacuum and the answer is not much.

You don't get extra points for difficulty if you can no longer nail any of the moves so wouldn't a logical approach be to go down in difficulty to be able to contend with everybody else? It was Simone and her coach(es) that chose not to go that route due to pride, over-confidence, delusion or to preserve her reputation. That is on them and nobody else.

Quit blaming things on everybody and everything else anytime you encounter failures or disappointments. The sad part is that todays' society encourages this type of mentality, worthy of high praise.

[Woodsanity]

Spoiler:

There is a new "it girl" in women's gymnastics, congrats to Sunisa Lee from Minn who brought home the gold for the united states. Sunisa "suni" lee is the first Hmong American to participate on the U.S Olympic team and she repped the united states proudly and bravely.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/07/29/1022077328/as-gymnast-sunisa-lee-goes-for-gold-her-hometown-hmong-community-has-her-back

Bravo!

[ceiling raiser]

Interesting timing on this quote from Djokovic:

Olympic tennis player Novak Djokovic of Team Serbia said pro athletes must "start learning how to deal with pressure" during an interview where the topics of pressure and athletes' mental health were discussed.

"Without pressure there is no professional sport," Djokovic said. "If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure and how to cope with those moments — on the court but also off the court."

Djokovic said he feels pressure is a "privilege" for athletes at such high levels. He acknowledged he learned to deal with pressure, and struggled more with it at the beginning of his career when he did not have as many wins as his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

"Of course. It's normal," Djokovic said. "No one is born with those abilities. Those abilities come with time."

He won his 20th Grand Slam with the Wimbledon title this month, now matching Federer and Nadal.

Noteworthy because Djokovic was somebody who struggled immensely earlier in his career (mostly in terms of conditioning), but rose to the occasion and became a GOAT candidate in his sport.

[K For Three]

Read on Twitter

[art_tatum]

I don't see much of a difference between Simone Biles and Ben Simmons. Zero mental fortitude. One absolutely destroyed by fans and media. The other getting the bubble wrap treatment.

At least simmons played and missed those fts. Lol.

But then again he didnt attempt any 3s.

So simmons actually played to the detriment of his team, instead of bowing out and letting a sub in this case Jade Carey who was 2nd in the vault and 3rd in the floor routine, a world class gymnast.

So which is better, Simmons playing or subbing out for another top 10 pg in the league? idk lets say morrant or fox

Except i was joking, and simmons never was a good ft or 3 point shooter.

Simone on the other hand has done her routines thousands of times. She just chickened out.
People are like oh what if she falls... Clearly dont watch gymnastics, falling is so common. Get over it.

She can pull out, but admit u had the yips and the media should lay off calling her move heroic. She shouldnt be demonized but theres a middle ground.

[Meat]

When was the last time that a GOAT in their respective sport suffered a serious mental breakdown? We've seen plenty of physical breakdowns though as they've aged or their bodies aren't as nimble as they used to be.

jordan

[Meat]

When was the last time that a GOAT in their respective sport suffered a serious mental breakdown? We've seen plenty of physical breakdowns though as they've aged or their bodies aren't as nimble as they used to be.

barry sanders

[Meat]

When was the last time that a GOAT in their respective sport suffered a serious mental breakdown? We've seen plenty of physical breakdowns though as they've aged or their bodies aren't as nimble as they used to be.

bjorn borg

[Meat]

When was the last time that a GOAT in their respective sport suffered a serious mental breakdown? We've seen plenty of physical breakdowns though as they've aged or their bodies aren't as nimble as they used to be.

jim brown

[13th Man]

Deciding to take a break or retire after a season is not the same thing as quitting in the heat of the battle. Did they suffer a mental breakdown during competition that forced them to abandon competition?

[Doctor MJ]

There's nothing heroic about quitting.

I am glad she is getting help for whatever she needs but she should have realized she wasn't able to do the Olympics from a mental standpoint before cracking during an event. She made the decision to compete and then quit and at the end of the day cost someone else a spot and their dream of competing in the Olympics.

So, I don't want to single you out as I know a lot of people are saying similar things but, man:

Y'all, most of the sports we discuss on RealGM are way, way, way less dangerous the what Simone Biles does out there. Football is the only one even close, and in football the danger is largely about what will happen to you over the rest of your life, not the danger of breaking your neck if you do things slightly wrong.

Moreover: As much as the sport of gymnastics has fallen down on the job of protecting young gymnasts from their coaches, there's a long history of protecting gymnasts by trying to make the sport less dangerous, because when they don't, you end up with paralyzed 12 year olds. (Go watch Olga Korbut on the Uneven Bars and imagine what happens if she doesn't manage to catch the bar as she dives straight down head-first toward the floor, and know that the gymnastics world doesn't have to imagine, because stuff like that actually happened.)

Now as I say this: Everyone who fetishizes being "clutch", by all means, attack Biles. She failed your litmus test. Just keep in mind: 1) she's succeeded many times before this failure, be honest about your own consistency, 2) there are more important things that athlete comparisons, such as the well-being of those we get to enjoy watching perform, and 3) never delude yourself into thinking that basketball players are the most clutch athletes around - when "pressure" is about throwing a ball at a hoop, it's just not the same as throwing your body.

[Doctor MJ]

When was the last time that a GOAT in their respective sport suffered a serious mental breakdown? We've seen plenty of physical breakdowns though as they've aged or their bodies aren't as nimble as they used to be.

barry sanders

I'd disagree with your assessments of Sanders and Brown. I think they both simply decided when they'd had enough.

Biles breakdown is something profound, and while I'll defend her against much of "she's just a quitter" types of attacks, I don't mean to normalize it. It's a really big deal.

I also says that Naomi Osaka, Kyrie Irving & Kevin Durant to me are showing similar types of "hype strain" in their vastly less dangerous sports. With Osaka it made her shrink from the spotlight, with Kyrie it led to erratic behavior, with KD it turned him into an obsessively angry young man.

The 21st century media circus on the backbone of the internet is causing new kinds of problems, imho.

[Doctor MJ]

Interesting timing on this quote from Djokovic:

Olympic tennis player Novak Djokovic of Team Serbia said pro athletes must "start learning how to deal with pressure" during an interview where the topics of pressure and athletes' mental health were discussed.

"Without pressure there is no professional sport," Djokovic said. "If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure and how to cope with those moments — on the court but also off the court."

Djokovic said he feels pressure is a "privilege" for athletes at such high levels. He acknowledged he learned to deal with pressure, and struggled more with it at the beginning of his career when he did not have as many wins as his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

"Of course. It's normal," Djokovic said. "No one is born with those abilities. Those abilities come with time."

He won his 20th Grand Slam with the Wimbledon title this month, now matching Federer and Nadal.

Noteworthy because Djokovic was somebody who struggled immensely earlier in his career (mostly in terms of conditioning), but rose to the occasion and became a GOAT candidate in his sport.

Djokovic is such an ass. He should be ashamed to ever open his mouth again after he got dozens of people sick with Covid last year.

And I'll repeat: Talk to us when you do something actually dangerous for a living Djokovic. I'll be the first to acknowledge that mental toughness in tennis is FAR more difficult in tennis than it is in basketball, and that Djokovic has really improved his ability to be at this best consistently, but on bad days, Djokovic just missed shots and threw temper tantrums. At no point was he in danger of landing on his head after doing multiple flips in the air, though I for one would like to see him give it a shot right now.