Simone Biles had the weight of a nation on her back as she competed in the Tokyo Olympics. She was the face of the Olympic team and there is no question she was the most talked-about athlete heading into the games. Her decision to drop out of the team and all-around competition left a lot of people disappointed, and that is fair. It’s ok to be saddened about her decision, but still supportive. Biles acknowledged there were a lot of people who had her back this week.
Unfortunately, there were also a lot of people who felt it was their right to judge her decision and pick it apart. Fox Sports radio host Ben Maller called Biles “the biggest quitter,” saying she was “selfish” and went “AWOL.” Texas Deputy Attorney General Aaron Reitz said Biles was a “national embarrassment” (before later apologizing).
Piers Morgan wrote: “Sorry Simone Biles, but there’s nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you’re not having ‘fun’ – you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country.” He added, “no GOAT would quit on their teammates like that, costing them an Olympic gold medal.”
In The Atlantic, Jemele Hill writes, “Efforts to paint Biles as a mentally fragile quitter play into conservatives’ frequent insinuations that Black Americans are not as patriotic as they are—despite the long history of Black people representing, performing for, and fighting for this country without the benefit of full equality.”
Biles responded to critics via Instagram Friday writing “For anyone saying I quit, I didn’t quit… My mind and body are simply not in sync…I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface. Nor do I have to explain why I put health first.”
In Esquire, columnist Brady Langmann writes, “What Biles said is what she said. And it shouldn’t be worth repeating, but when anyone says they’re stepping back because of mental health concerns, we need to leave it at that.”
Or how about taking a page out of Michelle Obama’s book.
