Why Simone Biles is the Hero We All Need Right Now
Stepping back from immense pressure to reset and reframe shows more strength and perseverance than any event in sports
Writers love the pressure put on Olympic athletes. It’s built-in dramatic attention. Years of training leading to one moment. A lifetime of hard work being decided by fractions of a second. And this summer, with the Olympics being held during a global health crisis, well, the mental game of athletes write now is pretty much an automatic lede.
So it’s surprising when mental health pressure sidelines a high-performing athlete like Simone Biles, the media is less equipped to handle the story with thought and care. The initial headlines dealt with her leaving competition and how the U.S. team “settled for silver”. For the record, no one settles for silver. It still takes a lot of hard work and determination to medal, so we need to retire that phrase.
It took a long time to sort out whether it was a physical injury or mental health “issue”. As someone who has had to learn to take better care of my own mental health, I can assure you anxiety is physical. It’s not a huge leap to understand how mental pressure can manifest as physical pain.
I think we all need to take a step back (just like Biles) and take stock of the pressure really weighing down on the Greatest of All Time.
For one, Biles is a highly decorated and ambitious female gymnast — a once-in-a-generation talent. She has her sites set firmly on gold. She’s chasing her own records. She’s the star of the U.S. gymnastics team (go ahead, name a male gymnast as well known. I’ll wait). The star of an All-Star team in the most popular spectator sport at the Games chasing her own previous success.
That’s where we start.
Now add the global pandemic. Delaying the Games by a year, messed up the training schedules of high-performing athletes. Anyone who has trained for an athletic event knows timing is everything. The body needs the right cycle of training and recovery. Olympic careers are fine-tuned schedules and that schedule is now off.
Add to this a serious spike in cases in Japan itself. We’re all familiar with the chronic stress Covid-19 protocols have on us. These protective measures also make us keenly aware of a contagious and strong respiratory virus that is presumably all around us. Now imagine you’re a high performing athlete expected to perform at peak health and physical strength.
But what I can’t shake is knowing what we all now know about what it’s been like to be a young girl going through the ranks of the U.S. gymnastics system. Since dominating her sport in 2016, Biles has shared that she too suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Larry Nasser. These are the first Olympic Games since she came forward with this information.
Gender parity is a priority of Tokyo 2020. And the sexualization of women in sport is part of the story this summer, especially when it comes to “wardrobe rules” in competition. Gymnastics specifically is party of this conversation. At some point a journalist will ask her to share her sexual trauma in this context. This must be weighing on her too.
Now imagine carrying all of this pressure, only to be expected to shove it deep down, launch yourself off a vault at top speed, spinning in the air only to land with pinpoint precision? And don’t forget to smile.
As someone who has also had to take a step back from mounting expectations to be perfect at work and at home, I speak from experience how difficult it is to step back and say “I need a mental break”. Stepping back from competition this morning is the strongest feat she’s shown at the Games and I wish her the strength to continue staying on the sidelines until she feels ready.
We live in an era of burnout. Biles is one of many high-perfoming people (mostly women) who are done putting the expectations of other ahead of their own. We need to respect this decision, not cast aspersions to the mental health “issues” she may be facing.
She’s a women in the public eye in the 21st Century. Sometimes that’s enough.
And for the record, no one “settles for silver”. A lot of hard work goes into getting into the second position. You win every accolade, even if it’s not the one you set out for.
