OT Artistic Gymnastics

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My heart breaks for Simone- I know she wanted to do Tokyo and be done...but I can't imagine she even remotely anticipated this at all. To push through all the horrible things that have happened to her, all the injuries going to finish out with this last Olympics and then this? I struggle with unfinished business, so this would bother the heck out of me. I hope she can make peace with whatever happens, however it happens.

About a month ago, my kids purchased tickets for the GOAT Gold Over America Tour "starring Simone Biles" for my birthday. <click here> If the Olympics weren't enough, the poor girl is supposed to start a 35 state tour beginning in Sept 21. :(
 
I'm so happy Jade got gold on floor, especially after her VF, so now all of the USA women have a medal :cloud9: congrats to Maurakami and Ferrari (and Melnikova!) I'm glad the tie breaker doesn't apply, I was rooting for Mai to win a medal these games!
 
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About a month ago, my kids purchased tickets for the GOAT Gold Over America Tour "starring Simone Biles" for my birthday. <click here> If the Olympics weren't enough, the poor girl is supposed to start a 35 state tour beginning in Sept 21. :(

I think it was mentioned that she wont be doing twisting elements on her tour. Not that its the rest that she probably needs/would like, but she can tailor her routines to how she feels and doesn't need to push herself too too hard.
 
Honestly they never do very much on those tours AT ALL. Lots of silly, costumed, cutesy routines with very little risk of injury.
 
From what I have read Simone will tumble and perform gymnastics skills as long as it doesn't involve twisting. So, guessing Simone will perform double tucks and other cool nontwisting skills on the tour.
 
I'm so thrilled that all of the US women are leaving Tokyo with a medal. While it wasn't the Olympics anyone expected, given all that has happened, each athlete gets to come home with a medal and a moment. The silver lining turns out to be silver, gold, and bronze.
 
beyond thrilled for Simone winning that bronze on BB! still sad we didn't get to see her double pike vault, but totally understand that that would be risking her health and possibly her life with what shes going through
 
About a month ago, my kids purchased tickets for the GOAT Gold Over America Tour "starring Simone Biles" for my birthday. <click here> If the Olympics weren't enough, the poor girl is supposed to start a 35 state tour beginning in Sept 21. :(

That "poor girl" is the organizer of that event. She won't be forced to do anything she doesn't want to.
 
This isn't going to be a popular opinion, so just know that I know this.

I am tired of Simone Biles.

I didn't dislike Simone Biles before this Olympics but I'm walking away from the Olympics cringing every time her face pops up on my screen or I hear her name. In part, it's not necessarily her fault because the media has perpetuated the storylines but I am tired of it all. So tired, I was disappointed that Lee didn't make the podium and she did.

I know mental blocks are real and I have no doubt that Simone suffer(ed) from the twisties. I don't fault her for pulling back and not risking catastrophic injury. My only child broke her neck on a trampoline a little more than a year ago and there is nothing scarier in the world.

But, I want to see the spotlight put on someone else. Anyone else.

Regardless of how I feel as an adult who can process complex emotions and understand the pros and cons of life, I have talked with more than a few of my gymnastic mom friends and all of them are reeling. Their children---all different ages, different locations and different levels---are not taking this situation well. Some of even questioning why they're doing gymnastics at all. While Simone didn't necessarily walk into the Olympics expecting this to happen, when she said today that she wouldn't change a thing I thought of those little girls who look up to her so highly and how let down they feel right now.

Is it fair to put any of this on Simone's shoulders...not exactly and I realize this, but for the love, I hope she doesn't attempt Paris. I am truly and completely sick of the Simone show and can not wait for it to end.

Thanks for listening to my vent.
 
This isn't going to be a popular opinion, so just know that I know this.

I am tired of Simone Biles.

I didn't dislike Simone Biles before this Olympics but I'm walking away from the Olympics cringing every time her face pops up on my screen or I hear her name. In part, it's not necessarily her fault because the media has perpetuated the storylines but I am tired of it all. So tired, I was disappointed that Lee didn't make the podium and she did.

I know mental blocks are real and I have no doubt that Simone suffer(ed) from the twisties. I don't fault her for pulling back and not risking catastrophic injury. My only child broke her neck on a trampoline a little more than a year ago and there is nothing scarier in the world.

But, I want to see the spotlight put on someone else. Anyone else.

Regardless of how I feel as an adult who can process complex emotions and understand the pros and cons of life, I have talked with more than a few of my gymnastic mom friends and all of them are reeling. Their children---all different ages, different locations and different levels---are not taking this situation well. Some of even questioning why they're doing gymnastics at all. While Simone didn't necessarily walk into the Olympics expecting this to happen, when she said today that she wouldn't change a thing I thought of those little girls who look up to her so highly and how let down they feel right now.

Is it fair to put any of this on Simone's shoulders...not exactly and I realize this, but for the love, I hope she doesn't attempt Paris. I am truly and completely sick of the Simone show and can not wait for it to end.

Thanks for listening to my vent.

I mean, I think we’re all a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see her perform. This is not the Olympics anyone expected.

But I really do feel that Simone’s decision to withdraw is an important milestone for sports in general. To see someone at the top of her game take a step back and say, “Yeah no, I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel capable, I’m not doing this,” is important. A lot of the refrains I see from her detractors go something like, “Well that’s sports suck it up” without realising that’s exactly the problem. It’s just sports. Athletes of any age shouldn’t be competing scared, injured, or panicked because the pressure they feel from PLAYING A GAME is too intense. I know that sometimes that stuff makes for great stories, but it’s just not reasonable or worthwhile.

All that being said, I would like the media to focus on Chiles and Lee more and all the other athletes who had to step up after Simone withdrew. Because those are good stories too.
 
Regardless of how I feel as an adult who can process complex emotions and understand the pros and cons of life, I have talked with more than a few of my gymnastic mom friends and all of them are reeling. Their children---all different ages, different locations and different levels---are not taking this situation well. Some of even questioning why they're doing gymnastics at all. While Simone didn't necessarily walk into the Olympics expecting this to happen, when she said today that she wouldn't change a thing I thought of those little girls who look up to her so highly and how let down they feel right now.

After decades of USA Gymnastics cultivating an environment of abuse and protecting preditors to trade little girls lives and well-being for money and medals, and them pledging to "do better and put athletes first", they continued to use Simone as a strategy to win medals. "We're going to win bc we have Simone." "It's ok if we a fall or two bc we have Simone." And by her putting her safety first, she's letting people down? Your post misses the enitre point of everything that has been happening this past week and all of the historical context that makes this significant.

I have to imagine those "little girls who look up to her so highly" don't have the life experience yet to truly comprehend what Simone did and how monumental it was. She continuously steps up and calls out the people in charge and is using her platform to force people to listen. She's brought multiple problems about USAG forward at her own expense, ultimately changing the environment for the better for all "those little girls who look up to her so highly."

She didn't ask to be in the spotlight or have her trauma broadcasted or her mental health/struggles become the topic of public discourse. You can be mad that the media continuously decides to focus on her. Simone is not the cause of the Simone show, if anything she is the victim of it. Her entire message, this entire time is that she is a human being, not a work horse or a superhuman or a strategy to win more gold medals for the USA. To say that she's letting people down by doing what's best for her... that girl doesn't owe anybody a single thing.

Your above statement is bonkers. People are questioning why they/their kids are doing gymnastics because of a celebrity? Maybe these parents should have a talk to their kids about how celebrities are actually just human beings and when human beings are pushed to their breaking points they have human being reactions and there are human being consequences and we should support them because they are, after all, human beings.

I'm sure Simone wants the Simone show to end too so she can be a human being doing things she loves without people putting the entire weight of the world on her. Must be suffocating.
 
After decades of USA Gymnastics cultivating an environment of abuse and protecting preditors to trade little girls lives and well-being for money and medals, and them pledging to "do better and put athletes first", they continued to use Simone as a strategy to win medals. "We're going to win bc we have Simone." "It's ok if we a fall or two bc we have Simone." And by her putting her safety first, she's letting people down? Your post misses the enitre point of everything that has been happening this past week and all of the historical context that makes this significant.

I have to imagine those "little girls who look up to her so highly" don't have the life experience yet to truly comprehend what Simone did and how monumental it was. She continuously steps up and calls out the people in charge and is using her platform to force people to listen. She's brought multiple problems about USAG forward at her own expense, ultimately changing the environment for the better for all "those little girls who look up to her so highly."

She didn't ask to be in the spotlight or have her trauma broadcasted or her mental health/struggles become the topic of public discourse. You can be mad that the media continuously decides to focus on her. Simone is not the cause of the Simone show, if anything she is the victim of it. Her entire message, this entire time is that she is a human being, not a work horse or a superhuman or a strategy to win more gold medals for the USA. To say that she's letting people down by doing what's best for her... that girl doesn't owe anybody a single thing.

Your above statement is bonkers. People are questioning why they/their kids are doing gymnastics because of a celebrity? Maybe these parents should have a talk to their kids about how celebrities are actually just human beings and when human beings are pushed to their breaking points they have human being reactions and there are human being consequences and we should support them because they are, after all, human beings.

I'm sure Simone wants the Simone show to end too so she can be a human being doing things she loves without people putting the entire weight of the world on her. Must be suffocating.
I can't "like" this enough. Bonkers is an understatement.
Thankfully I've seen pretty much nothing but positivity for how truly monumental it was.
 
After decades of USA Gymnastics cultivating an environment of abuse and protecting preditors to trade little girls lives and well-being for money and medals, and them pledging to "do better and put athletes first", they continued to use Simone as a strategy to win medals. "We're going to win bc we have Simone." "It's ok if we a fall or two bc we have Simone." And by her putting her safety first, she's letting people down? Your post misses the enitre point of everything that has been happening this past week and all of the historical context that makes this significant.

I have to imagine those "little girls who look up to her so highly" don't have the life experience yet to truly comprehend what Simone did and how monumental it was. She continuously steps up and calls out the people in charge and is using her platform to force people to listen. She's brought multiple problems about USAG forward at her own expense, ultimately changing the environment for the better for all "those little girls who look up to her so highly."

She didn't ask to be in the spotlight or have her trauma broadcasted or her mental health/struggles become the topic of public discourse. You can be mad that the media continuously decides to focus on her. Simone is not the cause of the Simone show, if anything she is the victim of it. Her entire message, this entire time is that she is a human being, not a work horse or a superhuman or a strategy to win more gold medals for the USA. To say that she's letting people down by doing what's best for her... that girl doesn't owe anybody a single thing.

Your above statement is bonkers. People are questioning why they/their kids are doing gymnastics because of a celebrity? Maybe these parents should have a talk to their kids about how celebrities are actually just human beings and when human beings are pushed to their breaking points they have human being reactions and there are human being consequences and we should support them because they are, after all, human beings.

I'm sure Simone wants the Simone show to end too so she can be a human being doing things she loves without people putting the entire weight of the world on her. Must be suffocating.

(Slow claps)

Imagine suggesting that the narrative surrounding mental health and being a whole healthy human outside of a sport (the sport that attempted to cover up your abuse and the abuse of your friends, mind you) is (gasp) setting a troubling example for children.

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE SUBURBAN MIDDLE CLASS GYM CHILDREN?
 
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