Strangely, the mainstream media and some democrats are praising Simone for backing out of the team gymnastics' competition. Why the public relations on their part?
What did Simone do to get such positive praise? She quit. Not of physical reasons but mental ones. She's an amazing athlete and I like her, but, after struggling in the qualifying rounds, and botching her first event in the women’s team finals, Biles decided to withdraw from the meet. The best gymnast on the squad, the most celebrated, chose to abandon her team in the middle of the finals. Her teammates finished second behind Russia, while Biles went on to receive even more acclaim than a gold medal would have earned her. This would be like pro golfers who usually finish in the Top 10 quitting the competition when they figure out that they're not going to end up on top that week. Why not pack up the clubs and move on to the next city to practice for the next event, leaving the fans who paid a lot of money behind? Of course we know why not. They must live through the humiliation of terrible rounds because that's what they signed up for because there are these people called fans who are the reason they're rich. The only reason they're relevant.
Simone complained that the Olympics haven’t been “fun” this year. “This Olympic Games, I wanted it to be for myself when I came in — and I felt like I was still doing it for other people,” she said. Returning to this theme later, she said that it’s important to “put mental health first” because if you don’t then “you’re not going to enjoy your sport.” She complained about the “pressure” that she’s under.
The bottom line is she quit. And once again I find it strange that she's got all these people proactively supporting her in the mainstream media and Democratic Party. All the crazy things going on around the country and on our southern border and we have politicians giving press conferences praising Simone. Sad.
I think she's an outstanding person. A tremendous athlete. But, people mess up, and she did. Not calling her out and sending an important message to all athletes regardless of the sport, is a terrible swing and a miss.