*** Olympic Gymnastics ***

13,155 Views | 158 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by taylorswift13
Rockdoc
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WelchAg said:

DannyDuberstein said:

I also think people are trivializing real mental health issues by chalking this up as one.


Bingo. That's my issue here. I feel mental health issues are being exploited. It's becoming a crutch.

I may be 100% wrong here, but watching her interact on the sidelines and during the press conference, chalking this up as a mental breakdown just doesn't jive.

Totally agree. Minutes before the program started, and then 10 minutes after she bailed, she was all smiles and excitement. Not buying the mental aspect.
DannyDuberstein
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"Mental health"' is a force field against criticism.

"man, I've been struggling, wasn't feeling it today, and afraid I was going to **** up so I bowed out" isn't a force field.
DannyDuberstein
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I think the true Olympics goat is Rowdy Gaines
Bunk Moreland
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DannyDuberstein said:

I think the true Olympics goat is Rowdy Gaines


Rowdy is who John Tesh always wished he could have been.
Premium
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The day before I saw an interview of her where she said something like, "when I was young I was fearless - as I get older I worry about getting hurt and long lasting injuries".

That was so odd to me hear the "GOAT" saying when I heard it. And then this happened - makes sense
JDUB08AG
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DannyDuberstein said:

I think the true Olympics goat is Rowdy Gaines


Him and Dan Hicks are arguably one of the best sports combos out there. The 2008 free relay final is my favorite call of all time.
Jimmy McNulty
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Rockdoc said:

Never mind telling me how old you are. I remember what your former user name was.


Don't even waste your time arguing with them. Loves to bleed all over threads with controversial topics and constantly try to instigate certain reactions. Don't feed the troll.
DannyDuberstein
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Bunk Moreland said:

DannyDuberstein said:

I think the true Olympics goat is Rowdy Gaines


Rowdy is who John Tesh always wished he could have been.


I'm not sure whose hairline has receded more, Rowdy's or Nastia Liukin's
taylorswift13
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Simone Biles will not be competing in the all around competition on Thursday morning! Jade Carey will take her place and compete alongside Suni Lee
the_batman26
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A complete rout on the world's stage by the one experienced person who was told they were unstoppable and technically *was* unbeatable given their skill level. I've never seen anything like it.
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Jimmy McNulty
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74OA
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DannyDuberstein said:

She's not 12. She's a professional, embraced the moniker, and cashed the checks. With that come expectations like every other professional athlete on the planet. And if you completely bail on your team in the heat of competition because you aren't feeling it that day, you are going to get criticized like every other professional athlete on the planet would.
And with 30 Olympic and world championship medals, she should have been the last one to crack under pressure. If she's suddenly so fragile that she couldn't represent her country and stand up for the team she leads, no way she should be subsequently allowed to compete for individual glory.
monarch
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Well, tomorrow is Thursday; we'll see. I don't buy any of this at all. Watch racial politics enter into this. Anybody wants bet on that?
Peace for Ukraine!
wangus12
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I think its the right move to pull out. Hope she gets the help she needs.

I'm excited to see what the rest of the girls can do
Bunk Moreland
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Mature decision by her to pull out now and give the other girl some time to prepare.
No Longer Subsribed
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Pylon Cam said:

Rockdoc said:

You're wrong dude. She screwed her team. She has enough experience to keep her head screwed on tight. Finish what you START.
She was the worst performer by a mile, and she was going to hurt her team further if she stayed in. Having her sit was the right decision, and it's likely why we still medaled.

Simone is the best gymnast ever, but it's clear she just couldn't do it that night. She's battling some serious demons right now, and we should be giving her support rather than tearing her down.
It appears that you were absolutely right

When You Understand What Happened to Simone Biles, It Makes Sense

Quote:

It was even clearer on the full broadcast that Biles essentially fell prey to aerial disorientation she lost track, in midair, of where the ground was. You could see it in her eyes when she walked off. Gymnasts, like pilots, can die from that you land the wrong way, you break your neck. Like a baseball player who suddenly can't stand in against a pitch, it's a thing you can't play through. You might get reoriented in practice, and hopefully Biles will. But she walked off and left the event because she simply could not go on. Critics piling on her based on the initial press reports should watch what actually happened and listen to veteran gymnasts before lighting her up.

It's more than just something like a "choke" - it was performance related. Hopefully she will work it out.
Jimmy McNulty
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LB12Diamond
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This is very interesting and unfortunate it happened during the TEAM competition.

Whatever's going on, it didn't just all of the sudden happen. From her interviews it sounded like she was only out there bc of of pressure and her heart was not in it.

Well if that's the case, it would have been better if she had let another gymnast take her place beforehand. They would have won gold.

If she competes later and does well, it will not be a good look.

If she competes later and does not do well, similar to the team event, she should have let an alternate compete in her place.
Killin Me Smalls
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LB41Diamond said:

This is very interesting and unfortunate it happened during the TEAM competition.

Whatever's going on, it didn't just all of the sudden happen. From her interviews it sounded like she was only out there bc of of pressure and her heart was not in it.

Well if that's the case, it would have been better if she had let another gymnast take her place beforehand. They would have won gold.

If she competes later and does well, it will not be a good look.

If she competes later and does not do well, similar to the team event, she should have let an alternate compete in her place.


She's already pulled out of the individual competition.
the_batman26
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I wouldn't be surprised if there was that kind of motivating factor. This team wasn't really a team.
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htxag09
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wangus12 said:

I think its the right move to pull out. Hope she gets the help she needs.

I'm excited to see what the rest of the girls can do

I'm in the middle here. We'll likely never know what actually happened and the scope of mental issues.

But it's funny that you say she made the right choice and seem to defend her but when ledecky got 5th in her worst event and after already winning a silver and about to win at least 1 gold she "laid an egg" and "Americans just aren't showing up" at the big stage
TopFlightReject
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Killin Me Smalls said:

LB41Diamond said:

This is very interesting and unfortunate it happened during the TEAM competition.

Whatever's going on, it didn't just all of the sudden happen. From her interviews it sounded like she was only out there bc of of pressure and her heart was not in it.

Well if that's the case, it would have been better if she had let another gymnast take her place beforehand. They would have won gold.

If she competes later and does well, it will not be a good look.

If she competes later and does not do well, similar to the team event, she should have let an alternate compete in her place.


She's already pulled out of the individual competition.
She pulled out of the individual all-around.. there are still the individual events that she is scheduled to compete in.
KCup17
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To me it seems like Simone has got a case of the yips.
wangus12
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htxag09 said:

wangus12 said:

I think its the right move to pull out. Hope she gets the help she needs.

I'm excited to see what the rest of the girls can do

I'm in the middle here. We'll likely never know what actually happened and the scope of mental issues.

But it's funny that you say she made the right choice and seem to defend her but when ledeke got 5th in her worst event and after already winning a silver and about to win at least 1 gold she "laid an egg" and "Americans just aren't showing up" at the big stage
I'm in the middle as well. I still think it was a total crap move that she left the team hanging, regardless of performance in the middle of the competition and it looked even worse when she said she planned to compete individually.

I think its the right move to pull out completely because if she couldn't handle the team event yesterday why would she suddenly be able to compete individually 2 days later.

As for Ledecky, I realize its her worst event, but as a reigning Gold Medalist in the 200m free, but I'd be willing to bet she still expected to podium herself in it. I think its pretty obvious that Americans haven't been as dominant in the pool as they've been in the past. Add in the highest profile American in the games dropping out of all her competitions and I'd say that Americans just aren't having the best time currently.

EllisCoAg
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in talking with wife and daughter, some random thoughts

  • maybe some behind the scene drama going on, hard to tell.
  • she could have been pressured to even try for these Olympics with no real young star having emerged 2-3 years ago. Suni Lee and others did emerged but after her decision was made. Pushing back the Olympics a year just added to the pressure.
  • As mentioned, in interviews, she has started feeling the aches and pains of years of pounding, but at the same time she has pushed the envelope on tricks to "compete with herself". she could have done easier, for her, routines, but chose to invent new tricks to keep herself motivated and interested.
  • She bought into the GOAT aura, but her last 2-3 outings proved she was off and doubts started creeping in.
  • USGA had too many meets this summer and the whole process of team selection was bad.

Glad the decision to not compete in the All-around was made.
Bunk Moreland
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I think you can not rake her over the coals while still saying she quit on her team in the middle of the comp. Not to make it political, because he isn't being political here...but Shapiro said it best:


JDUB08AG
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I criticized her yesterday pretty heavily because she had indicated her intentions to still compete in the individual event. You don't have a complete mental breakdown and then get over that in 48 hours to compete for yourself. The fact that she is pulling out gives me reason to believe she is battling mentally.
BigJim49 AustinNowDallas
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Any other gymnast - male or female - ever pull out like this ?
Aggie521
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BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

Any other gymnast - male or female - ever pull out like this ?


Pretty sure I've pulled out like a gymnast a couple times.
littlebitofhifi
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Interesting take from a woman who covers UCLA gymnastics. I'd already taken the stance to be supportive even if it was "just mental" but being that I can't even do a somersault, I'd not even thought about this aspect. (Edit to add: She has a couple additional notes in the thread.)




TXAggie2011
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Bunk Moreland said:

TXAggie2011 said:

Considering how terrible her vault was, would you necessarily want her to continue on if you're a teammate? If you think she's mentally cracked, might you want her to get out of the way and let the rest finish the competition?
Yes, because her floor routine at 80% of her best probably would have ensured gold.
Her floor routine score from qualification wouldn't have been enough for gold. Even if she competed in place of Jordan Chiles who had a really bad score, they'd finish in silver...and Chiles would have competed on the floor either way, if I'm not mistaken.

Her vault was a large step backwards from her qualification performance. Doesn't mean she should have dropped out or mean she didn't "quit on the team", but I think its far from clear her taking 1 of the 3 spots on the remaining events would have put them in a better position for the gold.
Its Texas Aggies, dammit
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Nixter said:

wangus12 said:

My wife (coaching women's vball & T&F for 10+ yrs) with her fancy sports psych background said that with women, they typically don't like the idea of having the "weight" of the nation on their shoulders, especially to the extent that Biles does. Women don't day dream about that sort of thing whereas men typically picture themselves with that type of challenge (aka overwhelming odds/weight of the world). Men tend to thrive on that challenge while women don't like that type of situation
She sure seemed to like the endorsement money and camera attention that comes with having the "weight" of the nation on her shoulders.

She enjoyed all the benefits, but without the accountability that comes with it. She choked. But to make sure she didn't have to suffer defeat, she quit instead.
I wonder if she is rethinkng that rhinestone goat on her leotards.
PascalsWager
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No one is talking about it almost anywhere, but if you look at her words and her eyes, Biles is scared. Not of failing. Not of some mental demons. We tend to think of "choking" and not stepping up in terms of sports we know. Where the consequences of messing up mean you merely don't win in the playoffs. But SHE seems to be scared of physical injury and death.

Messing up in this sport isn't like basketball or swimming or biking or anything. Its getting physically mangled. With her "old" body shes finally realized how unnatural and dangerous it is to do the stuff she's been doing the whole time. Not sure she needs a psychiatrist. Maybe just needs to not twirl and flip 8 times in 15 feet in the air. I'd be scared of that and so would you.
htxag09
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Uh, people are talking about it. Heck, NBC aired an interview earlier this week when she stated that as she's gotten older she's no longer fearless and is scared, she looks at some of her routines and thinks if this goes wrong I can do this, etc.
Phat32
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That's fine, but maybe figure that out well before the Olympics.
 
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