If you have a Netflix account, then you have likely come across the documentary that was done on Simone Biles leading up to, including, and after the Paris Olympics. I’m sure that this documentary was birthed out of the enormous controversy surrounding Simone pulling out of the team event in the Tokyo Olympics four years prior. Unless you were living under a rock, you’re social media was likely flooded with people weighing in on either side of the coin. I have learned to stay out of frays on social media, so I didn’t voice an opinion on the matter, but with the release of the documentary, I got all fired up again about it. So, read on if you want to hear my thoughts on the matter.
First of all, let’s acknowledge that gymnasts are super human. That sport is incredibly difficult and it can be extremely dangerous. Most sports do include a level of risk, but these women are out there making gravity look like a suggestion as the fly off bars, beams, and vaults, or hurl themselves into the air from the floor. Clearly, it’s not the same as most conventional sports. In the case of Simone in the Tokyo games, her issue began on a warm-up vault during the team competition. Now, if you weren’t paying attention, you likely missed the look on Simone’s face when she landed that vault. As a healthcare provider, I’ve seen that look on people’s faces more times than I can count and it typically has us running to get the patient seating or safely positioned so that we can take vital signs and get nursing personnel in the room. It’s a look of not knowing where you are in space and as a therapist, we typically see this look before someone passes out or gets so dizzy they’re disoriented. I remember watching it on TV and immediately commenting to my son, “did you see her face? Something’s wrong.” A few minutes later, Simone was pulling herself from the competition. If you were listening in to the conversation that Simone was having with her coaches, she mentioned several times that her primary concern was that she wouldn’t be able to perform well, thus costing her teammates a chance at a medal. Very few people seemed to pick up on that, though.
All of the sudden people were on their high horses about how she was a quitter, how she let down her team, and how she let down her country, and that is the biggest bunch of BS I’ve ever seen. First of all, for most of us, our most athletic feat in a day is rolling ourselves out of bed in the morning, so very few of us are qualified to comment on what is or isn’t safe in the world of elite gymnastics. Secondly, no member of team USA, from any sport, owes any of you anything. You’re not the parents who spent thousands of hours at practices, competitions, and commuting back and forth to those things. You are not the people who financed that journey, nor are you the coaches who have invested countless hours in their students. Each member of team USA got to the Olympics because of the dedication they and their support system invested in that pursuit. Living in the same country as them doesn’t give you the right to feel let down. Third, getting to the Olympics is the pinnacle of many sports. Athletes dedicate their lives to it, so do you really think that anyone is more disappointed then the athlete herself when she has to withdraw from the competition stage that she worked her entire life to get to? Can you imagine how devastating that must be? Don’t you think she deserves some support and comfort instead of your unwarranted criticism?
Now, let’s pretend that when Simone lost her bearings in midair she didn’t land on her feet. She could have easily landed on her neck, which could have been catastrophic. I have no doubt that most of the haters would have taken to social media questioning why she continued to compete if she didn’t feel right or it was dangerous. People would have also been calling her out if she chose to continue the competition, but performed poorly, costing the US team an Olympic medal. There also would have been shade thrown about how she should have taken herself out of the competition for the sake of her team mates. Unfortunately, when that’s exactly what she did, tons of people got out their typey fingers and went to town throwing her under the bus for being a “quitter”. Come on people! Use some common sense and do better!
Finally, another issue that was addressed in the Netflix documentary was the fact that Simone’s husband, Jonathan Owens, reported that, when they first met, he didn’t know who she was. I mean, I admit, that seems impossible given that Simone is literally God’s gift to gymnastics, but I don’t feel like I have any right to be upset about it. If Simone didn’t care, why should I? What really matters is that he knows now that he’s married to an absolute queen. If it’s a non-issue for the actual couple, why are we making such a big deal about it? That didn’t need to be main-stream news, but it was. It suuuuuure was. Honestly, let them support each other how they want to support each other, let them live where the want to live, and let them take on the projects that they want to take on. Sheesh, leave this newlywed couple alone. If you’ve ever been married, you know how tricky adjusting to married life can be. Let’s not make it any harder for them.
I can hear people gearing up their typey fingers to argue that Simone and Jonathan are public figures and, as a result, they’re in a position where they just have to deal with public commentary. Here’s my issue with that line of thinking. Just because someone is famous for being an elite athlete, or a movie star, or a musician, etc., doesn’t mean that we have a right to their entire lives. They share their passion with us and that’s the outlet that’s public. What they do in relation to their jobs, such as PR events or interviews, is public, but that should be where it ends. Now, if Simone gets on national television and explicitly says, “I invite all commentary on my marriage as well as all criticisms about my husband, our relationship, and how we live our lives.” Then, that’s a legitimate public request–go ahead and put those typey fingers to work. Otherwise, though, it’s really not our business.
In conclusion, before you dust off your typey fingers to launch your opinion on a public figure’s character based on a precarious situation, maybe just pause a minute. Think it through and try to put positive stuff out there, or at the very least, give you opinion in a respectful manor. The world would be a much better place if we all thought a little more before sending our words out into the world. Honestly, if there is so much static about one choice that one athlete made at one Olympic games that, four years later, Netflix wanted to do a documentary on it–that’s really saying something. In the words of the great Taylor Swift, you need to calm down. So, Simone, if you ever come across this, know that a random person in Pennsylvania is rooting for you and wishing you all the best.