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It’s Not Heroic to Choke and Quit
I don’t want to be overly critical of Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from the Olympic team’s competitions. I haven’t followed gymnastics for years, but my impression is that Biles is widely considered to be the greatest female gymnast of all time. Her ability and achievements are extraordinary.
During the first rotation in the team all-around competition, Biles had a disappointing vault. She then pulled out of the competition, with varied explanations that seem unconvincing. It looks, to me, like she briefly lost her mojo. This would be, here’s that word again, disappointing, but understandable. Nobody’s perfect.
Biles set herself up for this, to some extent. She’s sometimes called the GOAT, meaning “greatest of all time.” She apparently leaned into this hype, like Muhammad Ali, by wearing leotards bearing an image of a goat. Humility is a wiser course, I think. But again, I don’t want to dump on Biles, who is quite young and the young rarely display notable wisdom.
The thing that is strange, to me, has been the reaction in much of the media. The narrative seems to be that Biles quitting was heroic, in order to take care of her “mental health.” Here’s a sample of this reaction:
- “The Radical Courage of Simone Biles’s Exit from the Team USA Olympic Finals.” The New Yorker.
- “Simone Biles’ Olympic withdrawal could be her greatest act of heroism.” SBNation.
- “The world was clamouring for the American to outdo her competitors as well as herself. It took exceptional bravery for her to step back.” The Guardian.
- “As athletes, we’re told to tough it out. It’s toxic masculinity at work, this idea that we should ignore our emotions and what our body needs. We call what she did heroic.” Time.
I dissent, not respectfully (yet). I do not find it heroic to choke, and I do not find it heroic to quit after choking.
It is understandable, a bit disappointing, fine. Maybe she was having a bad day, though all that we know is that she had a single bad vault. Biles might or might not have done well on the remaining events. We’ll never know, because she gave up.
We do expect more of our heroes.
But it’s the media reaction that is so bizarre, to me. What in the world is going on here? Is it just an attack on competence? Is it the typical resentful, sour-grapes attitude of the ordinary?
Is it the victim narrative? The silly Time article linked above says that gymnasts “are taught that their bodies are not their own.” In sport that “sacrifices bodies, minds and lives for perfection.” What?
Is it because Biles is female? Is it because she is black? Is it because the media had hyped a black woman as the greatest athlete ever, just unbelievable, wait ’til you see her, she’ll blow your socks off . . . well, not so much. Not that day.
So, apparently, the media has to lie about it. To pretend that failure and worse, quitting, is heroic. I do not see any justification for this narrative, and I do not see any reason to dissent “respectfully.” I am open to a counter-argument, as perhaps I’m missing something.
Again, I don’t want to beat up on Simone Biles. She’s had an amazing career. She appears to have cracked under the pressure, at these particular Olympic Games. That is sad, but not the end of the world.
You know, even Mighty Casey struck out. There was no joy in Mudville that day, but that’s OK. Casey was still a hero, just not a perfect one.
But I don’t recall anything about Casey walking away from the plate after his first strike, or making excuses. That’s not what heroes do.
Published in Sports
I’ve heard a couple of commentaries now that noted that this being called a “hero” when dropping out seems to be applied only to female athletes. I guess there was some female golfer who was labeled a “hero” for dropping out of a tournament for “mental health” earlier this year(?). The commenters speculated they couldn’t imagine the media applying the “hero” label to a male athlete (they both independently cited Tom Brady) who decided on the day of the Super Bowl he just couldn’t play.
Absolutely. I do not condemn her for pulling out, as I said. I do not require that athletes injure themselves for my viewing pleasure. But it was not a brave decision, it was a practical one and, as indicated below, perhaps a necessary one. It is hers alone to make and she made it.
Yeah, that’s almost a whole ‘nother post. The most interesting development of this year is seeing Americans happy when our preening woke athletes who refuse to stand for the flag get walloped by other competitors who are actually proud of their countries.
There was a Japanese tennis player who dropped out of the French Open because she had anxiety problems when forced to give interviews. Apparently, she got creamed in social media for that.
I have no reason at this point to root for Team America.
The media companies and corporations which advertise on them don’t themselves acknowledge our borders, or our right to be a fully sovereign and independent nation. They aren’t in the least patriotic. They will sell-out America and Americans for a few pieces of crypto-silver if given the chance. Then once every two years I’m supposed to be interested in how the USA acquits itself in water polo? Done being used by these cretins.
I could root for certain individuals if I was to watch the up close and personal segments and be captivated by a poignant story, but why should I be watching a multinational media corporation tear at my heartstrings when I could be playing my own games or strengthening my own skills?
Like Adams Schiff and Kinzinger, right? Now there was guts!
It’s along the lines of Oprah’s “speak your truth” pap.
Every human act is a balance between the individual and the community. The ability to do something, or even to refrain from something, might be called capability, or authority, or even just freedom, depending on the circumstance. All of those things are fundamentally balanced by responsibility – which means nothing more than the fact of “I did that. In the real world, I took this action.”
Sure, Biles had the ability to quit. She had that freedom. Nobody had authority over that act of hers, the authority was all hers. That means, inescapably, that she is responsible for quitting on her country.
A spot on the nation’s Olympic team is not the sole property of the athlete. This situation is nothing at all like a parent putting their kid in soccer and the kid deciding not to take the field. There’s only one U.S. Olympic Team, and it belongs to the nation. People devote their entire selves to get on that team. For whatever reason, quitting before the game is beyond the pale – from the perspective of Biles’ responsibility.
Sure, she has the freedom and the right to take care of herself, to walk out on her team, her country, and her responsibility. We all have the freedom to consider her a weakling and a loser, and to hope we never see her in sport again.
I would bet Oprah or some other media “celebrity” is lining up an interview with Biles as we write. This is a natural for them.
I know nothing of Biles and her condition, but I agree with what Drew said. If she really is sick or hurt, just say so. Athletes get hurt all of the time, nobody would judge her for pulling out if she cannot physically compete.
But context matters. We are incredibly weak and self-absorbed as a society. This type of behavior is promoted and encouraged. Every millennial is diagnosed with some make-believe mental illness, and they proudly flaunt it. Weakness is seen as a virtue. So in context, I will not give her the benefit of doubt. She quit on her team and should be labeled as such. A quitter, not a hero.
If you can’t get your mind right enough to compete at the top level, and you know this, stepping away is the correct answer.
Prudence is the most hated of virtues. Probably because it often comes at the expense of other virtues.
Thanks for the link. I read the article.
It describes “the twisties” as “essentially like the yips in other sports.” But I’d never heard of the yips, either. So according to Wikipedia, for whatever it’s worth, the yips “are a sudden and unexplained loss of skills in experienced athletes.”
In the OP, I called it briefly losing mojo. It looks like some loss of nerve, concentration, or something like that.
What we used to call “choking.” So I still don’t see the difference.
Look, if Michael Jordan went to the foul line to shoot 3 free throws with a second on the clock, down by one, and missed all three — I wouldn’t accept some “mental health” argument. I’d say that he choked, that time.
I am unhappy with Biles attitude toward this, which isn’t convincing to me. If she had some inner ear problem and vertigo, fine, that would be physical. Frankly, if she just got overwhelmed and lost her mojo, she should admit it, and move on. The talk about “mental health,” and the pressure just being too much, doesn’t make me sympathetic. If you want to compete at the highest level, that’s what it’s going to be like.
I’m not particularly critical of Biles for pulling out of the competition. I agree with you about the safety issue. But I don’t accept the excuses. It’s a failure. It’s not heroic.
Kinda reminds me of Cougar losing his nerve in Top Gun.
I agree with almost all of this.
I hope that she gets her mojo back, and makes some sort of comeback. I do think that everyone needs second chances.
I also think that her failure this week, while disappointing, does not erase her prior achievements. She has been a champion. She didn’t act like it this week.
I guess that I’m the sort to still love Casey, even after he strikes out.
Not much danger for Casey, unless he gets hit with a pitch. Hitting a baseball might be the hardest thing to master in sports but it is not the most dangerous. I think you have really given short shrift to danger aspect for a gymnast.
That is a good point. Taking a spot on the team means that someone else lost a spot. I always remind students in our intern program that they are expected to participate fully, as they were chosen while others were not. They need to be reminded that there is a responsibility there as well as privilege.
Thanks for that. Miss Lee seems not to have attracted the notice of the MSM.
Indeed. Not the “right” minority, according to the DNC-run media.
Then there are guys like Caleb Dressel who swam an amazing 100 free and was in tears when he stood on the gold medalist’s platform.
I believe the answer to both of these comments depends on whether one believes that Biles was in physical jeopardy–a point raised above. I simply don’t see how Biles has any obligation to perform in a sport requiring her to be perfect or near perfect at the risk of her physical well-being, including potentially paralysis. Of course, none of that matters if one doesn’t believe her as to her “condition,” which I suppose is one’s privilege.
Well, this is precisely what she signed up for. If you can’t handle the pressure, you shouldn’t seek, or accept, a position on the Olympic team.
Biles has handled the pressure many times before. This time, she cracked. Fine, I don’t even argue that she wasn’t prudent for pulling out, once she lost her mojo. But that is failure. That is choking, then quitting. That is the opposite of heroism.
The manly thing to do is to admit the failure, and apologize. Instead, she made excuses.
I’m not convinced that she signed up to risk a serious injury. She did sign up to be at a peak that would make an injury unlikely. According to her, she is not at that peak, and risks the former.
Fify.
Sorry, that’s not a correction that I like.
I haven’t gone in this direction with this particular thread, but part of the problem is the feminization of men and the masculinization of women. Women aren’t actually supposed to be competitive athletes. It’s unwomanly. It is manly.
But the women athletes are third-rate, if even. They do well against women. They are almost never competitive with the men.
But that’s for another post.
That matters. It means most or all criticisms miss their mark, doesn’t it?
Still not heroic, is it? I’m not exactly a hero for calling up the hospital for an appointment when I got back hemorrhoid problems, am I?
(Life hack: DAFLON pills are great for those problems.)
Come join me for a swim with my Masters Team then perhaps rethink that post.
Does it count if I can’t see any tears?
That the Olympics are one-time events is a significant difference. Any kind of athlete can have a temporary problem, whether it’s some kind of balance issue cause by an inner-ear infection or something else, or just “not feeling right,” and in their regular schedule it might just mean missing a day or days of practice or whatever. Maybe a couple games, for football players, basketball players, etc. But with the Olympics it’s all at once, do-it-or-miss-it. For many Olympic events the window of excellence can be so narrow that if someone misses it one time, by the next opportunity 4 years later they’re no longer in the window. And it seems to me that too much of the… “judgement” for lack of a better word… is mostly due to this fact: she certainly can’t wait a couple days to clear up the issue, and try again. So, because whatever it was, basically ruined her one chance, she’s a “failure?” Nonsense.
No man could do the kinds of things that Biles did. They aren’t built for it. There aren’t even any tall or full-bodied women gymnasts.
Oh for heaven’s sake.
Except that the correct comparison is between the coaches and Strug and the coaches and Biles back around 2013, when she wanted to continue a meet with physical injury and the coaches said no to save her long term career and health. Here, she had no physical injury, was in no danger. She simply found herself with the equivalent of a golfer losing control of the clubs.
AND. She had disclosed/talked about mental health treatment years ago, with medication and talk therapy.