Simone is out of the AA, VT, UB and FX

[pavlovasdawg]

That would be awesome, but after the team bronze I feel like it’s too much to hope for!

 

[Caligym]

Given their consistency here I would put the chance at about 50/50 for a bronze. I don’t think enough will screw up for them to get gold/silver but we know some will!

 

[RedBirdie]

Simone’s withdrawal definitely puts a huge pall on the event, but if we can look past that for a second … we have NO IDEA who will win now, which is exciting, especially given the depth and the quality of the field. I’m hoping for an exciting competition, though I also hope it’ll be a little more low key than Tuesday. That was a lot.

I am SO EXCITED for tomorrow. A legitimately exciting AA for the first time since 2012? SIGN. ME. UP!

(2017 doesn’t count because oh lord was that just a terrible worlds)

 

[Doug1233]

More exhausting than the Mykayla hate wagon?

Haha touché!!!

 

[ucrgirl]

100%

Simone is an athlete that has competed through kidney stones, broken toes and other normal gymnast injuries, has been very successful at the highest levels for years, who competed for this country while being sexually abused by the team doctor and manipulated by Marta . . . She is not weak and she owes them nothing. If she suddenly can’t compete it isn’t because she just decided to take a free trip and wanted a day off. I am disgusted by the arm chair coaches and four-year fans who are mad at her.

The media could be covering it better. I get that “to focus on my mental health” is something she said, but they could be giving context of how strong she is and what she has accomplished in her career.

 

[flyaway]

My first post. So forgive me. But it must be said. The fact that “focusing on my mental health” is considered weak says volumes about where we are as a nation/world in terms of understanding mental health. Not directed at you per se, just the faceless keyboard warriors who are attacking from this angle. It makes me angry on behalf of Simone.

 

[Doug1233]

 

[alc]

My feeling is, it would be a shame because there are well over 3 gymnasts who would be greatly preferable and, as you point out, she’d only medal if several of them splatted. So I’d rather that didn’t happen. Better for the Olympic AA medals to be won than lost.

It would, however, be entertaining in an absurdist, but of fucking course 2021 way.

I’m not saying I’m rooting for this or that I am predicting it (except in a go big or go home, “how can we make 2021 even more absurd” kinda way)… but Jade winning Olympic AA gold by way of the Carey would take a lot of media pressure off Simone. The pundits can have their big Cinderella story and Simone can have some peace.

Ditto Skinner winning vault. Again, I’m not rooting for that, but I have to admit I’m low-key rooting for “anything to make Tom look stupid.” In an absurdist way. Not in a gymnastics way.

 

[ucrgirl]

@flyaway Welcome and thanks for the thoughtful post.

 

[ucrgirl]

Would that take the media pressure off Simone? I talked to someone today who said that Simone knew weeks ago that she wouldn’t compete and should have resigned from the team. They thought there was another gymnast who could have lead them to gold in her place and that the IOC allowed for substitutions whenever. I think that if Skinner and Jade win gold people may decide that Simone “took” the spot from another deserving gymnast.

2020 taught me that people like to be angry at someone and that they can bend evidence to believe whatever they want.

 

[Caligym]

Yeah you can’t rationally explain anything to people like that. Simone competed 48 hours before team finals…and won. Do these people think she planned to compete Sunday, but pull out Tuesday? Like she’s been doing the long con for months?

 

[alc]

You know, I now want to edit that because you’re right. (I won’t because it’s already written and responded to.)

Simone is a special case, and this whole thing is so unprecedented… but where I had been coming from was that the media is usually fickle enough to move on to their next winner pretty quickly. I think you’re right, though, that they they won’t this time, which makes the whole absurdist angle less amusing.

 

[alc]

2020 taught me that people like to be angry at someone and that they can bend evidence to believe whatever they want.

I really can’t argue that. I wanted for five seconds for this to be like the public forgetting about Kim Zmeskal once Shannon Miller started winning. But yeah, not gonna happen.

I’ve been ambivalent about Skinner because I can’t not respect her determination and the fact that she’s shown some personal growth. But should she win vault… yeah, bring on the white grievance politics. As if the world needs any more of that.

 

[PeakePups]

I think the media will be happy to get some golden stories no matter who it is. Yes Jade getting AA gold (no matter how unlikely) or Skinner getting VT gold (if Simone doesn’t compete) would definitely be top headlines because they weren’t originally set to compete.

I was thinking about it though and with Simone out, the USA has less total medal opportunities but I actually think their gold medal opportunities haven’t changed much. It’s not crazy to think Suni could get gold in AA, UB and BB and Jade could get gold in VT and FX. Now I doubt the two of them will sweep all the golds but it’s entirely possible and I don’t think their chances at any of those are significantly less than Simone’s were.

If Jade or Suni can bring home a gold and one other individual medal I think they would come out of the games a “star”. Of course also Mykayla if she gets vault gold but I’m kinda just hoping that doesn’t happen. NBC just wants their story, I think they will be happy to move onto another WAG athlete who delivers.

 

[Puffin]

Has Tom appeared out of hiding yet to publicly support the team? Support Simone? Actually say anything at all?

 

[Passion]

I think in exactly one week all the people bitching about Biles will go right back to forgetting gymnastics exists. Because no one in the gymnastics world is attacking her. It’s the people who don’t understand anything about the sport to begin with.

Ask yourself when was the last time you thought about what Ryan Lochte did in Rio. That’s how often these people will think about Simone in Tokyo going forward. It won’t be in the media again unless she comes back and goes to Paris '24.

 

[formerly_odessa]

I’m actually more excited…sad for Simone.

 

[QuietColours]

I hope Al Fong has reached out to Simone and told her how important it is that she knew what was safe for her and did what was necessary, even in a competition, in not competing unsafe skills.

 

[alc]

I think in exactly one week all the people bitching about Biles will go right back to forgetting gymnastics exists. Because no one in the gymnastics world is attacking her. It’s the people who don’t understand anything about the sport to begin with.

Ask yourself when was the last time you thought about what Ryan Lochte did in Rio. That’s how often these people will think about Simone in Tokyo going forward. It won’t be in the media again unless she comes back and goes to Paris '24.

Much as I want this to be true… and maybe it is…there’s good old American four-year fickleness (yay fickleness) and then there’s hate.

There’s a lot of racial hatred in America right now. And frankly, there’s a sizeable percentage of Americans who (proudly) will never see Simone as an actual human being with actual human needs… as opposed to some other species that tanked out of unpatriotic malice.

The four-year fans who just want any gold medalist and the armchair quarterbacks who think she choked will go away soon enough, but I really do fear that the weirdly rabid conspiracy theorists who see this as an act of treason are here to stay.

Would love to be argued down.

 

[Rita]

My first post too, and I felt like sharing my thoughts and getting this off my chest. Please don’t hate me for the long post. I wish people would take mental health seriously and not consider it weak and as a quitter. I understand the difficulties of PTSD from childhood trauma and severe anxiety. PTSD and severe anxiety re-kicked in as I was studying for my medical school licensing exam. I could not sleep, was throwing up, and having panic attack and was just not okay. I did not realize why my mind was falling apart when I have done so well in school. Coming from an Indian family failing is looked at as a disgrace to society. So I know the pressure of wanting to please the people around you so badly. Unlike Simone, I am just a regular human being that is not put under a microscope for the world to see. I can’t imagine the pain it was for her to withdraw when she could easily win. Mental health even in 2021 is still looked upon as a joke or weak, but it is easier to heal from a wound than facing your demons. In some Indian communities even becoming a psychiatrist is sometimes looked upon as a stigma because you are treating so called fake diseases and it is not as prestigious. It is also easier to face your demons when you do not have the literal risk of getting paralyzed from them. I hope she gets back to whatever makes her happy. I feel sad for her because I wanted her career to end in a happy place. She has accomplished so much and has nothing to prove. My number one childhood sports hero was Michelle Kwan and has never won Olympic gold and I care less. I love gymnastics, but I care more about mental health.