Simone Biles shows that, sometimes, the only way to win is to quit
Simone Biles’ face breaks into a smile seconds before she sticks her landing. The 27-year-old athlete knows she’s nailed her performance, despite the strapping on her left leg. This week, the world’s most decorated gymnast proved she’s undoubtedly back on form, becoming the first woman to land the Yurchenko double-pike at the Olympics and winning her first gold medal since her appearance at the Rio Games in 2016.
Biles’ display was a far cry from her performance at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which saw her forced to withdraw. While competing, she suffered from what is known in gymnastics as ‘the twisties’ – a mental block that sees a disconnect between mind and body when gymnasts are airborne. She tearfully explained her decision to drop out at the time as a bid to “protect her mental health” as she creaked under the pressure to bring home the gold. “At the end of the day, we don’t want to be carried out on a stretcher,” she said.
Biles faced fierce criticism from observers over her decision, being piled on by pundits who were dismissive of her mental-health struggle. Piers Morgan, a man who lost his temper over the concept of a vegan sausage roll, implied that the multi-gold medal winning gymnast was “not a strong role model” on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Are ‘mental health issues’ now the go-to excuse for any poor performance in elite sport? What a joke,” he told his eight million followers.
The criticism was even more unhinged across the Atlantic. On a Fox News programme, the commentator Clay Travis demanded that Biles should “apologise” to her fellow athletes. Meanwhile, the pundit Charlie Kirk described her on his podcast as “selfish”, “immature”, “a shame to the country” and a “sociopath”.
Even in a world more attuned and sympathetic to the demons of mental health, this reaction Biles faced isn’t necessarily uncommon. From a very young age, we have it distilled into us that in order to succeed, we need to work hard, with the old adage “winners never quit, and quitters never win” often repeated in the face of adversity. It’s this attitude that burdens us throughout school, and that we then apply to relationships, careers, even hobbies, doggedly sticking it out in awful environments despite being visibly miserable. Announcing that you’re quitting still has mostly negative connotations – the idea that you, personally, are giving up on something, can lead to a profound sense of failure, ultimately underlining that you are at fault, and you are the problem.
This is only amplified when you are at the very peak of a hugely successful career; a true pitfall of being hailed as one of the greatest of all time. We expect perfection from Olympians, who are held up as titans of superhero strength. However, we don't always think about the mental resilience needed to perform under pressure as the world watches with bated breath.
Like with most things in life, it’s women who seem to have drawn the short straw; expectations seem to be piled further on top of them, with viewers presuming female athletes should persevere through pain and put the needs of others ahead of their own wellbeing. It’s something we saw earlier this month during Wimbledon; Emma Raducanu was unfairly criticised for ‘ruining’ Andy Murray’s Wimbledon swansong because she pulled out of their doubles match over injury fears. Women should be applauded for recognising their worth and deciding to step back – we as sports fans should allow them that space to breathe.
The Paris Olympics has been hailed as the US gymnastics’ team’s ‘redemption tour’ – a comment that seems wildly unfair, and a kick in the teeth considering how candid they’ve been about their struggles, particularly in the wake of historic abuse perpetrated by the former national team doctor Larry Nassar. Biles doesn’t owe anyone a single thing, and whether she took home the gold or not is irrelevant; she is more than just the sum of medals – she’s a human being whose wellbeing is more important and valuable than a chunk of metal dangling round her neck.
Her most recent win only proves that she was justified in taking a break, in spite of the unwanted opinions of foaming-mouthed critics. In her success, Biles has shown that sometimes, quitters really can win.
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