I can't believe I'm going to actually defend modern sissy athletes, but here goes nothing....
Biles cracked under pressure, for sure, but I don't fully blame her. It's a definite 'life comes at you fast' moment, but my main issue is with the lying as media trying to whitewash the incident and blame everyone else and make excuses and all the things they always do to avoid basic reporting. In the interview I saw, Biles wasn't making excuses, admitted she screwed up because she was frustrated, and then tried to get the interview back to the team and their accomplishment. Maybe it was just deflection, but I saw her after-the-incident reactions as being pretty professional and classy, so she gets credit there.
People who are fans have been concerned for a long time. I guess she had been caught on camera earlier in the year, during competitions, saying she wished she'd just die and shit. Something was going on, and the question becomes was anyone addressing it? I mean, yeah, she's the one that snapped, but there's also an entire organization involved that ignored minors being diddled for years and other abuses. Did they also ignore a gymnast seeming very down on herself, and for many months now, to the point she was expressing suicidal thoughts out load with cameras and teammates around? I give her credit for going out there and continuing to work when maybe she shouldn't have.
Her pushing through personal issues or mental health issues didn't work out and she broke under pressure, but shit happens and she doesn't have a history of quitting or being selfish or anything like that. It was literally a breaking point, not one of a long history of tantrums. She's not typically a detriment to the team or a problem. Something caused her to crack, and she freaked out. Then she didn't blame everyone else or make up an injury. In an interview where the interviewer was trying to sugar coat she didn't go along with excuses or anything, just owned up to it and shifted to making sure the team was getting praise and recognition they deserved.
If she shouldn't be allowed to compete going forward, it should be because she's still struggling with whatever issues caused her to break. I don't believe in punishing her just for snapping when she's been pretty solid in the past and doesn't have a history of selfish bullshit.
Same with Naomi Osaka, who is a bit more prone to drama, but as I recall it she had been having anxiety issues, specifically tried to get permission to not do certain interviews and media appearances because of it, and I swear I remember was told she wouldn't have to, and then when she got there they were like just kidding you have a contract we lied to get you here suck it up. And to her credit, she just said that's fine and quit. It's not like she demanded pay or to get special treatment that I remember, when, if she's having legit medical or mental health issues, I'm actually okay with some amount of accommodation for that, especially for younger athletes.
It sucks and is kinda lame our society is so soft, but mental health issues are still issues. I guess the decision we make as a society is if we think they're legit reasons to be taken seriously medically, or just part of the job so fuck you deal with it. The argument is that we've all had stress in our jobs. We've also all had jobs where our bosses probably didn't give a shit if we called in sick because of it, and probably had resources that would support us, and if we were cracking under pressure would probably be bitching or suing if our bosses were like sorry, sucks to be you, nobody cares, now get out there in front of the entire fucking world and try not to disappoint 350 million people!
Shit situation and both deserve some measure of blame (and even a little ridicule), but even as the asshole I am I'm not going to put as much blame and direct as much ire at either Biles (or Naomi Osaka) as some people are. I don't see the need to punish Biles for choking and not let her compete individually (though I have some concerns about her mental health and whether it's smart. If she can manage it, it's still her spot and would be an awesome story and good on her.
The media are shitheels and can get fucked for enabling our coddled society that uses and abuses and forgets athletes at their leisure. And all the organizations involved seem fucked up and could use some changes so they stop being so dysfunctional and abusive, especially when so many athletes are minors who've been under the umbrella of these organizations since they were kids and keep getting diddled, for instance. And the Olympics have sucked anyway, especially because of Covid that I think fucked over a lot of these athletes regarding training and mental health like a lot of especially young people with Covid hysteria.
I guess I see them as defective products of our society, not the cause of societal issues, so will cut them some slack.
