Not to be inconsiderate toward those who take a genuine interest in gymnastics, but the public does not seem particularly enamored with spinning aerial vaults, no matter how impressive they are. Yet somehow, adult male conservative influencers, whom one might expect to be least interested in women’s gymnastics, seem to have the hottest takes on the Simone Biles situation.
Biles, arguably the most talented gymnast of all time, recently withdrew from both the team and individual competitions at this year’s Tokyo Olympics. She cited mental health concerns and desire to avoid potentially catastrophic injury as her reasoning for doing so.
Charlie Kirk, Matt Walsh, and the lot characterized Biles’s decision to drop out as emblematic of alleged cultural degradation occurring within the United States. Her bowing out, to them, also represented a grave national embarrassment.
But Biles’s withdrawal was neither of those things, and the charges they level against Biles are often inaccurate. For one thing, she did not cost America a gold medal. Biles had significantly underperformed in prior rounds, such that her continuing with the team likely would have put them at a disadvantage.
At 24, Biles is exceptionally old for an Olympic gymnast and was putting herself at risk of serious injury by even competing in the limited capacity in which she did. The Washington Examiner’s Tiana Lowe wrote a piece on this very topic earlier in the week, touching on how Biles’s decision to go to the Olympics was already a win in that it did a lot to secure justice for all the victims of Larry Nassar’s abuse.
Biles is very obviously emotionally distressed. As one of Nassar’s victims, she has good reason to be. Her choice not to compete has little effect on America as a whole, but these inaccurate attacks against Biles are certainly harming public discourse for everyone.
