Mental Health and Sport

Let me start by saying that Simone Biles is better at gymnastics than I will ever be at anything.

She’s also, it appears, better at defending her mental health.

On Tuesday, July 27, Simone Biles — the greatest gymnast of all time — withdrew from the team competition at the Olympics, citing a medical issue. As it turns out, she’d developed a case of what Nastia Liukin called “the twisties” — she was having trouble orienting herself in the air.

If you’re Simone Biles, and you’ve devoted your life to being able to move explosively, complete multiple rotations and twists, and land on your feet, having “the twisties” could lead to a catastrophic outcome. She works at such a high level of skill and difficulty that things have the potential to get very dangerous for her if they go pear-shaped.

It doesn’t matter what I think — I’m not an expert on elite athletes and their struggles — but withdrawing from the competition seems like it was absolutely the right move, here. For her mental health. For her *physical* health. And for her team.

For her mental health: I can only imagine how difficult it is to have to perform, on demand, at the highest level, on the world stage. Over and over. To have to face that kind of pressure when you know you’re not performing at your best, and when not performing your best can lead to serious injury, seems like it would be a lot.

For her physical health: If you’re a swimmer and you have a bad day, you could lose your race if you’re favored to win. I’m sure the pressure to perform in that instance is still crushing, and it can exacerbate any existing physical issues you’re struggling with (or lead to new ones). I think, though, that adding tumbling (on or around a gymnastics apparatus) to that mix adds another layer of danger — that also applies to sports like diving, skateboarding, perhaps surfing and rhythmic gymnastics. I’m grateful that Biles didn’t try to power through and risk serious injury to herself.

For her team: If Biles had been seriously injured, it would have been devastating to the meet and to her teammates Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Grace McCallum. Chiles, Lee and McCallum may have been surprised or frustrated by the turn of events on Tuesday, but you would not have known it from their performances. They were grace under pressure, and they were excellent. On that front, I’m grateful to Simone Biles for giving her teammates an opportunity to shine.

Congratulations, Ladies!

I’ve seen some “hot takes” criticizing Biles for her decision. Those are stupid and wrong, and seem to be held mostly by white dudes who should keep their opinions to themselves if they can’t offer support, because they are neither a) elite athletes with an understanding of how the human body or brain actually work, nor b) mental health professionals with sports performance experience.

Mental health is important — and widely overlooked. It shouldn’t be. We need more examples set by people like Simone Biles. Or Naomi Osaka. They owe us nothing, but I’m grateful for the examples they set that show us that it’s a good thing to understand that sometimes things are not what they should be, and it’s important to take a step back, for your mental health, for your physical health, and maybe for your team.

P.S. As a person who lived with undiagnosed anxiety for 30 years, I recommend therapy for everyone. We’ve all got baggage, and it’s worth your time to see if you can manage some of yours.

P.P.S. BTW, I still have anxiety — it’s as much a part of me as my brown eyes — but it’s ability to run my life is somewhat diminished thanks to therapy.