2020 Olympic Games | Women’s Team Final Live Blog

/ July 27, 2021

Welcome to the live blog for the women’s team finals at the 2020 Olympic Games, held in Tokyo, Japan!

Please refresh your browser every few minutes to see the most recent updates, which will appear at the top of the page.

9:56 pm. Team Standings

1. Russia 169.528
2. United States 166.096
3. Great Britain 164.096
4. Italy 163.638
5. Japan 163.280
6. France 163.264
7. China 161.196
8. Belgium 159.695

9:53 pm. It’s gold for Russia!!!!!!!!! By nearly 3.5 points ahead of the United States, who take the silver exactly two points ahead of Great Britain (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) with the bronze. Incredible.

9:49 pm. Angelina Melnikova RUS FX: I can’t even watch, hit the first two passes, I’m panicking. Good on the double pike. She’s sobbing!

9:47 pm. Alice D’Amato ITA BB: Hit the series at the beginning, mount, punch front, everything. Front aerial, check on the transverse jump half, triple full a little under, step forward.

9:45 pm. Sunisa Lee USA FX: Double double, small hop back. Stuck the double layout. Double L turn to pirouette, 1.5 to front full good, hop back on the double tuck. PHEW. 13.666

9:44 pm. Nina Derwael BEL UB: Nabieva, Downie, Derwael-Fenton to Ezhova to Chow to Pak to van Leeuwen, a little wonky in the toe full, sticks the full-in. 15.400

9:42 pm. Hiraiwa Yuna JPN BB: Hit her wolf turns. Layout series with a little check. Switch leap, solid landing. 2.5 almost stuck! Tiny hop at the end.

9:40 pm. Viktoria Listunova RUS FX: Little bounce on the double layout. Memmel turn into a little passé hop. Triple full with a little hop forward. 2.5 to front tuck solid. Solid double tuck.

Amelie Morgan GBR UB: Piked Jaeger nice, another release to Pak, transitions up again then down with a Bhardwaj, van Leeuwen, got the dismount! 14.033!

9:37 pm. Jutta Verkest BEL UB: Slipped off on her Maloney. Hit the rest, step on the dismount.

Martina Maggio ITA BB: Hit her opening leap series. Bhs loso with a check at the hips. Hit her switch ring, side aerial, little hop on the 2.5. 13.075

9:35 pm. Alice Kinsella GBR UB: Ricna to Pak was lovely, Maloney to Gienger also strong. Blind full, hit the dismount, fantastic!

Jordan Chiles USA FX: OOB on the full-twisting double layout but solid on the double layout. Front double full to front full, sat it. Hit the double pike. 11.700

Zhang Jin CHN VT: Hit the tsuk double full with a big step forward. 14.066

9:34 pm. Aline Friess FRA VT: Rudi with a hop back, great!

9:32 pm. Murakami Mai JPN BB: Hit everything at the beginning. And the middle and end. 🙂 Double pike to finish strong.

Ou Yushan CHN VT: DTY, crashed it off the mat. Surprised she went for it tbh.

9:31 pm. Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos FRA VT: Lovely floaty DTY with a hop back.

Vladislava Urazova RUS FX: Piked full-in, legs apart, step back. Nice 2.5 to front tuck. Stuck the double tuck. Clean double full.

Lisa Vaelen BEL UB: Piked Jaeger, legs were a little sloppy when she caught, hit another release after that, then a Tkachev to Pak, really clean. Full-out, excellent!

9:28 pm. Jessica Gadirova GBR UB: Piked Jaeger, huge Tkachev half to Ezhova, legs wild on the Ezhova, hit the rest.

Asia D’Amato ITA BB: Big wobble on the mount. Solid bhs loso. Hit a transverse jump, switch half, break at the hips, rest was fine, nothing ajor, double pike with a tiny hop back.

Tang Xijing CHN FX: Crashed the DTY. 12.600

9:27 pm. Carolann Heduit FRA VT: Lunge back on the DTY.

9:25 pm. Grace McCallum USA FX: Double double with the same landing as always (skid back, leg up), and then skidded out of bounds on the front double full, good full-in, hop back on the double tuck. 13.500

Hatakeda Hitomi JPN BB: Hit her mount and a leap, switch half, finishes her full turn sideways, good double pike dismount. 13.333

9:22 pm. Rotation 3 Standings

1. Russia 128.030
2. United States 127.230
3. Italy 124.530
4. Japan 122.548
5. Great Britain 122.231
6. China 121.830
7. France 119.664
8. Belgium 118.063

9:16 pm. Jordan Chiles USA BB: Side aerial loso is solid! Front aerial to straddle jump to back handspring also good. Little check on the side somi. Switch to switch half good. Transverse split jump half, she’s working this! Good jump series. Just does a double pike, step back, she’s yelling and getting everyone riled up.

9:13 pm. Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos FRA FX: Full-twisting double layout, almost stuck! Full-in with a small hop. Front layout through to double back, and double pike both hit, double pike was a bit deep.

9:12 pm. Viktoria Listunova RUS BB: Triple wolf turn, clean, double wolf turn, little check. Hit the front front series, looked like the tuck was huge from here. Clean jumps after. Little check on the switch to split leap. Front aerial to split ring jump to back handspring, tiniest adjustment. Double tuck with a step back. Good finish for Russia! 14.

9:09 pm. Lu Yufei CHN FX: Hit the spin at the beginning, quad? Good full-in. 2.5 to front pike. Memmel turn. Clean double full. Hit the ring leap series. Hit the double back to finish. 13.166

Hatakeda Hitomi JPN UB: Piked Jaeger, I watched the rest but wasn’t typing, a hit routine! Big D. 14.100

9:07 pm. Sunisa Lee USA BB: Hit her wolf turns. Check on the front aerial, split jump to back handspring, no CV for that. Switch to split leap I think. Solid on the side aerial loso loso. Hit the double full!  14.133

Asia D’Amato ITA UB: Caught a piked Tkachev to Pak I think, Maloney to Tkachev, good. Double front with a hop.  13.900

9:05 pm. Marine Boyer FRA FX: Clean 2.5 to front pike, looked stuck. Clean double tuck, hop back. Stuck the double pike! Those landings were ON. 13.000

Jennifer Gadirova GBR VT: Great DTY! 14.433

9:04 pm. Murakami Mai JPN UB: Had a mess-up at the start of her routine but I didn’t see on what, don’t think she fell though. Looked like she came out of handstand maybe. Hit the rest including the dismount. Looks pissed. 12.700

9:02 pm. Zhang Jin CHN FX: I missed the beginning because Melnikova was falling. Hit a triple to a jump! Hop back on the double pike. 13.133

Lisa Vaelen BEL VT: Front pike 1.5!!! Amazing. Form could use work but that was awesome. 14.233

Angelina Melnikvoa RUS BB: Hit the leap series at the beginning, bhs loso with a big wobble and then a fall. Kochetkova with a little wobble. Step on the double pike. 12.566

9:01 pm. Alice D’Amato UB: Hit the Tkachev series, Downie to Pak to Chow half, some ankle separation but otherwise clean. Slides to the side for her front giant to frontfull to front giant to double front, too high I think, big hop forward. 14.166

9:00 pm. Jessica Gadirova GBR VT: Big lovely DTY! Step back. 14.433

8:57 pm. Alice Kinsella GBR VT: Hit the DTY! 14.266

Carolann Heduit FRA FX: Hit her tucked full-in, step forward on the arabian double front. Step on the double tuck. Stuck the double pike.

Grace McCallum USA BB: Hit her wolf turns. Break at the hips on a jump. Good fight to stay on. Split leap to side aerial loso, adjustments. Also a check on the aerial, good jump series after. Step back on the double pike. 13.666

Maellyse Brassart BEL VT: DTY, big step back. 14.033

Sugihara Aiko JPN UB: Hit routine!

8:53 pm. Tang Xijing CHN FX: Slow rotation in the tucked full-in, low but gets it around. Fell on her second pass!

Vladislava Urazova RUS BB: Hit the layout stepout mount. Bhs bhs loso with a big wobble and she falls. Front aerial with a big wobble. Missed connection out of it. Rest was good, hit the 2.5 dismount. 12.633

Martina Maggio ITA UB: Hit the opening series then a Tkachev, nice. The rest was good! Step on the dismount. 12.866

Jutta Verkest BEL VT: Hit her FTY! 13.466

8:50 pm. Rotation 2 Standings

1. Russia 88.498
2. United States 85.998
3. Italy 83.031
4. China 82.665
5. Japan 82.415
6. France 79.864
7. Great Britain 79.199
8. Belgium 76.331

8:43 pm. Lisa Vaelen BEL FX: Huuuuuge arabian double front! Big step forward. Tucked full-in, nearly stuck. Clean double tuck with a step back.

Lu Yufei CHN BB: Okay, I didn’t know she started, caught it from the ring leap to ring jump to back handspring which was lovely. Layout series, legs straddled. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump, tiny wobble. Had a little balance adjustment at the end of her jump series at the end. Double full deep but stuck.

8:40 pm. Jessica Gadirova GBR FX: Double double, step back. Hop back on the double layout. Front layout full through to double tuck, good!

Viktoria Listunova RUS UB: Komova II to Ricna, inbar full to Pak to van Leeuwen, clean, inbar half to straddle Jaeger, Fabrichnova, legs are a little wild and a small step but overall fabulous! 14.900

8:39 pm. Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos FRA BB: Nails the punch front mount. Also nails the punch front pike. And the layout series! Switch leap to pike jump. Clean on a transverse jump. Switch half. Front aerial to split jump to back handspring. Slight check on the switch ring. Full turn, finished facing side. Double tuck, small hop.

8:36 pm. Sunisa Lee USA UB: Nabieva, leg sep, to Bhardwaj to Maloney to Gienger, nice. Good handstand before the blind change to piked Jaeger to Pak to van Leeuwen, some form breaks but gets it no problem! Blind full to giants into the full-in stuck cold! 15.400!

8:34 pm. Nina Derwael BEL FX: Memmel at the start is nice. Small hop on the double tuck. Clean 1.5 to front full. Lovely! 13.366

Tang Xijing CHN BB: Hit the mount and flight series. Switch ring with a wobble. Misses connection to split ring jump to Korbut. Switch to split ring leap to back handspring, pause before the bhs. Front aerial to straddle jump. Full turn. Double full, steps back into the salute, she’s got that NCAA stick! 13.733

8:33 pm. Alice D’Amato ITA VT: Deep landing on the DTY. Hop back. 14.166

8:32 pm. Angelina Melnikova RUS UB: Inbar full to Komova II to Pak to van Leeuwen, very clean! Inbar half to piked Jaeger, good. Blind chalf to toe full, a little late, to full-in stuck! 14.933

8:31 pm. Murakami Mai JPN VT: Excellent DTY! 14.266

8:30 pm. Jennifer Gadirova GBR FX: Full-twisting double layout, good. Hit the second pass. And the front layout through to double back for the last pass IIRC? Great work. 13.700

Marine Boyer FRA BB: Had a big wobble on early acro. Missed the connection in the switch to switch half. Also wobbled on something after that and on her L turn. Nervous. Big wobbles on both the side somi and the transverse jump. 12.066

Vanessa Ferrari ITA VT: Decent DTY. 14.233

8:29 pm. Jordan Chiles USA UB: Piked Jaeger, toe full is slow and steady into a big Tkachev, piked Tkachev to Pak also really strong, Maloney to Gienger, good, good handstand before the full-in, stuck! 14.166

8:28 pm. They just apparently announced on the broadcast that Simone Biles is out for the rest of the meet.

8:26 pm. Jutta Verkest BEL FX: Hit the double pike, also good on the front full, small hop there.

Vladislava Urazova RUS UB: Wasn’t typing during this but a lovely routine, good dismount! 14.866

Zhang Jin CHN BB: Great start for them here. Clean hit routine, no major mistakes that I could see. 13.900

Sugihara Aiko JPN VT: Stuck the Yurchenko 1.5! Just waved her arms a little to hold the balance. 14.183

8:25 pm. Asia D’Amato ITA VT: DTY, good landing, just some form in the air. 14.266

8:23 pm. Grace McCallum USA UB: Stalder full arches over before the Maloney, good correction, Pak to Chow half, looked like she hit her feet on the low bar but that could have just been the reverb from the release, toe half to piked Jaeger, Ricna, good full-in dismount. 13.700

8:21 pm. Alice Kinsella GBR BB: 1.5 through to triple full, small hop back. 2.5 to front pike with a hop forward. Double pike, hop back. Good!! Happy for her after qualifications.

Hiraiwa Yuna JPN VT: Great Yurchenko 1.5! Small hop. 13.900

Carolann Heduit FRA BB: Had a check on a front acro, hit the flight series. Sissone to split leap, front aerial, hit the double full dismount. 12.833

8:19 pm. Guys I truly can’t take this meet and it’s only been one rotation.

8:18 pm. Jordan Chiles is warming up bars. Simone still not back in the arena yet.

8:16 pm. Sorry, this whole first rotation has been a mess up here with the media because we have no idea what’s going on with Simone. It looked like Cecile just went to talk to a doctor?

Rotation 1 Standings

1. Russia 43.799
2. United States 42.732
3. France 41.399
4. China 41.066
5. Italy 40.366
6. Japan 40.066
7. Great Britain 38.866
8. Belgium 36.999

8:13 pm. Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos FRA UB: Hit routine with a great full-twisting double layout dismount!

Okay, here’s the Simone drama. She and Cecile were talking with a trainer, then they grabbed her bag and Simone and the trainer walked out of the arena. Jordan Chiles is also gripped up for bars. They only have a couple of minutes to the next rotation so I don’t think Simone is definitely out but she definitely needs to be out of the arena right now to do whatever she needs to do in order to complete this meet.

8:10 pm. Jennifer Gadirova GBR BB: hit the back tuck series, full turn, little check, hit the dismount, hit everything else, sorry, there is so much Simone drama right now, but this was a good routine!

Murakami Mai JPN FX: Double double, hop back. Double layout, solid! Great double pike to finish.

8:08 pm. Asia D’Amato ITA FX: Hit the first two passes, double tuck at the end was deep but hit.

Lu Yufei CHN UB: Tkachev to Gienger, front pirouettes to piked Jaeger, fall. Hit the rest.

8:07 pm. Maellyse Brassart BEL BB: Came off on acro at the beginning. Hit the double pike.

8:06 pm. Carolann Heduit FRA UB: Hit the straddle Jaeger, muscled the handstand significantly before the piked Jaeger, Tkachev, Pak, all good! Double front, a little cowboyed, step back.

8:04 pm. Sugihara Aiko JPN FX: Triple full, 2.5 to front tuck, both good! I think a front double full to front layout after that. Hit the double pike.

8:03 pm. Alice Kinsella GBR BB: Hit her wolf turn, solid on the side aerial loso loso, double pike with a step back.

8:02 pm. Tang Xijing CHN UB: I saw this but wasn’t typing, hit routine!

8:00 pm. Vanessa Ferrari ITA FX: Double double, full-in, I think out of a whip but I couldn’t see her hands.

Simone Biles USA VT: SHE ONLY DID A 1.5?????????? REALLY DEEP WITH A HOP FORWARD. WHAT. 13.766

7:59 pm. Jutta Verkest BEL BB: Front aerial with a check, also had a huge break at the hips near the end. Nearly sat the dismount too. Oof. 12.200

Lilia Akhaimova RUS VT: Rudi, a bit chucked, big hop back on the landing.

7:58 pm. Aline Friess FRA UB: I saw from the Pak, came up short on the toe full but muscled it around into the van Leeuwen, inbar half to straddle Jaeger, VERY clean double front dismount! 13.733

7:57 pm. Jordan Chiles USA VT: DTY, big, clean, and nearly stuck! 14.666

7:56 pm. Vladislava Urazova RUS VT: DTY, twist is a little awkward, but that’s just how she twists normally I think. Not too bad with the form. 14.466

Amelie Morgan GBR BB: I missed the beginning, the half I saw was hit but the score says otherwise… 12.233

Hatakeda Hitomi JPN FX: Full-in, hop back. 2.5 to front full had a hop to the side and then a wobble to try and control it. Hop back on the double pike.

7:54 pm. Ou Yushan CHN UB: Caught first transition to Pak, clean, Maloney to Gienger, front pirouette to piked Jaeger, clean full-in dismount.

Grace McCallum USA VT: DTY, good! Very clean shape in the air and her legs are actually great for the most part, just come apart and bend a little before landing. Took a step to the side OOB. 14.300

7:53 pm. Angelina Melnikova RUS VT: DTY, pretty nice aside from the crossed legs, tiny hop back. 14.600

7:51 pm. Nina Derwael BEL BB: Hit her opening, I didn’t even know it had started yet, front aerial to jump to back handspring very nice, wobble on the side somi, hit her wolf turn, and good dismount. 13.866

Alice D’Amato ITA FX: Hit routine! 13.100

7:48 pm. USA starting to take their warmups off, tops are red, white belt thing, blue bottoms, look nice from the back! Doesn’t look like a big amazing team finals leo but it’s fine!

Brits also very sparkly, white on top, red on bottom.

7:47 pm. France in white with red and blue on the front, they look lovely!

7:43 pm. Athletes have all marched in! A lot of blue in the arena today, with the exception of China (red and yellow) and Belgium (black, white, red, and yellow). Can’t see the Brits or the Americans leos right now.

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271 thoughts on “2020 Olympic Games | Women’s Team Final Live Blog”

  1. During AA and EF magically Simones mental issues, will begin to dissipate and she will pull it together for her individual redemption.

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    • It is entirely possible that maybe, just MAYBE, the stress and ‘weight of the world’ pressure for a TEAM medal was too much, coupled with Tom’s asinine comments (basically saying it doesn’t matter who is on the team because we have Simone) was just too much. Competing for an individual medal is a completely different ask. But by all means, armchair MD and/or PhD all you want, rather than being happy that ROC i) even got to compete given the state-sponsored doping scandal, ii) pulled off the win with 2 falls on beam, iii) or that the US WON the silver without Simone thanks to some clutch performances.

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      • Not too much at worlds 2018, not too much at worlds 2019. Not too much pressure to run with the GOAT title, and promote the ish out of it. Maybe just maybe Simone has some fault in this. No its Tom, no its USAG, no its media attention. She isnt a 16 year old girl anymore. She is a grown 24 year old woman who has immense privalege others dont have in this sport.. But in todays culture we celebrate weakness as strength as everyone will get a participation medal for existing. lol This is the olympics. Pull it together. Nadia got through 1980. Nadia the most famous gymnast in the world. Dont give me it was too much for SImone. She let it become TOO MUCH. Her !

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        • Nadia didn’t have facebook, twitter, reddit and instagram watching her. Nadia didn’t have cameras shoved in her face constantly, she didn’t have 24/7 access to every nasty thing a person has to say about her performance. She didn’t have bitter competitors making racist comments when she medalled and they didn’t. Nadia was a wonderful gymnast, and deserves all the credit in the world for her consistency and beautiful gymnastics. But the world Simone is dealing with is a completely different one, and the pressures are totally different. It’s not a fair comparison. I can totally understand Simone not feeling this way when competing at Worlds, which is usually mostly watched by gymnastics fans, compared to feeling a lot more anxious when competing at the Olympics, when loads of people who aren’t familiar with gymnastics are watching, and she’s the big name everyone already knows to watch out for. I don’t think this is a fair comment at all.

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        • Duck Wrestle SHE HAD PRESSURE. Simone willingly got in those cameras faces, made ads, got paid, etc. She walked into it, and then couldnt handle the glare. But if you think Nadia the most famous gymnast in the world didnt have pressure under a communist regime and wanna cry over Simones social media and cameras BYE!!!!!

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    • Valentina, I agree with you. SImone was fully complicit in playing up her GOAT status–rhinestones on the leo, advertisements, tweets, etc. If you build up the image, then you have to endure the consequences of the image you helped build. I hope that coaches and psychologists take note that hyping up an athlete has some very negative consequences. With hype comes immense pressure.

      I am sorry that Simone had a mental breakdown at the most unfortunate time (everyone could see that she was very “off” during these Olympics). Simone has carried the US team on her back for years. USAG took her for granted, and thought she would be a rock forever. Simone doesn’t have to apologize for being human. But she (and her team) should acknowledge that they helped create the pressure.

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      • Male athletes hype themselves up all the time and nobody says shit about it. Saying Simone brought that in her for knowing how good she is is just plain sexist.

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  3. Congrats to the 3 US girls who were put into an impossible situation and still won silver. As for Simone…I’m torn. On the one hand trying to perform the dangerous skills she does with psychological issues is not only foolish but dangerous. On the other hand, she goes around wearing a goat on her leotard and developing dangerous new skills just to get them
    named after herself. You can’t do stuff like that and then say you need a “mental break” from the pressure during the biggest competition of the Olympics when your teammates are counting on you. At least not without backlash.

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    • Because she is STILL the goat! If the media hadn’t started treating her like Lebron James, she’d have probably been a lot more focused. But there’s no time to FOCUS when Hoda Kotbe is asking you to tell her how great you are.
      Trust, Simone will beat herself up about this until Paris 2024…

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      • Always looking to find the source for blame outside of the person. Normal in todays society. Simone is 24. She needs to take a piece of that blame as well. No one forced her to take on that title but herself. She has the ability to say no to interviews, focus on training, not talk to media. She is Simone. She isnt 16 year old Simone.

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        • Which is why I said she’ll beat herself up about it. But beating up on someone who is letting you know that they are overwhelmed and ‘can’t do it today’, is never ok. Take adults to task, but pay attention when they pull out of an ENTIRE team finals.

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    • I agree. Its complicated. Of course the people will make it about mental health, etc and erase any other variables. I have never seen an olympic gymnast, of her caliber have to scratch a comp because of mental break. I bet many olympic caliber athletes would have loved to be able to do that mid competition without an actual injury. But this will be the narrative of why Biles is sooo brave. She spoke about Tom being very lax in his approach. Lol

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      • Let’s talk about Grace – very young, all the negativity and she did her job. Jade was the subject of a ton of hate media and she did her job. Neither bought into the media NOR DID THEY SEEK IT. If there is truly a problem with Simone it shouldn’t be able to clear itself up in a couple of days. She needs to do the right thing and back out so others have the chance and the US can get the medals. If it isn’t a problem then I think they need to look at the real reason she “quit” on team and country. This sounds harsh but she can’t have it both ways.

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        • It’s called going pro. You, like everyone else, know that Simone has been undeatable for the last 20 years. That’s why she has all of these endorsements. So when she had a terrible quals, it was a sign. She wasn’t prepared mentally. Allow things to be things.

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    • Yes, the three American girls who finished the job to get silver deserve a standing ovation. I’m so, so, so proud of Grace, Sunisa and Jordan. And this situation shows that with a 4 person team, you need all-arounders. Now of course Jade and Mykayla are strong all-arounders. But someone like Becky Downie should not be on a 4 person team for just this reason.

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      • To be fair, going in, Downie on bars seemed a far more likely medal chance than the team and the argument was it was worth making that trade-off. Who knew GB would be the only team to hold it together in a medal hot potato match?

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  4. Thank you Aly Raisman for making yourself available to speak to these anchors and let them know that THE PRESSURE Simone has been under as THE face of US gymnastics is overwhelming. Kudos to all of them, but SUUUPER kudos to Sunisa for going out trying her absolute hardest to step into leading the team. She was impeccable tonight and I hope she is really proud of herself. They all should be after having to mentally rally around ‘no Simone’ but she really went hard.

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  5. Honestly I thought I would be happier but this is kind of bittersweet. It was just too easy I guess?

    I wish Russia hadn’t fallen on beam so that this could be a perfect, Soviet performance.

    I am so impressed with Listunova. Valentina really lowballed her in QF by putting her up first and I bet she is regretting that now.

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  6. Not so much of a big surprise today based on qualifications scores. It was clear the US was going to have to hit everywhere. But still a big surprise to have Simone do a 1.5 Yurchenko instead of the Amanar or Cheng, and a bad 1.5 at that, and then withdraw. It was clear something was wrong with Simone after that vault. I think she’s nursing something. She’s not been herself leading up to the Olympics.

    Russia also surprised. They have improved a lot since 2019. It certainly helped that the Olympics got pushed back a year and being able to add Listunova and Urazova to the team. That pumped up their scores to get closer to the US. If someone told me Russia would fall twice beam and still beat even a Simone-less US squad by 3.5 points, I wouldn’t have believed it.

    I could be wrong, but I have a feeling this is the end of US dominance. Not that the US aren’t going to be in there for the gold in the next quad, but something has to change. This isn’t the same mental toughness we’re used to seeing. Still, from 2011 to 2019 the US women were nearly unbeatable. That’s an impressive run.

    Congrats to Russia for really nailing their floor routines, vaults and bars. The gold was on the line and they delivered. Beam was another story, but not enough given the US’s problems to really matter. Russia was simply the better team today and absolutely deserved the gold.

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  7. Sorry but I can’t feel bad for someone with a freaking goat on her leo. It’s kind of disrespectful towards the predecessors and how do you even compare different eras. Does she realize she would be no one if she had been born 30 years ago? No one but deluded 12 year old Americans seriously believe she is more important to the sport than Nadia or Svetlana.

    Karma.

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  9. There is a brilliant symmetry in today’s events and 1996. First US Team Gold – First Russian Team Gold (as Russia). A vault through a medical issue creates a star; A vault with a medical issue halts a shooting star.

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  10. If Simones issue were mental and not an injury, she sure looked to not be in any mental state on the sidelines, giggling, laughing, smiling, cheering on her teammates. If that was me and it was mental, I would be bts… It was just a weird look.

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    • That giggling, laughing, smiling and cheering was a sign of her scraping deep down to use her mental strength. Can you imagine how conflicted, stressed, scared, surprised, confused and disappointed in herself she was feeling? Had she spent the next 3 rotations sobbing or glaring from the sidelines, or freaking out the way she probably wanted to, it would have affected her team more.
      Simone did not feel safe competing. Instead, she did what she could not to rattle the team any more than they were probably already rattled by the change. NOT breaking down on the sidelines (heck, even staying on the sidelines to cheer and get chalk and stay outwardly calm rather than exiting altogether) that had to be so hard for her.
      She was not safe to compete, but still tried to do what she could do for the team, even if it was only chalk or cheering.

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      • Then she needed to leave the arena. It is a terrible look to say you essentially had a mental breakdown in the biggest meet of one’s career, yet jump up and down, dance, giggle and be silly. Then, in press conferences, say that you are still planning on doing AA? Perception is reality and it makes her look like a selfish brat.

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        • Yeah, Cara. I agree. You can’t bail on your team and country in competition for “mental issues,” and then dance on the sidelines. I love Simone! She has carried the American team for years. She really is the GOAT. But the Tokyo Team Finals was a bizarre and disappointing act from a great champion.

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        • Don’t you think, though, if she had left the arena, it would have 1. Had her teammates worrying if she was injured or breaking down and more of their thoughts would have been on her, rather than focusing on their routines. And 2. Gotten her criticized for the opposite later. i.e. “Well if she had twisties and couldn’t compete, she at least could have stayed on the sidelines and cheered on her teammates, but I guess she can’t handle being out on the floor if she’s not the star…” kind of thing.

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  11. Oh why so many bad words about Simone? We don’t know what happened yet: mental issue? Injury? Who cares, she is a young great gymnast, but she’s human, her body can have problems, her mind too. I just hope she’s fine: a person is more important than a medal. And this day can’t delete what she’s done so far.

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  12. Heres what it was, after qualification Simone didnt want to embarass herself again, when her team was relying on her, so she balked the vault on purpose, and wanted a break. Period. She was sure happy on the sidelines when the pressure was off her. She abandoned her team at the start, and she said she will be back on Thursday for individual glory. I bet Sacramone wanted a mental break after her beam in 2008 during Team/ I bet Nadia needed a break in 1980 from her team to not compete.

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    • Thank goodness we have a board-certified psychiatrist and/or PhD-educated psychologist with the expertise to not only diagnose exactly what Simone is going through all the way over in Japan, but to also assure all of us that it can’t correct itself… it’s not like team pressure versus individual pressures are completely different or anything.

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      • Riiight because Simone sure didnt feel any pressure at trials individually competing and falling on beam didnt impact her at all! Thats right! Simone only felt pressure because of the team. Wow another board certified firebird PHD online! Yasss!

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        • Simone looked exhausted at the US trials (2nd day), from the begininng. Her facial expression was just one of a different gymnast from Day 1. Then she cried after her BB fall so it’s hard to say it had no impact at all …. (maybe not on her ranking – though S.Lee won day 2 ! – but on her mental ?)

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  14. Sunisa slayed the game! I am so glad after such a difficult situation all 3 girls delivered and won a silver! This silver is as precious as gold. Poor Simone! She has contributed so much for so many years she deserves nothing but good wishes. But I’d she is not ready to compete she is not ready, it could be so dangerous and even life threatening if you are not prepared. Also it demonstrates audiences/spectator influence is not much a pressure compared to other issues.

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  15. I missed my alarm waking up to see this after it was done already ;(. Still don’t have any final word on exactly what happened to biles? What happened was completely shocking overall to me still!

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  16. Why always the secrecy about injuries in WAG? Zmeskal and Wiber also let the narrative that they had “mental meltdowns” run wild while the truth was they were competing with serious injuries. Miller missed Nationals in 92 and Trials in 96 with injuries and was able to win 7 medals over those Olympics. Why not just petition Simone to the team and let her heal instead?

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  18. Now thinking about it again, It was really strange that biles would put up the amanar on the board as her intented vt for the TF. Her go to 1st vt has always been a cheng. Which she stepped out of bound badly during qual…..So that should ve been a clue that maybe there is really some sort of injury? Maybe i missed something but seems like the rest of the team members didn’t react so shocking and surprising after her vt was a little weird… Did they somehow might have known before that simones might not be able to continue? Sorry,

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  19. People saying Simone did the right thing. Ok. BUT It’s def NOT a champion mindset lol. Not a GOAT. You wanna say it’s the right thing to do fine. But it’s not a champion mindset lol

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    • I disagree in this situation. If someone balks consistently in pressure situations, you can say they can’t handle pressure (not that that makes them a bad person, but not the best competitor).
      But Simone has won over 20 World/Olympic medals. She has proven her ability to step up to the plate multiple times. She’s spoken before about feeling crushed with pressure of expectations (to be a 3x World AA champ, to win 5 golds in Rio), to even compete bars until she trained with the Landis. But did she pull out and stop all those times? Never once. She has proven her ability to face pressure and keep going multiple times. Had she retired before these Olympics, she still would have been considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. She’s having a bad time in one meet. ONE.
      Simone has been to 5 Worlds and won all 5. She has led the USA to gold in every World Championships and the Rio Olympics. Tom Brady has played football for 20 years and ONLY won 5 superbowls. Why didn’t he get his team to win the SuperBowl those other FIFTEEN years?
      I mean, does anyone think she trained all this time and went through the extra Covid year so she could balk on a vault and pull out?
      All Star pitchers have terrible games in the World Series. The only difference is, the team manager can simply pull them out anytime in the middle on any inning if it looks like their bad pitching is getting worse. A gym coach can’t wait 12 seconds into her bar routine and then yell, ‘nope, looks like you’re gonna break your neck on that, get off the bar, we’re subbing someone for you.’
      Simone has been competing since 2013. There is zero pattern of her pulling out and giving up. She has more than earned the benefit of the doubt here. I just mean, logically, how do you win 6 World/Olympic titles and 5 World/Olympic team titles without a champion mindset?

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    • Would it have been better for her to crash and maybe end up paralyzed? Because you want her to go be a champion? She is a 6537 x champion.

      Let Marta n Bela have their morning vodka shots and laughs. It’s a disappointing result, but silver is better than green.

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    • Could not agree with this statement more! Simone did not have competition for years, that’s a fact. When she made a mistake, she did not move past it and continue. She has not needed to for so long. A true champion faces adversity and obstacles then turns it around and finishes the job. IT’S WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR AS A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE. ESPECIALLY ONE WHO PUTS GOATS ON EVERYTHING SHE WEARS!

      Look at Khorkina in 2000 or Jordyn in 2012. She did not have a champion mindset in team finals and that’s disappointing. Her interview afterwards attempting to explain it all did not help her case and, say what you want, but it makes her look even worse and I freaking adored Simone.

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  20. Simone Biles says she is “OK” and has been “dealing with things internally that will get fixed in the next few days.”

    When asked if she would be back on Thursday, she said “yes”

    I cant!

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      • That’s because it’s selfish.

        I’m sorry, but you can’t run around putting goats on your leo and then complain that “the pressure is too intense”. Mental health issues like this don’t just crop up in a day. If hers were severe enough that they could take her out of THE most important part of the Olympics (at least as far as her country is concerned), she should’ve gracefully stepped aside at Trials and allowed the committee to pick a full team that could compete and give their all. And now she’s going to miraculously rally for AA and event finals?? Selfish, selfish, selfish – not that I expected anything else from her.

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      • I agree. It’s not a good look for her if she “suddenly” rebounds and can compete for AA when just a few days before she was so shaken that she had to drop out and leave her teammates hanging. Whatever blow back she’s getting now, multiply it by 100 if she does that.

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        • Can you imagine if during warmups if she goes for the AA, and she isnt right again, and again last minute is like naw.. I cant . Im not sure how that works, if the reserve, or if the second Aa for America is in a leo just waiting in the stands or if the spot is gone. Such a mess!

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    • How must Carey and Skinner be feeling. Could have had a place, could have made AA, lifelong dream….
      Biles could have stepped aside with grace prior to competition starting, like Khorkina in 2000 giving up her place in vault finals to Zamo. It is not a very team based mindset from Biles. She is not new to competition and could have identified those issues in herself prior, giving her teammates a shot.
      Fantastic and historic win from Russia, but, hard to get on board with Biles decisions here. Either she could have pulled herself or coach should have noticed she wasn’t in the game and pulled her.

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  21. Listunova is such a fierce competitor! She has gold in her mind. Hopefully she can challenge for AA gold at Worlds. Also, hope that Simone is back on track on Thursday.

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  22. A lot of people slagging on Simone. I read one tweet that said she lost her air sense — she didn’t know where she was. I’m wondering if she doesn’t have asymptomatic Covid — if you can lose your sense of smell, why not lose your air sense?

    I think giggling is a way she distracts from stress and covers things up. Can you imagine she isn’t devastated?

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  23. Well I guess it was mental health. Okay my bad. I’m stupid. How disappointing. It doesn’t diminish what she accomplished before and she may have a genuine problem but I have to say this—her going back to competition on Thursday is a BAD look. I’m sorry but it is. She can’t hack it for the team but she can for herself? She should step aside and let Myk and Jade compete. Forgive me but I found out I have to return working at the office after a year and a half working from home. New management doesn’t care. Its stressful and dangerous and the delta surge is here but we common folk don’t get a choice. Yes I’m in a foul mood.

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    • I get the foul mood. I do and I am not trying to defend Simone here. I don’t know what happened or what will happen. It will look bad if she goes back to competition. However, I just wanted to point something out. The description she gave of the shaking etc sounds a lot like a panic attack to me. My daughter was a gymnast (quite good – obviously not Simone caliber LOL) and has an anxiety disorder. She had a panic attack during a meet once. The physical effects of a the shaking, heart racing etc made is physically impossible for her to do even her easy skills. She tried to continue and her coach wisely pulled her before she hurt herself. Now Simone’s ability to cope, her skills, AND her pressure are exponentially way beyond anything my daughter ever experienced but if she did have a panic attack it would have been dangerous for her to be out there and no good to the team either.

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      • If it was a panic attack, I wish they would just say that. It was a panic attack that hit then, it wasn’t safe for her to continue, the rest of the team pulled through. I’d have far more respect for that than trying to make it into some Courageous Statement On Mental Health. (Especially if she does individual finals.)

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      • I sat with a stranger once while they were having a panic attack, waiting for the paramedics to come. I didn’t know it was a panic attack and neither did she. She kept saying she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe. Her hands were ICE cold, like absolutely ice, no blood flow. And her fingers were curled into her palms like claws, and they were rock hard. I kept trying to rub her hands but her fingers were like stone rocks curled in. They would NOT uncurl. Because there was no oxygen getting to them. I thought she was having some sort of heart attack. Paramedics came. Checked her out. She was fine, physically. Was breathing and talking when I left. It was “just” a panic attack and it was brutal.

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    • Yes – if she pulls out of the rest of the competition then it will Mykayla would replace her on vault, Jade in the AA, Melanie DeSantos on Bars, Urara Ashikawa on Beam, and Jennifer Gadirova on floor. Obviously she could pick and choose which to compete or compete all of them.

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  26. Had Tom selected Mykayla to the team instead of Grace (no offense to her, solely based on beat fit and trials placement) they possibly could have won without Simone

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    • They’d have been nowhere near. Mykayla’s qualification score where she supposedly “hit everything” (imo if your beam E score looks like you fell even if you didn’t, that’s not a hit) was only like 0.3 of a point above Grace. Russia were ahead by 3 clear points. Mykayla over Grace wouldn’t have made a difference, unless Mykayla magicked 3 more full points out of thin air.

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  27. What is the time frame she can decide, so others are properly notified if they will be in the aa, or ef? She cant wait until the last minute can she? that wouldnt seem fair.

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    • She can wait until the last minute even reserves warm up for finals just in case. That’s why in some AA finals a reserve will compete in a different rotation instead of starting on floor with the 4th seed Because it’s too late to reallocate the rotations. Reserves know they could possibly step in at the last moment but it’s unusual. At 2021 Europeans AA I think all 3 reserves were brought into the final? It isn’t about being fair it’s just how being a reserve works out

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      • But that’s not really fair to her own teammates who got 2 per’d out if she waits until the last second. Like if she waits until right before vault to decide “no I can’t do it” then mcKayla loses out because at that point the reserve would step in.

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        • The priority of reserve is from the same nation (being 2 p’ed) before the reserve outside of that nation is called. So if simone canceled her vt ef at the last sec, skinner would have the priority to replace her before someone else from outside US.

          I hope USAG is keeping Skinner around instead of sending her home right now.

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        • I can’t imagine the extreme emotional reversal if Skinner just now was starting to accept the end of her Olympic Dream and Tom calls saying “April Fools!” Its like, “great… can I have a week?” lol

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    • Tom needs to leave NOW! His leadership strategy has been: “I’ll let everyone do whatever they want. It doesn’t matter because we have Simone.” Now that Simone had a mental breakdown on the biggest and most critical stage, Tom deserves a good deal (but not all) of the blame. He relied on Simone to be a rock, and didn’t make sure that rock could hold as a foundation. If leadership is praised for team success, then it should be excoriated for team failure. Not that silver is a failure, but it wasn’t the gold Tom was foreseeing.

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  29. I do have to say that China has to be super happy about all of the drama around Simone because otherwise people might be asking what the heck happened to them. I never imagined they would end up 7th. And kudos to Great Britain. I don’t think people saw Bronze coming for them either.

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  30. I’m absolutely thrilled for Russia!
    I’m especially impressed by Listunova who seems to have nerves of strel apparently. All of thrm preformed very well.

    On the US front, I’m super impressed with Sunisa! She really pulled through.

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    • Yes! Listunova and Sunisa were definitely the MVP’s of their team. Fun fact: both Sunisa and Nina scored a 15.4 during team finals so this will be one heck of a battle for bars gold.

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  31. What happened is unbelievable: has it ever happened before, in any sport? A panic attack on the sports field, in the midst of a competition? Simone should not be blamed, she did well to withdraw: nobody but herself knows what she needs. This incident also shows her limitations and that makes everything she has accomplished before even more incredible. She obviously stays the GOAT.
    The Russians had a great competition, especially Listunova, who is sparkling. I love this team !
    Sunisa’s bars routine is breathtaking! She, Grace and Jordan did everything they could to hold on (even if I’m not a great fan of Grace and Jordan).
    I am very, very happy with this podium, even if I have a twinge of sadness for the French and Melanie.

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    • It sort of happened to Debi Thomas, the US women’s singles favorite in figure skating for the 1988 Winter Olympics. According to her, directly before competing she realized the whole thing was absurd and not what she wanted at all. I guess that doesn’t really compare to current events, although Thomas did go on to complete a (mediocre) routine.

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      • From what she was quoted in LGIPB, she said she got on the ice and couldn’t mentally snap herself into where she needed to be. Said she knew she should find a way to say, “you don’t have time for this crap” to her head, but couldn’t do it in the moment. Said in those moments, “you can’t just rely on something because you’re body’s been doing it for years”. That you have to mentally be there and she couldn’t get herself there. That afterward she felt like she’d let down everyone, her country, her fans, and all the African-American fans of hers (because there weren’t a ton of star AAs in figure skating). I think she went to Stanford or something and became a doctor (could be wrong).

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  32. This was an enjoyable competition to watch and such a nail biter! Who would’ve thought that the U.S. team would compete with just 3 gymnasts after Simone had to withdraw after balking her vault. I had a feeling that maybe Russia would still come out on top, but it became a close battle after their falls on beam. And the battle for Bronze, holy cow, was probably more exciting to watch. At one point I was switching back and forth between Italy, Japan, and GB. So happy for team GB! Their reactions were priceless! And in regards to Simone, she did the right thing for herself and I hope she’ll be okay for AA. I’ve never done gymnastics but I can only imagine how even more dangerous it can be when your just a little bit off mentally and one slip can mean your life.

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  33. So, first off, I do think it needs to be acknowledged that Simone pretty clearly withdrew *because she thought her poor mental state would hurt the team*. I feel the need to highlight this because it seems like some areas of the media are already creating a narrative where she withdrew to protect her own mental health at the expense of the team, which isn’t what she’s been saying — rather she thought her teammates’ hit routines would give them a better chance than if she did the equivalent of what she did on vault in the other three events. (She may well have been right.) I also don’t think we can rule out that there may have been a physical injury aspect, even if the mental was the primary reason; it’s not like the two exist in isolation from each other.

    Secondly, I don’t think this is remotely proof that the US “can’t win without Simone” (which Lauren is in no way saying, but other people are). Had Simone not been on the team at all, there would have been a fourth athlete — probably Mykayla Skinner, given how they chose the team — to contribute scores. The only thing this proves is that a team won’t fare as well when one person has to pull out at the last minute, especially when that one person was someone who was expected to provide crucial scores.

    Thirdly, here’s a question, if Biles does withdraw from the vault final, how does that work with Skinner? I had heard she was required to/had left Tokyo already, would they now be able to fly her back in to compete if Simone doesn’t?

    Finally, I’m going to be a little interested to see how the narrative with Russia’s team final plays out given how much crap the USA has taken for “winning with falls” in the past. Interesting to see if this will get the same level of scrutiny when it’s another team or if it turns out to be just more USA gymnastics bashing.

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    • Also, really really happy for Team GB here. It really is incredible to see a team that isn’t one of the “star” teams coming in medal in the Olympics for the first time since the 70s, if not ever (was Hungary considered a power team in Munich, because that’s the one potential exception I see). I would love to see this become a thing from now on, where there’s a real competition for podium spots among more teams.

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    • The ‘winning with falls’ debate already occured in 2006 when Vanessa Ferrari won the world title with a BB fall. It raised again in 2008 when HeKexin/Liukin qualified to the olympic UB EF and then again in 2018 when Biles won the AA with two falls. So it has never ever been a USA bashing thing ….. and has always concerned individual performances.
      Should have this happen ? (winning with a fall) Isn’t one point deduction too little ? I guess it’s a subjective point.
      As far as this olympic team final is concerned, if some people (who are they ???) think that because Russia had two falls and USA (just one – I should say 1.5 given the deduction occured) they didn’t deserve the team tiltle …. I’d LOVE to read from them !
      About the US line up, the alternates (Lee FX and Chiles UB) scored better than some (or all) of the original team members …. so yes , one can replace Lee by Skinner on FX and Chiles by Skinner on BB but probably not the best choice given the outcome… just my two cents.

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      • You have a point about the other cases of winning with falls, but it does seem like it gets especially vicious when it’s the US. Also, it seems like this has been a huge talking point of this blog’s pro-Russia trolls, so that’s part of what I was thinking when I said that.

        I get what you’re saying about Chiles and Lee beating Skinner’s scores, but what I’m getting at is more that you can’t assume the effect of Simone withdrawing mid-competition is an indication of what the team would generally be like without her, because in this case they didn’t have the chance to plan for not having her. I’m not saying having Skinner makes everything better (I only used her specifically in the example because it follows the pattern used to pick the team, not because I think she’s the best replacement), just that one can’t assume that this is any indication of what the team would have been like had they KNOWN Biles wouldn’t be there. It’s really a response to the many people who seem to think this is an indication that “The team can’t win without Biles!!!”, as though the particular situation and timing weren’t relevant to how the final played out. Biles abruptly withdrawing is a completely different effect than Biles not being there in the first place.

        If Biles is simply not in contention for the team — let’s say she hypothetically decides to retire after the COVID delay — then the staff has the chance to build the team accordingly. Lee and Chiles would stay regardless (they’d presumably get the 1-2 AA guaranteed spots), then most likely, either Skinner makes the team proper or they bite the bullet and accept losing the individual spot to put Carey on the team, and then they pick the fourth gymnast based on what they need most in that situation; for instance, if it were me, I’d probably peg beam as the biggest weakness for that trio regardless of whether it’s Skinner or Carey in the third spot, so then I’d put Kara Eaker on the team to try and balance that out. Potentially more importantly, though, is that Chiles and Lee know in advance that they’re going to be doing UB and FX respectively and can prepare accordingly, rather than preparing for the TF assuming they won’t be and then having to jump in at the last second, which potentially results in stronger routines — this also holds true even if trials go exactly as they did in real life but Biles withdraws ahead of time. TL;DR: USA could have won without Biles if they had known in advance that that would be the situation.

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        • (Adding because I can’t edit) Also, don’t forget that if Skinner or Carey is on the team in place of Biles, the team also gets their score on *vault*.

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        • I don’t know how old you were back to 2006 but let me tell you Ferraris’s win with a fall created a storm because well … total change of culture in the sport and we were not prepared for that. We were used to think for decades it was impossible to make top 8 with a fall and all of a sudden …. BUT at that time it was not “vicious” (to use one of your appropriate term). 15 years later, we’re used to the code more than we get used to the anonymous hate of social medias. No other choice than withdrawing from the game or playing with it with no anger and take all the possible beneficts from it ( what is this pro-Russia blog ??). One more thing is that it’s human to want number 2 become number 1. And last thing is had the US team not that much been built on powerhouses it would have gained more fans …. A lot of fans are tired of these back to back tumblers … it’s not anti US it’s pro-beauty (and very subjective I know). Simone is the (autoproclamed) GOAT ? well for my taste it’s Boginskaya the GOAT …. and I am nor right nor wrong.

          About your team with no Biles , I get what you mean but you seem to forget the total absence of strategy from USAG (because …. who cares for some tenths ….) Eaker would have been a great choice otherwise, obviously . But we must also acknowledge that it’s much easier for us to now have a strategy … post the competition. Lee’s best score on FX for the US was totally non-predectible.

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        • That’s fair. I wasn’t really into gymnastics back in 2006 (and to answer your question, I was also pretty young at the time) and in fact didn’t really get into it until we were already in the social media era, so I never really experienced watching/following gymnastics without the social media component being very prevalent. As for the powerhouse question, I think that’s a matter of personal preference that isn’t worth getting into (besides, I like both the mid/late-20th century style and the current style), but there’s a difference between saying something isn’t to your own personal taste (reasonable) and nitpicking for flaws on every USA gymnast just because the USA’s rise coincided with the rise of a less preferable style (it’s not like the US came onto the scene with this new style when no one else was doing it; it’s just that they didn’t start really making their mark until a point in time when the style was changing). Same thing with rooting for the underdogs or just liking a certain team — I have no problem with people having different loyalties, but there’s a difference between rooting for a team to succeed and rooting for an opposing team to fail, if that makes sense.

          Separately, maybe I wasn’t clear, I was talking about a certain crop of pro-Russia/anti-USA trolls that are known to pop up on THIS blog, as in the one we’re commenting on right now. To be clear, I’m not saying anyone who favors Russia is a troll, I’m specifically talking about certain commentators who pop up in comment sections fairly frequently to tell us all how the USA sucks and Russia is great (often complete with insults towards USA gymnasts). Happens on Youtube videos and stuff too.

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  34. Having the ability to opt out of the Olympics because there’s too much pressure comes from a position of immense privilege.

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    • I guess you could look at it that way, but I’m giving Biles the benefit of the doubt here based on past performance.

      And despite being in deep shock yesterday (not so much today, which only made it official) I will say that if we can’t be proud and grateful for a team silver, we haven’t learned anything from the last five years.

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      • I think the silver is great! An amazing feat for what the team endured with the Biles shock. My view is about Biles alone and what this will mean for the rest of the field, if the world has to circle around her mood of will she wont she. Its exhausting for the other athletes Im sure.

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    • This really is different than most sports though. In many sports, you can not feel right and push yourself to compete and do terribly and all that matters is you get a terrible lap time or run time or don’t make your basketball baskets and you lose. In gym, you can actually kill yourself if you compete when you’re head-body connection is not right.
      Have we ever ever seen Simone not complete an Amanar vault? That vault is like fingerpainting for her. The fact that she balked into a 1.5 was a scary sign and a sign she did not safely have it. Do we want her losing her mind-body connection in the middle of a triple-double, or a bar dismount?
      Simone earned her spot to the Olympics, not by reputation or gifts or things handed to her, but by scores, by her own excellent performances. She earned her Olympic spot and clearly had no plans not to use it.

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  35. Apparently from Biles (source: https://eu.usatoday.com) : “This Olympic Games I wanted it to be for myself,” Biles said fighting back tears. “I came in and felt like I was still doing it for other people. That just hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people.”

    Do people think Biles should have been given an individual and not a team spot ? So no team pressure ….

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      • She doesnt owe the world anything, then dont play up to the worlds labels, and media hype via that world with her GOAT nonsense and then say THE WORLD TOOK AWAY MY JOY! 24 year old oldest member on the 4 woman team, prior Olympian, you let them take it away.

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        • Also, worth pointing out that the media narrative going forward will certainly be “Simone doesn’t owe the world anything,” so we’d best get used to it.

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    • Oh, boo fucking hoo. Sounds like she wanted all of the privilege and none of the commitment. That’s not how the world works, sweetheart. YOU went for a second Olympics. YOU chose to go for a spot on the team. YOU don’t get to suddenly decide that it’s too much for you after years of playing into the hype and putting goats on your leos. You just don’t. Your teammates were counting on you, and you let them down. Deal with it.

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    • I feel such a mix of emotions that I run the risk of contradicting my own supportive posts. But I’m going to criticize Biles anyway. Her “love of gymnastics?” She’d been checked out of that for a while now. So was Gabby Douglas in 2016, but she did her job.

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      • TRUE THAT. Lord knows I have my issues with Douglas, but when the chips were down she showed up and did her job for the team.

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    • Oh please. She was the one running around with goats on her leotards. She was the one submitting crazy dangerous skills just to get another skill named. She was the one who participated in a documentary about how awesome she is. You don’t get to do all that and then whine about the pressure. And leave your teammates hanging and then make it all about yourself when they did the work.

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      • Thing is, in 2014 and 2015, Simone was getting criticized for being all humble and saying things like, “IF I make the World team…” and “I hope I can get on the podium.” People criticized her for being too modest (they really did), because it was clear she was so far ahead of the field.
        Simone did not start the goat thing. Other people did, and then she eventually went with it because it was what everyone was calling her, in every tweet, and every 15 seconds on tv broadcasts. And gymfans liked it. WE liked it. So she went with it in a fun, cute way, but also changed to expressing confidence in herself and not feeling like she had to be all “aw shucks, I hope I do well” (which is what she USED to do, trying to sound correct and, as mentioned, got criticized for as well).
        Whatever happens at this one competition, she is still actually, one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.
        And from what I heard, she didn’t make it about herself. She showed up to media to face questions, even though she didn’t have to. And she was quoted saying, “I didn’t do my job. I didn’t have anything to do with this medal. It was all my teammates that did it.” (paraphrased)

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        • Her not competing at all did have to do with the medal though. And I for one never liked the goat term at all. Always have thought it was unfair and disrespectful to others.

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        • She said she didn’t have anything to do with earning the silver medal. Not that she didn’t have anything to do with losing a gold. She was saying it was her teammates who earned her a silver for her.

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  36. I got to say, it’s refresshing here compared to Reddit where I see Biles being praised for how brave her decision was. I’m sorry, no. This is the exact opposite of what I want to see in a sports hero. It’s honestly only in this day and age when someone gets praised for letting their team down. If it’s a physical injury, fine, I get it. If it’s mental….welcome to gymnastics??? I don’t know. It just seems to me the intense overpraise she has gotten has made her incapable of being able to deal with mistakes in a healthy way (just watch how defensive she was on dancing with the stars any time the judges didn’t think her dance was great). That is the fault of the media, and the judges for not properly deducting her for her messed up landings as they should, but also hers for playing into it so hard. If anyone started calling me the GOAT of anything, I wouldn’t acknowledge it because it’s disrespectful to all the greats who came before you. GOAT in gymnastics is so arbitrary it’s insane anyway.

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    • Oh, and I can’t believe she is still planning to do the individual events. That’s just….ugh. You can’t be so mentally out of tune that you need to withdraw from a team competition and then be all good to go for the all around a day later. Just wow.

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      • I agree. But to people here they say Oh well Team is more pressure than competing as an individual as if Simone doesn’t feel PRESSURE competing for herself. We saw how upset she was because she fell on beam at trials when she was a shoe in for the team anyway.

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      • I agree with you – no way should she compete. Can you imagine the press if a quarterback or pitcher walked of the field and left the team in a lurch. I can truly sympathize with mental health issues but don’t bail on the team and then win for yourself. That is crass and totally self serving. This is the time to support your team members and hope they do well. She is still the most decorated gymnast of all time and will remain a legend – now be an example.

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  37. Gymnastics superstar – who is insanely talented – goes through the 2020-2021 training and advertising cycle, posting her spectacular training performances, starring in multiple top dollar ads, and – the most egregious in my mind – promoting that she is the GOAT with her sequin goats on her Leo’s and shoes and Twitter emojis….She is 24. She’s established much of the pressure on her through her own self-promotion. You do that? You BUCK UP and make yourself right for the team so you can get those teammates the gold medal that the you’ve promised you can deliver through your promotion. That’s part of the mental toughness of elite gym

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    • Dude you’re replying to everyone here…please go outside and do something that’s not being angry about Simone Biles on the internet. I found it frustrating to watch her too, but you’re replying to everyone and repeating the same negative things – please go outside and touch some grass and remember that we’re watching gymnastics for fun??? Otherwise if you’re getting genuine joy from being very negative on the internet keep doing what you love I guess

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  38. Yall can keep yapping, but she did the right thing. She was obvs not in the right headspace to deliver for the team. The best she could offer was sideline support. It sucks, but so does real life! And Russia got to shine w a talented group of athletes. Let things be sometimes.

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    • A lot of gymnasts ‘arent in the right headspace’ to perform for their teams and dont have the privilege and power of a Simone to say Ima sit this one out. Please. Let people praise her for her choice, and like reality LET OTHERS be able to disagree with it, or find a safe space to shut out dissenting opinions that go against yours!

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      • Uh, what? Where did you see that Anon1 wasn’t letting people disagree? All I see is Anon1 expressing their own opinion that Simone did the right thing even if people seem to think otherwise. The fact that they didn’t preface every sentence with “I think”-type statements or similar doesn’t mean they’re presenting their argument as incontrovertible fact that no one may ever disagree with; they’re just stating their opinion in the same way everyone else on this thread is (including you).

        If anything, it seems like YOU’RE the one who’s getting upset at someone else not agreeing with your position. Let people criticize Simone for her choice, and like reality LET OTHERS be able to disagree with it.

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        • Yes exactly dork. Anons comment of LET THINGS BE, meaning leave it alone, stop yapping about it.

          Which part isnt connecting? Dork,

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        • >Which part is not connecting?

          The part where saying “let things be” apparently means “no one is allowed to disagree with me” and/or “I never want to be exposed to opinions that disagree with mine”. Maybe I’m just reading a different tone in it or something, but to me, it read more like “maybe it’s okay that things worked out the way they did, and in any case, all the argument in the world isn’t going to change what happened, so maybe it’s not worth spending so much energy on” — a fairly reasonable statement, even if other people feel differently. It could just be a cultural thing, but I see/hear statements like that a lot, and it’s very rarely meant as a demand that people *must* stop talking about it.

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    • Well, yeah, I mean, it happened and nothing can change it. And I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt even if her timing was shit.
      But as for letting it be, it’s only been a day. Let peoplebe up in their feelings while they need to.

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    • I tend to agree re:not being in the right headspace to deliver. I don’t think she withdrew because she was prioritizing herself over the rest of her teammates, but rather that after vault went so badly wrong, she realized that the same thing could happen on her other events and didn’t want to drag the team down. If she had done all her events and all of them had gone as badly as vault did, everyone would be saying that she was selfish for continuing to compete when she was struggling and costing her team the better scores her teammates could have put up.

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        • I have. Not often, mind you, but there can be an “if you can’t do it, get out of the way for those who can” mentality that I feel like could have cropped up here. In this case, I feel like it would be the repetitive nature of the situation that would lead to criticism — that she would have known she wasn’t on her game and yet kept going up with a team medal on the line. And I think that they have to report the substitution before warm-ups for the rotation start, so they couldn’t be like “why don’t you try a touch warm-up and see how it feels, and then we’ll decide based on that”.

          Theoretically, maybe she could have just sat out bars and beam and then tried to still close it out for the team on floor, since she can usually score competitively there even with mistakes, and maybe that would have redeemed her a little, but I don’t know if she would have been allowed to do that; she may have had to rule herself completely out of the competition in order for the judges to allow a last-minute substitution.

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        • I see what you’re saying, but compared to just quitting trying is always the answer I feel. Also, the judges do not get to decide that. The team coaches could have made the decision to have her sit out bars and do the rest or just floor or whatever, but if simone wasn’t willing, what can they do?

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        • Also, I know this is hindsight, but we now know that the issue in question wasn’t just “withdrawing to take care of mental health” but rather that the specific mental issue was one that would have made it dangerous for her to keep competing, so yeah, I’m going with she made the right call here.

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    • Fine she did the right thing ( still to be proven) but bailing on the team and then going for glory for self is just repulsive. She’s verbalized that she came back for herself because she’s beyond all competition but she accepted a “team” slot. She hasn’t been challenged in years bu the goat crumbled when it got tough instead of rising to it. Again. Fine bail on the team but she should be done as of now. Waiting for her to decide if she’s mentally solvent ? What about the stress on Jade and Mykayla. Are they mentally tougher than Simone. I guess time will tell. I’ve lost total respect for her and I hope her endorsements have too

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  40. So what is it yall?
    The pressure?
    Mental Block?
    The Twisties?
    Checked out?

    Pick the narrative its getting exhausting at this point. Say she is a hero, blah blah blah, for speaking out about it and lets get on with the actual SPORT instead of the stupid ass social causes, mental wellbeing after school bringing awarness nonsense. Sucha stupid generation!

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  41. No hate to Biles but I’m tired of hearing how the sport has ‘blackballed’ her. Everything from the rating of her skills to saying that some skills might be dangerous has turned into a Biles vs. FIG argument with many people not realizing that others before her have had the same issues. The sport is not picking on Biles. (Ex. Liu Xuan’s one armed pirouette, Tabea Alt’s UB transition, Sanne Wever’s balance beam composition being downgraded next cycle, etc.)

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  43. I think it was absolutely the correct choice for Simone to withdraw. Based on the way she looked on vault, she would have dragged the team performance to a point that I think even getting a medal would have been in jeopardy and, more importantly, she could have done serious physical damage to herself.

    However, I’m frustrated by the terms the conversation have taken. Either you support the withdrawal and you think it’s “the GOATest thing she’s ever done” (saw that somewhere) or you can criticize the situation and think she shouldn’t have withdrawn.

    I’ve seen speculation that it was a panic attack and, if that’s the case, as I’ve said above, I would appreciate if USAG would just tell us that. Also, I could get behind her needing to withdraw from the team final but having a potential comeback for the individual rounds. To me, that would be akin to if she had stung her ankle badly on her vault and couldn’t compete on it for the next couple hours but hadn’t actually messed up anything in there and was okay for Thursday and the EFs.

    However, what we’re getting is a generalized stress and pressure explanation, and while I still support the choice to remove her from UB, BB, and FX, that does show a fault in her leadership in the final. She was by far the oldest and most experienced on the team (as well as the best), but her teammates had to pull it together to make up for her problems. And it is also is true that she contributed to the narrative that she is now pointing to as causing her meltdown. For me what makes it particularly frustrating is that she doesn’t seem to be stating matter-of-factly that the pressure got to her but rather her statements seem fairly self-pitying, again, despite the fact that she did contribute to the pressure that she says got to her. And the issue of the individual finals becomes grating in that context if the pressure was too much for her when her teammates relied on her but not when she’s just competing for her own titles.

    I ALSO think there’s a serious issue with the leadership from the national team staff. Tom’s statements reflect complacency and the conflicting messages he has given leads me to believe he hasn’t been managing the team effectively. For me the biggest sign of the issues of Tom was when he didn’t submit an inquiry for Grace’s QF beam even though she added a second dance combo and appeared not to get credit for doing one. While Simone has responsibility for her performance, Tom also has a responsibility to provide strong team management and leadership. It makes me think of Spencer’s comments a few years ago that the NTC should be split up in different roles since they aren’t necessarily overlapping responsibilities.

    So there’s how I have attempted to put my thoughts into some sort of order.

    And as a final thought, GO TEAM GB!!!!

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    • The conversation has taken the typical online no-nuance-allowed pattern that’s familiar by now. Biles is either a selfish coward for giving up on her team or a shining example of agency who values her long term health more than medals (and if you don’t automatically agree you’re an entitled monster). As usual, the truth lies somewhere between.

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      • Thank you very much. I was just thinking the same thing. Not everyone has to be either a “hero” and an “icon” or “utter trash” and a “dumpster fire.” When the truth is, most people are just human, all with the potential for amazing qualities in some areas and penchant for error and weakness in others. This includes, Simone, Suni, Mykayla, Jordan, Grace, Jade, Tom Forster, Laurent and Cecile.
        One doesn’t have to pick beween “hero” and “failure” to describe what happened to Simone today. She is an outstanding, top level athlete who was not able to deliver a good performance today. She’s disappointed and fans can be disappointed, sports-wise, and that’s fine. That’s sports. Highs and lows and unexpected events.
        I will say, I think some of the “heroic” talk is people wanting to counter the “trash failure” talk. And also because of things like Elena Mukhina and Julissa Gomez. People do want to promote the idea that an athlete can say no for their safety, so if anyone feels people are overpraising Simone for pulling out, I think that’s the goal behind it. It’s not to promote quitting or giving up, it’s to recognize the opposite has happened with horrible results, when an athlete didn’t step up and say no when they didn’t feel good to do a skill.
        Certainly I wanted the U.S. to win, but I have to say, the actual experience of watching Suni, Jordan, and Grace step up to save silver was actually a more thrilling and enjoyable viewing experience than watching the U.S. win gold in Rio.

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    • It’s not Simone’s fault if the USAG doesn’t communicate though. And as for Simone explaining what happened to the media, quite likely she doesn’t know herself yet. She’s trying to explain it because people want an explanation, so she’s grasping for what might be it, but I doubt she knows. She’ll probably know it 10 years and give a really great retrospective interview. But how would she know what happened yet? She wasn’t expecting any of this to happen to her so how would she understand why it happened in the 12 hours after it did. If she could know immediately what happened, it would have been clear, simple and identifiable enough for her to have dealt with it beforehand.
      It’s not like she planned this. It’s not like she didn’t want team gold, and another gold for her. It’s not like she wants to feel like she let everyone down. I’m sure she’d love to be holding a gold medal and happy and feeling good about giving a great performance. She didn’t plan any of this. We need to understand she probably doesn’t really understand either, which is normal, the first time you experience something mentally/emotionally that you haven’t before.

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  44. Can anyone name a gymnast that has been the entire face of the Olympics? I’ll wait…

    I’m feeling a major 2012esque haterfest happening.

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    • Depends on what how you view as ‘face.’ Nadia (perfect 10 reputation) in 1980 and Yang Wei (first male gymnast over 80 years to win back to back AA and was at Home Olympics) in 2008 are two that come to mind that faced huge pressures.

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      • This is a very good point. People are often ethnocentric when it comes to the US and olympics. Just because Simone is the face of the games in the usa, doesn’t mean she’s the face of the games everywhere. Every country has their own face of the games, and each has exerienced tremendous pressure.

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        • It’s a terrible point because we’re talking about an American who has dominated, and her American media presence. Please stop trying to make, ‘well, there’s’ fetch happen! She had a terrible quals and didn’t trust herself in finals. Please allow her to not paralyze herself because others want her to be some arbitrary ‘true champion’. Please, have all of the seats sir and or mam.

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        • I’m really confused by your replies. Why be so aggressive? I don’t like what SImone did at all.
          Your question was name a gymnast that has been the face of the entire olympics. And the replies were that there have been, just not always from this country. Other gymnasts from other countries have been the face of the games in their own country, just like Simone is in this games. And they have faced the same types of pressures. Simone is not the face of the olympics in Japan, nor to China, nor to whatever other country that is not America.

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        • To try to make my point more clear becuase I’m not sure it’s coming across – Yang Wei in China in 2008 – he was not the face of the games in America, but he was in China. He received immense pressure to win from his home country; just as Simone has immense pressure from America. Same as Nadia had from Romania, same as Kohei Uchimura has from Japan because they were the face of the games in their nations. It’s not just America that puts media pressure on its athletes. Heck, I’m sure I’d much prefer media pressure to government pressure which is what the atheletes from communist countries experienced with severe consequences for losing in the 50s-80s.

          So I just don’t think it’s fair to say that Simone, essentially, gets a “pass” because she was under a lot of pressure. Obviously, she was under pressure. That comes with any sport that’s in the olympics. Even though other sports have been the face of the games in past, I don’t see why just because it’s gymnastics it is different. Like, I can’t imagine it going over well if Michael Phelps for example just decided the pressure was too much after a lackluster qualifier et cetera. Or I guess better to put it another way, maybe give her a pass and sympathy, but it’s not something that’s praise worthy IMO.

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        • @cgmiterko it doesn’t give the option to repond to you directly. Im not being aggressive, im being matter of fact. Bringing up Nadia is irrelevant. It’s 2021, and even w Shannon Miller’s 5 medals in 1992…it was 1992! She didn’t have IG followers.

          Everyone gets my point about Biles and her American media presence, that no gymnast has ever experienced.

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        • I’m not sure why, but it’s not allowing me to respond directly either.

          The social media argument, to me, is irrelevant because no one forces someone to be on or pay attention to social media. It is a choice and an option to take part in that.

          The point I’m trying to get across is that pressure and the amount of it is extremely relative. To say no other gymnast has experienced it is not a statement that can possibly be made without being in the head of a soviet gymnast in the 80s, a chinese gymnast in 2008, or Simone’s head in 2021, etc. etc. It’s subjective, not a fact. And again, I don’t think it matters that it’s gymnastics as opposed to any other sport that has been the face of the games – immense pressure is immense pressure regardless of who the sports person is or the sport.

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    • You can’t remove the relevant factors, like the actual sport we’re talking about or how the media, medias!

      No one is minimizing 80s Soviet pressure. However, for an American in 2021 (to bring things back on topic, since…logical) there’s this entire thing called American media. It can be toxic at times. It tries to build stars so that companies can cash in off of their backs. Again, and this is the last time I’ll say this, Simone is THE ONLY GYMNAST that has ever experienced (and benefitted) from this at this level. In America, gymnasts don’t get Lebron level press. Pretending, in 2021, as if her experience is not completely different from EVERY other gymnast in history, is a waste of everyone’s time.

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  45. Tom has to go. I totally realize gymnasts wait until a certain point to peak, but I feel like there should have been a conversation with Jade where he basically said “We need to know what you’re capable of” just in case we need you on the team. What was going on at the training camps? We had gymnasts still scrambling to get their sh*t together at nationals. He just seems so..out of touch with what gymnasts are capable of. Jordan was chosen for the team based on vault, bars, and beam, but yet was only planned to compete floor and vault for team finals. Sure, she filled in the gap when Simone bowed out, but it’s almost as if there was a sudden realization that domestic scoring wouldn’t hold up to international standards (which it didn’t). People keep saying MyKalya should have been chosen over McCallum, but the fact still remains that Jade would have been the perfect addition to team USA. Sure, the US would have “lost a spot”, but would the team would have scored better and we’d still earn the same amount of medals smh.

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    • No. Jade chose her route. 0 reason to take her on the team. Just because they came in 2nd doesn’t mean we need to now fish for shoulda/coulda/wouldas. Im not sure, but if Jordan hadn’t messed up during quals, she might’ve beaten Jade, as Jade hasn’t outscored her in AA all year.

      Lauren??

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      • She chose her route with the support of USAG. Under the direction of USAG. You’d think after a full year of her nailing floor and vault, someone would have said “maybe we could use her”. And I highly doubt Jordan could ever out score her internationally. Domestically, sure. That 14.9 DTY at Nationals is a pipe dream internationally.

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  46. Speaking of Tom…..what was his role today? I don’t remember seeing him this morning in the live broadcast. Was he involved in Simone’s decision? And he wasn’t at the press conference, right? (I read that somewhere but didn’t see the whole thing.) And it wasn’t clear tonight either when I watched the replay–a couple of shots of him sitting somewhere, one with his chin in his hands looking upset. How did he fit into this TODAY? (I understand all the previous management issues.) Thanks anyone who can clarify!

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  47. Whether you think that Simone was a selfish quitter or “did the right thing,”–either way, it seems the next right thing is certain: She needs to withdraw from all individual competitions as well. If she does not, she will be hated by so many people, and her image will be forever tarnished for only being able to get her mental game together when it benefits her individually (whether that is true or not). If she graciously bows out and allows her teammates to compete instead, I believe that she can salvage her reputation and truly be seen as a team player who is not “making it all about me.” Ultimately, Simone is a free individual and can certainly make any choices she wants. But I think she needs to clearly think through the consequences of her choices. Are a few more medals worth the internet hatred that will follow her for decades to come for suddenly conquering her demons two days later? Only Simone herself can decide that……

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    • well said. She probably doesn’t think she owns this country anything—most team gold medals were brought home because of her absolute dominate performance. So many people also bring the team coach but just like Lebron James, any coach who coaches Lebron has to “listen” to him more than listen to any other athletes. If Simons says she can go and will go, will you say no (before team final)?

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    • I think if she felt in a better state of mind, days later, giving up the AA which was hers to lose (if mentally capable) was quite enough.

      If she IS, EF’s will be the ‘redemption story’ of the games.

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  48. I support Simone’s decision fully. But I wish people (not on this site, but endlessly elsewhere) wouldn’t bash Kerri Strug’s decision as a means of support for Simone. Kerri WANTED to do that vault. She said it before and she’s said it since. She felt sthat he could do that vault. And no, in the craziness of that insane Atlanta arena, she, up on the podium with a hurt ankle, did not know they didn’t need it to win. Nor did anyone feel like relying on quickly done math in that space of time. And there WAS another Russian still to go on floor (Galieva, who was a magnificent gymnast).
    Can we please support Simone and Kerri’s decisions at the same time? Simone knew she wasn’t right and couldn’t do it. Kerri felt present and felt she could do it. Kerri had waited her whole career to be in that moment and made the decision to go. Kerri wanted to be in AA finals so badly. It was her decision and it was the greatest moment of her career. Can we not put down Kerri’s experience while also supporting Simone’s decision?
    Kerri wanted to do that vault. Simone did not want to continue. They both did what they wanted and they both did what they felt they could do. They are opposite spectrums of equally doing what is right for yourself and making decisions based on how you feel and how you know yourself. Simone made the right decision today. Kerri made an equally awesome decision (a la Dalaloyan) about what she wanted to risk and what she felt she could do. There is more than one option to choose. It’s not “always pull out” and it’s not “always go for it.” What’s important is that the athlete makes that choice based on an honest assessment of knowing herself.

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  50. Lauren, thanks for all your hard work on our behalf. It cannot be easy trying to keep up with four apparatus at once! We really do appreciate it. Also, it’s nice to see you calling the Russian athletes “Russian”. I am so over this ROC business (trying hard not to swear here)

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    • Thank you!! I know they are “officially” ROC this year but since these athletes had absolutely nothing to do with doping, I’m not changing what I call them – they are Russian and they earned this medal as Russians.

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