This Tweet Absolutely Nails Why Simone Biles Was Right to Pull out of the Olympics

A tweet, that was re-shared by the world's most decorated female gymnast Simone Biles, absolutely nails why the incredible athlete was right to pull out of the Olympic Games in order to protect her mental health.

Speaking about her decision, Simone, who has previously won four gold medals, explained that she has also partially lost faith in her abilities, too. 'I don't trust myself as much as I used to,' she said. 'I don't know if it's age and I'm a little bit more nervous when I do gymnastics. I feel like I'm not having as much fun.'

She added, 'This Olympic Games I wanted it to be for myself, but I came in and I felt like I was still doing it for other people. It hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people.'

Then, while out on the stadium floor, Simone appeared to realise, mid-Amanar flip, that she was not going to be able to complete the number of twists needed to execute the move safely.

Later, she told the press, 'I don’t want to do something stupid [and] get hurt. It’s not worth it, especially when you have three amazing athletes that can step up to the plate and do it... I think [stepping down] it shows power in the athlete, protecting my mental well-being, that I didn’t want to go out there and do something dumb, get hurt and be negligent. I knew for myself that I had to take a step back.'

Later, on social media, Simone appeared to elaborate on her choice to step down by re-tweeting a post shared by actor and former pro wrestler, Brandon Marino. It was a screengrab from his friend, a gymnastics coach, Andrea Orris, who made her views on the matter plain.

Andrea pointed out the emotional traumas that Simone has faced in the past, in connection to her chosen sport, and all of the other incredibly difficult times that she was able to push through and compete.

'We are talking about the same girl who was molested by her team "doctor", won the World All-Around Championship title WHILE PASSING A KIDNEY STONE, put her body through an extra year of training through the pandemic,' said Andrea, who also pointed out that the athlete could be privately facing countless other obstacles right now, too. 'All of this while maintaining her responsibilities to her endorsement deals, the media, personal relationships...'

She continued on to add, 'And some people can still honestly say, "Simone Biles is soft. She is a quitter"... That girl has endured more trauma by the age of 24 than most people will ever go through in a lifetime.'

On the topic of Simone's mid-air baulk, Andrea stresses that it might be hard for non-gymnasts to realise what a big deal that would've been. 'She could have been severely injured getting lost in the air like that, [and] the fact [that] she somehow landed on her feet shows her experience and is incredible. A very small wrong move, [can be] career-ending or even worse, life-threatening injuries can occur.'

Andrea urged fellow social media users to show Simone the respect she deserves, not only because she's human, but because of everything she's done for her sport to date. 'Plus, all that she’s had to endure because of this sport, and the joke of an organisation who protected her predator – instead of her and her teammates – for years.'

We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Here's sending all our love and support to Simone.

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