“I’m so sick of the Simone Biles nonsense. “
It’s not nonsense.
She’s a tremendous American athlete.
I hope she recovers and kicks butt on Thursday.
She’s not injured. She quit. She quit on her country, her team and herself.
I hate the Olympic hype machine for several reasons that I’ll not go into here. Simone Biles has certainly profited from it as a designated star, but the level of added pressure must be grotesque. No athlete deserves that.
Biles was the gymnastics superstar of her generation. It’s probably fair to say that she got extra hype (and pressure) because, while the U.S. media tends to produce a gymnastics princess in each Olympics — just like they produce an ice skating princess each Winter Olympics — Simone was the first melanin enhanced U.S. gymnast to wear that crown. If she had been white, the U.S. media would still have turned her into an idol; the fact that she is black pushed them even further into absurd hero worship.
She’s a terrific gymnast, the best of her generation. And it’s all about to end. I wish her well.