An American finished atop the podium Thursday in the women's Olympic gymnastics all-around, just as always.
Sunisa Lee became the fifth straight American woman to claim the Olympic title, edging Rebeca Andrade of Brazil in an entertaining and hotly contested final while defending champion Simone Biles watched from the stands.
Biles' absence created an opportunity the 24 women who took the floor at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre probably didn't think possible when they landed in Tokyo earlier this month: a legitimate shot at the top of the podium. Biles had won every major international competition since 2013 except the 2017 world championships, which came during the year she took off after her triumph in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.
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Posts: 38216 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
Re the twisties... oh wow, I just realized that the twisties are like focal dystonia that musicians experience.
Wow, I feel so bad for Simone Biles. I haven't been closely reading the news reports about her, and from the name the "twisties" I was just thinking it was something like performance anxiety, which is bad enough. But focal dystonia, as I understand it, is a neurological disorder....
I read someone who said that Simone Biles went to Tokyo a gymnast, but she's leaving it a hero, and I thought that was a good way to put it.
Imagine flying through the air, springing off a piece of equipment as you prepare to flip on one axis while twisting on another. It all happens fast, so there’s little time to adjust. You rely on muscle memory, trusting that it’ll work out, because with so much practice, it usually does.
But then suddenly, you’re upside down in midair and your brain feels disconnected from your body. Your limbs that usually control how much you spin have stopped listening, and you feel lost. You hope all the years you’ve spent in this sport will guide your body to a safe landing position.
When Simone Biles pushed off the vaulting table Tuesday, she entered that terrifying world of uncertainty. In the Olympic team final, Biles planned to perform a 2½-twisting vault, but her mind chose to stall after just 1½ twists instead.
“I had no idea where I was in the air,” Biles said. “I could have hurt myself.”
quote:
The twisties are essentially like the yips in other sports. But in gymnastics, the phenomenon affects the athletes when they’re in the air, so the mind-body disconnect can be dangerous, even for someone of Biles’s caliber.
Yes, clearly this problem is dangerous for gymnasts in a way it's not for musicians.... but both for both groups, I think it's just an awful thing to have happen, to suddenly not have control over the very part(s) of your body that make you who you are, that let you do the very activity that defines you.
I remain incredibly impressed that Simone Biles had the presence of mind to step away and prioritize her health and safety. She is to me a hero who should be celebrated.
I remain incredibly impressed that Simone Biles had the presence of mind to step away and prioritize her health and safety. She is to me a hero who should be celebrated.
+1
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Posts: 11215 | Location: Massachusetts | Registered: 22 April 2005
Simone Biles posted new training videos on Instagram Thursday in an effort to explain why she made the decision to drop out of the Olympic gymnastics team competition and individual all-around this week. And she wasn't afraid to make a statement to those she called "know it alls" commenting on her decision.
"For anyone saying I quit, I didn't quit," a caption read over video of her practicing a dismount from the uneven bars. That's the apparatus she would have performed next had she not withdrawn. "My mind & body are simply not in sync, as you can see here."
The videos have since been deleted, but her answers to several questions sent in from her Instagram followers remain, including elaborating further on the "twisties."
The first video showed Biles flipping and twisting before landing on her back on a soft pad. She notes that she's supposed to do another 1 1/2 twists on the dismount.
"I don't think you realize how dangerous this is on a hard/competition surface. Nor do I have to explain why I put health first. Physical health is mental health."
In a second video, she did another dismount but said she still was a 1/2 twist short.
Then, Biles said that the issue she was having, which she's described as not being in the right "headspace," started after she arrived in Tokyo.
"It randomly started happening after prelims competition the VERY next morning. By that time, NO, an alternate was not allowed to be placed in my position for you 'know it alls.'"
Biles explained that she still has the "twisties," a frightening phenomenon for gymnasts that means one's rhythm is off and the athlete's mind won't allow them to complete a trick.
"Sometimes I can't even fathom twisting. I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist...strangest & weirdest thing as well as feeling," Biles described. When asked how long it's taken in the past for her to recover, the 24-year-old said it varies but has typically been 2 or more weeks when she's had them before.
It's infuriating to hear people comment about how Biles should just toughen up, and how she's a quitter. What these folks don't seem to comprehend is that stepping away from competition was good for her teammates as well. They seem to be working under the assumption that, had Biles stayed and performed, she would of course have dominated and the USA would have received the team gold. Umm, no. It's pretty clear that if she insisted on remaining in the competition she would have earned significantly lower scores and most likely pulled the gymnastics team completely out of contention by the second rotation. That's not even addressing the issue of her mental health and safety if she has the twisties (a term I've never heard of before, either). Pulling out of the competition was the best way for her to support her teammates.
People need to stop and think before they make this hurtful and idiotic claims.
Posts: 35428 | Location: West: North and South! | Registered: 20 April 2005
