Simone Biles has accomplished more international success in 24 years than most of us ever will in our lifetime. Her domination of the elite gymnastics’ world began at 16 years old when she won the United States National title and the all-around title at the World Championships. Ever since then, no other gymnast has come close to matching her talent.
Despite her fame in the gymnastics world since 2013, it took her stellar performance at the Rio Olympics to become a household name. Four gold medals and a bronze in 2016 resulted in her net worth skyrocketing to approximately $6 Million, thanks to brand deals and sponsorships. From the outside, her life appears to be picture-perfect, which is why it came as a complete surprise to most when her mental health caused her to pull out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. How could a prodigy with such wealth, crumble under the pressure of her second Olympic games?
Behind the scenes, however, Simone Biles’ life has been consumed by tragedy. In the Facebook Watch series Simone vs herself, Simone details her life as a young child. Her biological mother, Shanon Biles, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and often left Simone and her siblings hungry. Biles noted how her mother “always fed [the cat] but she never fed us”. After concerns from social workers, Biles and her siblings were put into foster care and eventually her grandparents adopted her and her sister. Biles claims to not remember much about her time in foster care, which is unsurprising considering amnesia is seen in some victims of childhood trauma.
Then in 2017, the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal came to light. Michigan State University and USA team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison for assaulting more than 150 young gymnasts. One of whom was Simone Biles.
Internationally, the scandal gained traction after the 2020 Netflix documentary Athlete A exposed the emotional and physical suffering of young female gymnasts caused by the USA gymnastics staff. The documentary shocked audiences around the world with how the staff manipulated and bribed the impressionable girls to keep them quiet, whilst pushing them tirelessly to stand on the podium.
The trolling that Simone Biles experienced after making the decision to prioritise her mental health was a far cry from the public outpour of support for Larry Nassar’s victims. Piers Morgan branded the gymnast as “selfish” for “letting down her teammates, her fans and country”.
Do the internet trolls behind the insults hurled at Biles genuinely not think that dropping out of an Olympic games is an extremely difficult decision? The world has seen how ruthless and pressurizing the USA gymnastics staff can be.. Whatever Simone Biles is struggling with mentally is clearly having a severe and possibly dangerous impact on her athletic performance. Just four years ago, people praised Larry Nassar’s victims for speaking out but as soon as their trauma affects team USA’s gold medal streak, many are quick to berate them. These comments are cemented in hypocrisy and a classic example of our society not taking mental health as seriously as physical health. So, thank you Simone Biles, for speaking out about your struggles and doing your part in demolishing the taboo surrounding mental health problems.
