On July 23, 1996, American gymnast Kerri Strug, competing in the Atlanta Olympic Games, sprinted down a vault runway and launched herself into the air.
When she landed, she badly injured her foot.
Believing that she needed to vault again for Team USA to win the team gold medal -- and told by her coach, Bela Karolyi, that she needed to "shake it off" -- she sprinted back down that runway, launched herself in the air, and this time, landed, held her balance on one foot, and saluted the judges.
Then she collapsed onto the mat in pain.
Team USA had the gold medal, the first team gymnastics gold ever.
Hooray for the USA! Hooray for Kerri! What grit, courage, and bravery, to push through the pain for her team!
Fast forward 25 years.
On July 27, 2021, American gymnast Simone Biles, competing in the Tokyo Olympic Games, sprinted down a vault runway and launched herself into the air.
While in the air, she realized that she didn't know where she was. She had what in gymnastics is called "the twisties." She had no idea of her body position in the air, and when you're a gymnast, that is dangerous.
Through sheer grit and athleticism, she landed her vault.
Then she had a conversation with her coaches.
Then she took off her bar grips, which she'd put on to compete in the uneven bars, hugged her teammates, and sat down.
The news broke moments later: Simone Biles, the best gymnast in the world, had withdrawn from the team competition.
The remaining gymnasts, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Grace McCallum, stepped up and won the silver team medal for Team USA. The Russian team, competing under the name "Russian Olympic Committee" due to a doping scandal by other Russian athletes, took the team gold for the first time since 1992.
Afterwards, Biles explained that she was not in the right head space and feared that she would cost Team USA any chance for a medal, so it was best for her to withdraw. She also said that she trusted her teammates to do the job.
And instead of leaving the arena, she stayed in her sweats, gave chalk to her teammates, gave hugs and encouragement, and was the first one to go and congratulate the Russian team for winning the gold medal.
Immediately, the social media sphere lit up, with both commendation and condemnation.
"Simone did the right thing."
"Simone let her team down."
"Simone could have seriously injured herself."
"Simone should have stayed home and given someone else the chance to compete!"
Many condemners trotted out Kerri Strug's 1996 vault as an example of grit, courage, and pushing through. "Kerri didn't let her team down like Simone did!"
A Twitterer commented that "the team lost". To the reply, "The team won a silver medal without her; that speaks to their talent," the Twitterer answered, "Silver medal. The first loser." Then he posted a video of Kerri Strug's 1996 vault with the comment,"Now that's bravery. That's putting the team first. Your 'silver medal stance' is a loser attitude. The US Olympic team didn't go there to 'win' second. Anything short of gold is failure."
I'm very glad that this person is not Simone's coach.
In 1996, Kerri Strug felt that she had to push through to win a gold medal. It turned out that Kerri didn't need to do that vault. The US would have won gold without it.
What the general public didn't know at the time was that Kerri Strug, and the rest of the Magnificent Seven, the Fierce Five, and the Final Five (the nicknames given to Team USA in 1996, 2012, and 2016 respectively) were the products of an abusive coaching system where injuries were either ignored or not taken seriously, emotional abuse was rampant, and their team doctor was a child molester.
In fact, a photo from the 1996 Olympics shows an injured Kerri Strug being helped off the floor by Bela Karolyi . . . straight into the arms of Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexual assault in 2018.
I don't know if Nassar abused any of the team members in 1996. We do know that he abused the team members of the 2012 and 2016 team, along with nearly two hundred other women. Simone Biles is one of the women he abused. She stated in an interview that she's the last survivor of Larry Nassar's abuse to be competing, and as long as she's around, USA Gymnastics, the governing body of the sport, would not be able to sweep abuse under the rug.
Kerri Strug probably felt that she could not say "no" to her coach, that she had to push through for that gold medal. For all intents and purposes, she didn't have a choice.
On July 23, 1996, Kerri Strug didn't have a choice but to run on an injured ankle lest she risk the wrath of her coach.
On July 27, 2021, Simone Biles had a choice, and she said, no. It is not safe for me to compete.
Those that believe she let down her team, that she is a "quitter", she is "selfish", she is "a sociopath" (that latter comment is from Charlie Kirk, president of Turning Point USA), let me ask you: are you willing to pay her medical bills if anything happens to her? If she breaks her neck like Russian gymnast Elena Mukhina did in 1980 and American gymnast Julissa Gomez did in 1988?
Elena Mukhina lived as a paraplegic until her death in 2006.
Julissa Gomez lived as a quadriplegic in a coma until her death in 1991.
The day after Simone Biles withdrew from the team competition, she also withdrew from the all-around. It's uncertain whether she will compete in the individual apparatus events.
I'm disappointed that I will not see her compete in the all-around. I'm sad that she did not compete in the rest of the team competition.
But Simone Biles does not owe me or anyone else an explanation or justification for her decisions. Simone Biles is not obligated to display herself for our entertainment. If she does not feel safe competing, whether it be for physical reasons, mental reasons, or both, she has the absolute right to say, "No, I'm not going to do it."
Sometimes, a coach may need to give gentle encouragement or a dose of tough love to an athlete so that they can compete.
Sometimes, a coach needs to empower the athlete to make the choice whether or not to compete.
Kerri Strug did not have that choice in 1996.
Simone Biles had it in 2021, and exercised it.
The outcome for Kerri's vault was a gold medal, and a serious injury.
The outcome for Simone's vault was a decision not to risk serious injury, physically or mentally.
I honor Simone for her choice.
It's time we give it to our athletes.
They deserve it.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
