V 11 N. 52 Is Tokyo 2021 Becoming the Mental Health Games?

 July 28, 2021

For all but the least informed, we were all affected in various ways by the news that a highly favored gymnastics competitor Simone Biles, walked away from the competition in the early stages of her event.   And that was also accompanied by the news that the Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka lost in the early rounds after having already bailed from the French Open citing mental health concerns.  

I was struck by several different feelings.  One was disbelief that anyone could work so hard and have been through so much previous competition and pressure that they could not hold up for one more competition.  But it was clear in the early efforts that Biles made that she was off her game.  In two of her best events she went off the mat in the floor exercise and almost fell in her landing on the vault.   

For the past year more and more stories have brought  our attention to the struggles that people have with mental health.  Indeed, we all struggle to some extent.  It's part of life.  But some definitely have more challenges than others, and we tend to believe that those who can overcome those mental health challenges are the ones we call successful or 'winners'.  

Simone Biles had been through the mill including the sexual abuse put on her as a child by a sports physician.   She had family difficulties as well.  When she became famous, she must have reaped a lot of financial rewards, because we were bombarded by commercials in which she appeared leading up to this Olympic Games.  But with the money came even higher expectations.  I can just imagine the meetings yesterday at the ad agencies after she walked off.   Can we go on showing these ads?  Will people think our product is defective if they continue to associate with her?   Is there a clause in her contract if she gets out of line?  Where's her damn agent?  

Simone did come back to shout encouragement to her teammates who still performed well in coming in second to the Russian Olympic Committee team.  What kind of pressure were those Russian girls under back home?  

I'm sure there are differing forms of pressure and they can hit us in different ways at different times in our careers.  For example in the women's road cycling event, an unheralded Austrian cyclist Anna Kiesenhofer went out with the breakaway group, which every knowledgeable cycling fan knows will fall apart and the great riders with the help of the slipstreaming in the peleton will eventually overcome the breakaway leaders.  But in this Olympics that Kiesenhofer, completely on her own, and under the pressure of the  peleton catching her, refused to give in and stayed in front.  The mental pressure was there, but maybe the pressure of high expectations was not.   But I'm sure that in her next race there will be a lot more pressure on her to repeat that performance  Will she do it or will she fail?  Is that not part of sport?

So now we are more sensitive to those mental health concerns and the abuse many of these young gymnasts and swimmers have gone through at the hands of predator coaches.  A lot of this is just coming out.

But I am also reminded of a story that Abe Lemons, the old hard-nosed Texas and Oklahoma City University basketball coach once told at the expense of Notre Dame U.

He commented about Digger Phelps the Notre Dame basketball coach bemoaning what incredible pressure an 18 year old athlete at Notre Dame is under, having to perform at a high level and high expectations of the alumni.   Lemons replied,  "I bet that 18 year old Marine Corps private lying face down in the sand at Iwo Jima with incoming artillery and bullets flying over his head already filled with the screams of the wounded and dying is thinking to himself,  "Gee, I'm sure glad I'm not a freshman football player at Notre Dame under all that pressure."   Yes, life sometimes puts us under tremendous pressure and often at times when we are not prepared for it and when the consequences can be fatal.   And some who are both lucky and strong do survive.   

In sport you can walk away a winner if your timing is good.  Or like most  we walk away losers.  Or the third option is we never walk away win or lose.  They carry us off the field on our shields.

In our next piece I will write about a track athlete who refused to walk away when under threat.

George

Comment:  from Bill Schnier

 Only Simone Biles feels her unique pressure because it is so personal.  As we all know, some people are able to handle incredible pressure without missing a step whereas others are devastated by trying to decide which cereal to eat each morning.  Abe Lemons' analogy, although logical, would not meet the test of time because many of that theoretical Marine's peers at Iwo Jima cracked on the spot, many cracked later in life, and many never seem to be affected.  We all have our threshold and nobody can predict what that level is.  Those able to endure a high level of stress have been blessed with a gift, a gift which they probably didn't earn but was simply a gift.  It will serve them well all their life.

   Simone had several problems during her childhood which could have set her up for difficulties later in life.  They are called Aces, a listing of ten major problems which have the potential not only to lead to severe problems but even shorten lives.  Dropping out of the Olympic competition might well have been an indicator of Aces in her childhood, factors which could lead to much greater problems in the future.  Of course this is only speculation because we simply do not know nor can predict the future.

   Was Simone's mental problem so great that she took on a blank stare, drooled all day long, was unable to sleep for days at a time, or had suicidal efforts?  That did not seem to be the case but it still did not mean she was without a problem.  Instead she felt that her ability to perform at her expected level was nowhere near what she was able to do.  If we take her word for it, trying to do so would have caused worse problems for both her and her team.  Dropping out of the Olympic team competition reminds me of those unfortunates criticized for taking their lives:  they were selfish and only thinking of themselves - look at the damage they did to their family and friends.  A cry for help on the highest public stage could not have been easy and I, for one, take her at her word and pray for her health.

Biles has a 35 city "Gold Medal Tour" scheduled for October $$$ - Bruce Kritzler

And from Richard Mach

Simone was against repeating her successes in 2016 a year ago in an interview and I thought she was closing up that shop; then that turned to ambivalence, then she caved. And went against herself.  Succumbing to pressure.    If she is ‘off’ in a highly technical and complex maneuver, she is looking at a possibly grievous outcome. I believe her mind in the midst of the floor and vault exercises simply said ‘No!’.  Not any more.   And the Japanese giant killer, Naomi Osaka’s lead made it possible for her to walk away.  With superstars that include the likes of Michael Phelps himself,  we are looking at how their lives, their training and even their self image are disrupted by collectively immense social, emotional, financial and psychological forces the often young, impressionable minds are not yet ready nor capable of truly coping with.  Can you imagine successfully negotiating w someone whose agenda is their money while earnestly telling you it is your health they are concerned with.  And you are but about 20.  

 And, meanwhile,  the word on the street is NBC is taking a bath. Viewership is down 36% over Rio in ‘16 thus far. 

The female Dutch cyclist favored to win the OLY road race thought she had passed the leader who’d gone off the front with two others earlier and was cruising to a victory. Thus her finish line celebration before she found out she’s miscounted and a math whiz and a middle of the peloton Austrian rider had beaten her to the line. So in the TT today she left nothing to chance and grinding it out, blasted to nothing less than a convincing win. And her country woman coped the silver.    The winner suffered an sickening crash leading the Rio road race 5 yrs ago and I saw it — made me instantly ill. Fractured spine. And she crashed as well in the same race in Tokyo. 

From Tom Pagani:

As usual, Bill Schnier’s comments are spot on.

Negative comments about Simone Biles decision to discontinue competing in the Games is is foolishly inappropriate. 

She has put in years of hard work, discipline and preparation for participation at the highest level. She has already passed the most difficult test, that of making the Olympic team, all the while courageously completing moves that were thought to be impossible, and so difficult, they were considered “dangerous”. No one does this without paying an extremely high price. 

I can only hope that she is able to face the demons that are confronting her and that she will be able move forward and seal her place as the greatest of all time.   Tom Pagani