Simone Biles- A Champion or a Coward?

     Simon Biles- A Coward or a Champion?

Greatness, a stature desirable by all, but procurable by few. According to Webster Dictionary, greatness is to achieve or accomplish something above the norm, or average conduction of that activity. Simone Biles, a woman with over 30 Olympic medals, a woman who has won 5 Olympics straight in gymnastics, recently bailed out from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to a plethora of pressure and nervousness weighing down her mental health. Were the boundaries of this champion not stretched far enough? Does this act of restriction on her part deam her as a coward? Absolutely not. Simone Biles has been the epiphany of greatness for woman gymnasts and mental health activists, and is a true champion because of her upstanding firmness to protect her mental health, and because of the spectacular accomplishments she has managed thus far.

    Mental health has been a leading cause for concern across the world. In fact, according to the NAMI, in the United States alone, about 52 million people struggle from it every year. According to the New York Times, in an interview with Miss Biles herself, she stated that she had been platooned by the weight of her peers, by the entire country to outperform expectations too far outside the limitations of her boundaries. She had been abused, racially slurred, and molested into a state of depression, and only after realizing the power manifested in her words, decided to speak out. She formed a movement against sexual, gender-based and racial slurs, and not only placed a firm foot on the ground for herself, but reached her voice out for millions and millions of people worldwide. When Larry Nassarm, the former team doctor for the Olympic Gymnastics, sexually abused her and her coworkers, she didn't stay quiet. She was the only one willing to fight out against such an immoral act. So Miss Biles has achieved greatness by moving into territory no other gymnast has gone before, and by pulling herself out for her own sanity, inspiring millions of gymnasts and mental health activists around the globe to do the same. So the question then follows- withdrawal for sanity, vocalization for heated issues, and the grit to grasp the anvil of perfection weighing her down and shove it right off her belly- are these traits of a coward, or a champion? Are these humane actions the downfall of greatness, or the foundation of it? 

    But that’s not all. Mental health was not spawned onto Miss Biles from 2020's wand. It was appended onto her from dozens of years prior. According to ESPN, Simone Biles had been struggling with mental health issues for over 10 years, and “the Tokyo Olympics was just her breaking point”. So what does that mean? Miss Biles has been syringed with needles for half her life. She had already been overwhelmed with the pressure of Olympics, gymnastics competitions, and the grueling words of the public mass. And yet she had fought on for her cause. In and interview with various News Channels, she stated that “I wanted to be seen, be heard as a force not only for those struggling like me, but for people suffering against racism, sexual abuse, and gender-bias”. This was beyond herself, and she suppressed all of the pain, all of the depression and anxiety flowing in from all sides to project her voice through a megaphone at all others in her shoes, and give them a chance to achieve greatness just like her. Stopping at her breaking point was the talk of the town, the fuel to the flames of accusations and claims. But to have done what she did not many can do. And that is what greatness is. To rise above the orthodox, and to create something special.

    However, it can be said that Simone Biles is a quitter, and could have pushed on. Indeed, that is a fair point to be made, but according to speaker Laurence Griffith, “When you are sick, do you go to school? NO! In the same way, when Simone Biles was feeling mentally ill, it was the right choice to back out of the competition”. These powerful words show that backing out for your own good is far more essential than a bull heading your way through a competition. As the old saying aforementioned, safety first!

    So the question still persists, what makes greatness? Greatness is when you do something nobody else would dare to do. Greatness is what separates the average from the extraordinary, and greatness is acknowledging your boundaries, and pushing them as far as you can. But even the territory outside of your boundaries have boundaries, and even greatness extracts at some point or another. To ring true for mental health activists and her own sanity, and to do incredible feats when the pressure of the entire world is weighing you down, Simone Biles is a true champion, and has achieved the zenith of greatness.