Simone Biles considers the Tokyo 2020 Olympics balance beam bronze medal her most meaningful win, above all the golds she has accumulated as the most-decorated Olympian gymnast in history. Biles, who took the decision to not participate for most of the tournament citing mental health reasons—the dreaded “twisties” (a sense of dissociation while in the air) meant that she had to step back for her own safety—was the only survivor from former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar’s abuse to compete in Tokyo, and only later revealed that her aunt had unexpectedly died during the tournament.
Hours before Biles’ decision to withdraw, tennis star Naomi Osaka was on the tennis court for her first tournament appearance since withdrawing from the French Open two months prior, citing her own mental health. The American took inspiration from Osaka, she said, and was glad to see a mostly supportive response, including from fellow Olympians.
“We’re not just athletes,” she told the BBC. “We’re people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back. […] I feel like a lot of athletes speaking up has really helped.”
Earlier this year, Biles and Michael Phelps were interviewed saying that they wouldn’t want their kids to take part in the Olympics, citing the pressure and the physical, emotional, and mental costs, and a broken system becoming worse.
One of the first costs of a system where people are looking to maximise profits to the exclusion of all else is the protection of the human being, writes Jonathan Harding in Soul: Beyond the Athlete (Ockley Books, December 2021). Even as the book focuses mainly on the world of football, it asks vital questions about sport and athletes as a whole.