This summer, Simone Biles shocked the world when she temporarily withdrew from the Olympics after her first two events. Amidst much speculation, the highly decorated gymnast shared with the media that, along with mental fatigue, she had experienced a phenomenon among gymnasts referred to as “twisties”, a sense of being disoriented in the middle of an acrobatic maneuver, not being able to tell which way is up. While many fellow gymnasts came to support her by confirming what she experienced was a real phenomenon, there were detractors coming out of the woodworks to denounce her actions, telling her to “suck it up”, even though many of them had no athletic background themselves.
No matter what symptoms come to the surface, many people experience the mental fatigue and burnout that comes with pushing your limits. Ms. Biles is the type of athlete who pushes her limits in everything she does on the mat, to the point of even having her own acrobatic maneuver named after her: “The Biles”. To push so hard, it’s only a matter of time before somone physically or emotionally breaks. The difference between Simone Biles and most people is the same difference between any professional athlete and most people: the whole world is watching them.
When Simone Biles withdrew herself, she did something that a lot of people forget to do: she gave herself a moment to gather her bearings. So many people talk of taking a moment to breathe, but when it comes to athletes, we’re conditioned to think that the best athletes are the ones that push with no breaks. Yet, if they have no chance to breathe and recover, doesn’t that set them up for burnout in the long run? What she did was let the world know that even the strongest of us need to come to terms with our weakest moments, breathe, regroup, and eventually recover.
As for Ms. Biles’ performance in the Olympics, once she gave herself that time to regroup and recover, she jumped back in the game just in time to earn a bronze medal in the balance beam, adapting her routine to compensate for any disorientation. It’s safe to say that if she hadn’t allowed herself that time to get her bearings together, she wouldn’t have recovered in such a triumphant way.
The lesson to take away from her experience? We all need a chance to recover, no matter who’s judging our performance.
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