Simone Biles showed us that it's okay not to be okay, and I love her even more for that.

 The fact is simple: Life does not always turn out the way you pictured it would. Dreams are good to have, but sometimes, they get blurred by the unexpected. I think everyone knows by now that Simone Biles' exit from the team final was unexpected. All of us who are supremely interested in gymnastics expected golden glory from a team led by the best gymnast in all of the world. It did not turn out that way, but despite having an enormous load on their shoulders, the three women from the USA women's gymnastics team stepped up without their leader, and they earned a silver medal. If that does not show courage and tenacity. I do not know what does.

Now let's talk Simone. The best gymnast the world has ever seen without question. This girl was collecting and accumulating difficulty points like they were part of an Easter Egg hunt on Easter morning. Just when you think she couldn't possibly get better, she was coming up with new and harder tricks to amaze those of us who could only dream of doing what she can. (Let's be honest.. even her fellow teammates wish they could perform at her level.) The pressure for her to once again step up and become golden just like she did in Rio was certainly there. All of the gymnastics analysts were expecting from her what we had seen in the previous eight years, and that was quite simple, to win. I cannot imagine the pressure of being the literal face of the Olympic games. As gymnasts, these young ladies are expected to perform with absolute perfection. Anything less is considered a letdown. When Simone Biles had to pull from the team final, citing the twisties, which is loss of air sense and the connection between her mind and body to do her usual skills, I instantly knew that she would get lambasted by people who haven't the slightest clue of how mental and physical the sport of gymnastics is. 

That is indeed what happened. As someone who suffers from depression quite frequently, it hurt me to see that several people were calling her a quitter and said that she didn't deserve the silver medal that the team earned on the night of the team final. This hurt me being a huge gymnastics guru as well and having been blessed to see her compete for eight years straight and being in total and complete domination of her sport, which happens to be, in my opinion, the hardest sport in the world. People who are not as familiar with gymnastics would not know how serious the twisties can be. Having followed gymnastics for 25 years, I had heard the term before, but I never saw the term in action until the night of the team final. In my opinion, though, anyone could have seen the replay video and understood that Simone was off. It was a shock to the entire world because we had never publicly seen her balk on a vault. She absolutely made the right decision to pull from the team final and the subsequent all-around and event finals that require far too much twisting. She did the right thing for her and for her teammates.

Having watched Simone routinely for many years, I could clearly tell that something was wrong with her emotionally as well. Having studied human emotions for years, it makes complete and total sense to me that the twisties could in fact generate depression. Think about it from Simone's situation. You train for hours on end to end up at your second Olympics only to have your body and mind refuse to cooperate and you cannot compete the hardest skills in the world which you have done nearly flawlessly for years on end. I can totally understand where depression would enter into an idea or phenomenon such as this. I can understand how one would be anxious when expected to perform at an all-time high all of the time, and why it could be made worse when the majority who only watches gymnastics every four years is pouring the anxiety on by calling her a farce and a quitter. This coming from people sitting behind their keyboards criticizing the best gymnast there ever was.

Simone is my hero. She puts joy into my heart every single time she steps on the mat to compete. I am in awe of her attitude and her work ethic. I applaud her even more for putting her mental health before all of the medals she was expected to capture. You can always strive for more accomplishments, but you cannot replace a life. Putting yourself first is paramount, and I believe she amplified that when she stepped down from the team final and allowed her teammates to shine. I am so proud of her for overcoming all of the hate and distaste and coming back to win the bronze medal on the beam, which in my mind, is the hardest apparatus in women's gymnastics. I think she will treasure this bronze medal the most out of all of the medals she has earned. It took a heroic amount of strength and courage to show the world that after all she had been through, she is still able to perform. Not only perform but to win a medal on the world's biggest stage while the whole world is watching you. Simone, I did not think it was possible to love and admire you even more than I already did, but once again, you have proven me wrong! Bravo! There are no words left in the English language to convey how proud you make me! I know without a doubt that she will continue to shine, not only in gymnastics but as one of the most influential persons in the world! Thank you, Simone from the bottom of my heart.