Putting mental health on the floor, Simone Biles strikes gold after Olympics withdrawal

‘I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before’, Simone Biles wrote on her Twitter account on July 29, after having withdrawn from the final round in the Olympics, settling for a silver medal for team USA. However, in doing so by putting herself first, and inspiring countless others to do the same, Biles has struck solid gold. 

By pulling on her white sweatsuit in Tuesday’s meet, Biles, the 24-year-old gymnast, might very well have, unknowingly, redefined the mental health discussion that’s been coursing through sports for the past year. She made a decision she is ready to live with. Standing next to her teammates, tall, with a silver medal around her neck, she finally realised that she does not owe anything to anybody.

The support for Biles both online and within her Olympic team has been overwhelming with athletes across borders lauding her bravery, wishing her well. The message is clear - it is okay, to not be okay.

Biles also joins an illustrious, long list of athletes who have been talking openly on the issue for long.

There was Naomi Osaka at the Tokyo Games, there was Serena Williams who struggled with post-partum ‘emotions’, there was Michael Phelps dealing with suicidal thoughts, former UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin and multiple others who have all shared their vulnerabilities and prioritised their mental health before anything else.

We expect our superstars to be superhuman. But by stepping back, and sharing their struggles, these athletes have shown us something equally important: They are human, too. 

A report published by the Athletes for Hope organisation in the US revealed that 35 percent of elite athletes have suffered from some kind of mental health crisis. 

The International Olympic Committee, aware of the struggles young athletes face, increased its mental health resources ahead of the Tokyo Games. Psychologists and psychiatrists are onsite in the Olympic village and established a “Mentally Fit Helpline” as a confidential health support service available before, during, and for three months after the Games. The 24-hour hotline is a free service that offers in more than 70 languages clinical support, structured short-term counseling, practical support and, if needed, guidance to the appropriate IOC reporting mechanisms in the case of harassment and/or abuse.

“Are we doing enough? I hope so. I think so,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Wednesday. “But like everyone in the world, we are doing more on this issue.” Moreover, that is a change which every athlete has brought in by sharing their fight, and the world today is a better place for it.