Tokyo Olympics: The Thread (OPEN SPOILERS, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!)
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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The All-Around was phenomenal with Lee putting in one of the grittiest performances I’ve ever seen in all of sports to win the gold. (The woman must have talons for toenails the way she gripped the beam on that shaky wolf turn).
Only shame was it ultimately came down to Andrade stepping out of bounds on floor, which is akin to winning a football game on a missed field goal. Regardless, Lee, Andrade, Melnikova, and Urazova finishing within a point of each other is stellar. (And what’s crazy is ROC’s Listunova WAS favored to medal in AA, but got 2-pered out by her 3rd and 4th place finishing teammates.)
Without Biles, the field for the events finals is wide open, except for bars, which was always going to be a battle between Lee and Darwael. But without Biles, we have Iliankova, Melnikova, Lu, and Fan battling for bronze. (Be cool if De Jesus Dos Santos made a move after being bumped up from the reserve list with Biles out).
Lee could medal on beam too, but I think Guan and Tang are going to be super motivated for the gold after China has been unusually awful in Tokyo. Iordache and Black are right there too. And I don’t think she’ll medal, but Saraiva is always fun.
Carey has a legit shot to medal on floor, if not nab gold. Before Qualifiers, Murakami was mentioned in the running for bronze, but she only just barely qualified. I think Andrade has an opportunity to make up for her flub during all-around to medal on floor, along with a motivated Listunova after missing the AA. Ferrari also scored highest in Qualifiers, even with Biles competing (albeit at half speed) so she would be a serious challenger too.
Vault looks like it’s going to be a fight between Carey, Andrade, and Skinner, which will complete one of the wildest journeys to an Olympic medal in history if Skinner does indeed walk away from Tokyo with one. Yeo was right there in Qualifiers, and never can count out the Russians Akhaimova and Melnikova.
Only shame was it ultimately came down to Andrade stepping out of bounds on floor, which is akin to winning a football game on a missed field goal. Regardless, Lee, Andrade, Melnikova, and Urazova finishing within a point of each other is stellar. (And what’s crazy is ROC’s Listunova WAS favored to medal in AA, but got 2-pered out by her 3rd and 4th place finishing teammates.)
Without Biles, the field for the events finals is wide open, except for bars, which was always going to be a battle between Lee and Darwael. But without Biles, we have Iliankova, Melnikova, Lu, and Fan battling for bronze. (Be cool if De Jesus Dos Santos made a move after being bumped up from the reserve list with Biles out).
Lee could medal on beam too, but I think Guan and Tang are going to be super motivated for the gold after China has been unusually awful in Tokyo. Iordache and Black are right there too. And I don’t think she’ll medal, but Saraiva is always fun.
Carey has a legit shot to medal on floor, if not nab gold. Before Qualifiers, Murakami was mentioned in the running for bronze, but she only just barely qualified. I think Andrade has an opportunity to make up for her flub during all-around to medal on floor, along with a motivated Listunova after missing the AA. Ferrari also scored highest in Qualifiers, even with Biles competing (albeit at half speed) so she would be a serious challenger too.
Vault looks like it’s going to be a fight between Carey, Andrade, and Skinner, which will complete one of the wildest journeys to an Olympic medal in history if Skinner does indeed walk away from Tokyo with one. Yeo was right there in Qualifiers, and never can count out the Russians Akhaimova and Melnikova.
The common rebuttals I’ve seen from the toxic brosephs calling Biles a “scared quitter” have been:
1: Kurt Angle won gold with a broken neck!
(And became addicted to Vicodin from the constant injections he needed to do so. If there was an injection to numb “the twisties” I’m betting Biles would take it. Then again, I’d be chill if she chose not to as well.)
2: Tom Brady won a Super Bowl with a torn MCL!
(Kay, I bet that didn’t cause him to see the field spinning in circles around him, or lose his muscle memory to throw a pass. The dude forgot it was 4th down once and he never heard the end of it. Meanwhile, Biles won world championships with broken toes and kidney stones, so she’s right on par with the football GOAT).
3: Michael Jordan would never quit on the Bulls!
(Jordan literally quit basketball for nearly 2 years for mental health related reasons).
4: Keri Strug won the gold on a broken foot!
(Strug was verbally and emotional abused by verified demon Bela Karolyi into fearing the consequences if she didn’t preform an ultimately unnecessary vault on a broken foot, which is exactly the type of abuse that has morally and economically bankrupt USAG. Strug - and the rest of the Magnificent Seven - has also been vocally supportive of Biles)
5: Curt Schilling pitched in the World Series with torn staples bleeding from his ankle!
(Curt Schilling is an a**hole)
1: Kurt Angle won gold with a broken neck!
(And became addicted to Vicodin from the constant injections he needed to do so. If there was an injection to numb “the twisties” I’m betting Biles would take it. Then again, I’d be chill if she chose not to as well.)
2: Tom Brady won a Super Bowl with a torn MCL!
(Kay, I bet that didn’t cause him to see the field spinning in circles around him, or lose his muscle memory to throw a pass. The dude forgot it was 4th down once and he never heard the end of it. Meanwhile, Biles won world championships with broken toes and kidney stones, so she’s right on par with the football GOAT).
3: Michael Jordan would never quit on the Bulls!
(Jordan literally quit basketball for nearly 2 years for mental health related reasons).
4: Keri Strug won the gold on a broken foot!
(Strug was verbally and emotional abused by verified demon Bela Karolyi into fearing the consequences if she didn’t preform an ultimately unnecessary vault on a broken foot, which is exactly the type of abuse that has morally and economically bankrupt USAG. Strug - and the rest of the Magnificent Seven - has also been vocally supportive of Biles)
5: Curt Schilling pitched in the World Series with torn staples bleeding from his ankle!
(Curt Schilling is an a**hole)
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Anyone follow this weird Mexican softball story?
I took today off for my birthday earlier this week so watched the Canada-Brazil and USWNT games this morning. Both were some of the worst women's soccer I've seen in ages, not sure if it's heat, the pitch (which is all turf iirc), or what. Just long balls booming over everyone with sprints to catch them. I was really impressed with Canada maintaining composure after Sinclair got stopped though. I am looking forward to a US/CAN semi. Will be fun to see how the Portland women's soccer crowd cheers this one on, as Sinclair is a Thorns legend too.
I took today off for my birthday earlier this week so watched the Canada-Brazil and USWNT games this morning. Both were some of the worst women's soccer I've seen in ages, not sure if it's heat, the pitch (which is all turf iirc), or what. Just long balls booming over everyone with sprints to catch them. I was really impressed with Canada maintaining composure after Sinclair got stopped though. I am looking forward to a US/CAN semi. Will be fun to see how the Portland women's soccer crowd cheers this one on, as Sinclair is a Thorns legend too.
The good news is she still has the team silver, so no matter what, she won’t be completely empty handed.
But I know what you mean. This was the Olympics that was going to cement her legacy as the unquestioned greatest gymnast of all time. She would be that even if she retired after Rio, but this was going to be her victory lap:
Third straight team gold for the US, 11 total medals (6 Golds, 5 Silvers) for Team USA, first back-to-back AA Olympic champion since the Soviet era (and only third ever), fifth gymnast to medal at every event in a single Olympics, surpass Comaneci in Olympic medal count, surpass Latynina and Scherbo as the most Int’l decorated gymnast of all time.
That wasn’t a pipe dream; all of that was well within her (and the team’s) capabilities. And still, very easy to understand how those exorbitant expectations and the omnipresent hyperventilating, mouth-frothing media (traditional and social) focus was absolute venom to her mind.
I watched an expose in which Comaneci talked about handling pressure as a 14-year-old in the Olympics. She said “What did I know about pressure? I was just a kid.” But when she returned to the Olympics in Moscow 4 years later, suddenly she was supposed to be “Perfect Nadia,” making her golds on beam and floor, and silvers in team and all-around in Moscow “disappointments.” Proof she’d lost a step, was too old, couldn’t live up to expectations.
Overrated.
And that was 40 years ago, when media consisted exclusively of professional newspapers, radio, and TV, devoid of 24-hour news, “citizen” journalism, and “hot take” culture in which being funny is far more important than being informed.
Michael Jordan said in an interview his career would not have survived the Social Media / Twitter era due to the invasive loss of privacy. Of course in his case, he meant more the scandalous revelations of his character rather than succumbing to the stress of unreasonable pressure, but the point stands.
It should not have taken two 20-year-old superstars in Osaka and Biles taking a step back during the pinnacle of their prowess to stand up for themselves so we could realize dehumanizing athletes and giving every toxic troll a media megaphone is, to put it lightly, unhealthy.
But I know what you mean. This was the Olympics that was going to cement her legacy as the unquestioned greatest gymnast of all time. She would be that even if she retired after Rio, but this was going to be her victory lap:
Third straight team gold for the US, 11 total medals (6 Golds, 5 Silvers) for Team USA, first back-to-back AA Olympic champion since the Soviet era (and only third ever), fifth gymnast to medal at every event in a single Olympics, surpass Comaneci in Olympic medal count, surpass Latynina and Scherbo as the most Int’l decorated gymnast of all time.
That wasn’t a pipe dream; all of that was well within her (and the team’s) capabilities. And still, very easy to understand how those exorbitant expectations and the omnipresent hyperventilating, mouth-frothing media (traditional and social) focus was absolute venom to her mind.
I watched an expose in which Comaneci talked about handling pressure as a 14-year-old in the Olympics. She said “What did I know about pressure? I was just a kid.” But when she returned to the Olympics in Moscow 4 years later, suddenly she was supposed to be “Perfect Nadia,” making her golds on beam and floor, and silvers in team and all-around in Moscow “disappointments.” Proof she’d lost a step, was too old, couldn’t live up to expectations.
Overrated.
And that was 40 years ago, when media consisted exclusively of professional newspapers, radio, and TV, devoid of 24-hour news, “citizen” journalism, and “hot take” culture in which being funny is far more important than being informed.
Michael Jordan said in an interview his career would not have survived the Social Media / Twitter era due to the invasive loss of privacy. Of course in his case, he meant more the scandalous revelations of his character rather than succumbing to the stress of unreasonable pressure, but the point stands.
It should not have taken two 20-year-old superstars in Osaka and Biles taking a step back during the pinnacle of their prowess to stand up for themselves so we could realize dehumanizing athletes and giving every toxic troll a media megaphone is, to put it lightly, unhealthy.
That certainly provides a guilty dose of schadenfreude, but I know the trolls will just move onto their next paragon of mental toughness.
Right now, not the least bit ironically, its Lee who is somehow the anti-Biles for overcoming pressure and stepping up to the challenge of winning the AA gold.
Doesn’t matter that all of team USA, past and present, including Lee have publicly defended Biles and dedicated their performance to her. Never let facts get in the way of a juicy narrative.
Right now, not the least bit ironically, its Lee who is somehow the anti-Biles for overcoming pressure and stepping up to the challenge of winning the AA gold.
Doesn’t matter that all of team USA, past and present, including Lee have publicly defended Biles and dedicated their performance to her. Never let facts get in the way of a juicy narrative.
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Skinner gets silver on vault!
What a wild, weird journey for her to an Olympic medal, but she finally did it. I am so very glad to see the Grandma on the podium.
And for all the ire she justifiably earned during the Douglas saga, and her reputation as a hothead diva with the Red Rocks, she has been one of Biles closest supporters and confidants in Tokyo. I’m proud of her accomplishment on her last ever competition as a gymnast.
Lee takes bronze on bars, which is not the medal I had expected from her, but still happy she made it to the podium.
Andrade wins gold on vault, first for Brazil in women’s artistic gymnastics. (Yeo with bronze).
Darwael, Lee’s chief rival, takes gold on bars (her first Olympic medal after being a two-time world champion on the event). Illiankova from ROC with silver.
What a wild, weird journey for her to an Olympic medal, but she finally did it. I am so very glad to see the Grandma on the podium.
And for all the ire she justifiably earned during the Douglas saga, and her reputation as a hothead diva with the Red Rocks, she has been one of Biles closest supporters and confidants in Tokyo. I’m proud of her accomplishment on her last ever competition as a gymnast.
Lee takes bronze on bars, which is not the medal I had expected from her, but still happy she made it to the podium.
Andrade wins gold on vault, first for Brazil in women’s artistic gymnastics. (Yeo with bronze).
Darwael, Lee’s chief rival, takes gold on bars (her first Olympic medal after being a two-time world champion on the event). Illiankova from ROC with silver.
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Let’s all take a moment to reflect on the fact that while the Chinese have done rather spectacularly overall at these Olympics, they still have yet to earn a single medal in artistic women’s gymnastics where they’ve been a consistent force for two decades. Beam presents their last chance.
If Americans are salty about Biles bowing out, and the US still ending up with team silver, AA gold, vault silver and bars bronze, with Lee and Carey still to compete on beam and floor, imagine the thermonuclear meltdown of a 7th place team finish and zero individual medals right now.
There is going to be some serious fallout for the Chinese team here. Hopefully for them Guan and Tang can stop the bleeding on beam.
If Americans are salty about Biles bowing out, and the US still ending up with team silver, AA gold, vault silver and bars bronze, with Lee and Carey still to compete on beam and floor, imagine the thermonuclear meltdown of a 7th place team finish and zero individual medals right now.
There is going to be some serious fallout for the Chinese team here. Hopefully for them Guan and Tang can stop the bleeding on beam.
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She said she’s experienced “the twisties” throughout her entire career exclusively on vault and floor, so in that regard it makes sense she would cut floor before beam. But the main reason is because floor finals are the day before beam, so she had to cut that now while still giving herself a day to consider green lighting beam.
Regardless, she says this is the first time she’s been suffering with “the twisties” for every event, which must be horrifying, especially for a woman whose most vibrant memory of the Rio Olympics was puking in the bathroom with Raisman before the AA finals.
I think this situation would also be better served if “the twisties” had a less cutesy name such as “the devil’s vortex” or “vertigo paralysis.”
Not that the toxic trolls would be any less brutal shouting taunts from beneath their keyboard bridges. Fortunately, they’re also not the type to follow women’s artistic gymnastics outside of two weeks of the summer every four years.
Regardless, she says this is the first time she’s been suffering with “the twisties” for every event, which must be horrifying, especially for a woman whose most vibrant memory of the Rio Olympics was puking in the bathroom with Raisman before the AA finals.
I think this situation would also be better served if “the twisties” had a less cutesy name such as “the devil’s vortex” or “vertigo paralysis.”
Not that the toxic trolls would be any less brutal shouting taunts from beneath their keyboard bridges. Fortunately, they’re also not the type to follow women’s artistic gymnastics outside of two weeks of the summer every four years.
By the way, he stole the “pressure is privilege” line from Billie Jean King who herself said of Biles:
“I’ve been thinking about #SimoneBiles all day. So very sorry she wasn’t feeling her best. She showed true leadership in taking herself out of competition in order for her team to have a chance to medal. Sending her and the love & support.”
“I’ve been thinking about #SimoneBiles all day. So very sorry she wasn’t feeling her best. She showed true leadership in taking herself out of competition in order for her team to have a chance to medal. Sending her and the love & support.”
I think people trying to make her sound like a hero for the act of quitting is what is turning people off. If she just came out and said something weird is going on to where she's getting lost in the air and it has her fearing she could potentially break her neck and become paralyzed....I think most of America would be like yeah that's a pretty damn good excuse for dropping out. No gold medal is worth living the rest of your life in a wheelchair.
The turn off is her being labeled a hero and brave and all this for dropping out. It doesn't make you either and if you know exactly why you dropped out, then just come out and say it in the first interview. If the reasons change and evolve as the days go on, people are less inclined to believe them. I think most people are very understanding when you look them in the eye and tell them the truth right off the bat.
The turn off is her being labeled a hero and brave and all this for dropping out. It doesn't make you either and if you know exactly why you dropped out, then just come out and say it in the first interview. If the reasons change and evolve as the days go on, people are less inclined to believe them. I think most people are very understanding when you look them in the eye and tell them the truth right off the bat.
Reading your comment has me feeling like we’re living in parallel realties.
Biles herself has been completely forthcoming from the onset. In her first interview minutes after the team competition she said “physically I feel good, but the mental is not there.” And since then she has been rather explicit describing the mental issues she’s experiencing saying she gets “lost in the air” during stunts, patiently explaining “the twisties” to non-gymnasts (something a cavalcade of fellow gymnasts and divers have said “yeah, we totally know what that is”) and even posting videos of her practicing skills demonstrating precisely what she’s struggling through.
And I know she’s been transparently clear on this subject because I’ve literally been documenting it for the past week in this very thread. I initially assumed on my own it was an ankle injury because of the way she landed after bailing early on her Amanar vault, but that was based purely on my own observation. I corrected myself as soon as I heard her interview.
And you’re right, in that scenario MOST of America has said “That’s a pretty damn good excuse for dropping out. No gold medal is worth living the rest of your life in a wheelchair.” So, exactly what you said should happen has happened, but from what I read in your post, you’re still attacking her for not doing that thing.
It’s like the scene from Super Troopers, when the patrol car flashes its lights and bellows “pull over” on the loudspeaker to the car parked in the dirt on the shoulder.
“She’s already pulled over. She can’t pull over any more.”
I understand it being annoying having other people call her heroic, or praising her decision not to compete as an example of leadership. But not one ounce of that is on her. At all. She’s not labeling herself as anything other than a frustrated as hell gymnast who can’t compete right now at the premier event of her sport despite years of grueling preparation.
She did look America in the eye and tell us the truth right off the bat. And while the majority were understanding, a very loud, obnoxious minority spat back in her face and called her a quitter.
Biles herself has been completely forthcoming from the onset. In her first interview minutes after the team competition she said “physically I feel good, but the mental is not there.” And since then she has been rather explicit describing the mental issues she’s experiencing saying she gets “lost in the air” during stunts, patiently explaining “the twisties” to non-gymnasts (something a cavalcade of fellow gymnasts and divers have said “yeah, we totally know what that is”) and even posting videos of her practicing skills demonstrating precisely what she’s struggling through.
And I know she’s been transparently clear on this subject because I’ve literally been documenting it for the past week in this very thread. I initially assumed on my own it was an ankle injury because of the way she landed after bailing early on her Amanar vault, but that was based purely on my own observation. I corrected myself as soon as I heard her interview.
And you’re right, in that scenario MOST of America has said “That’s a pretty damn good excuse for dropping out. No gold medal is worth living the rest of your life in a wheelchair.” So, exactly what you said should happen has happened, but from what I read in your post, you’re still attacking her for not doing that thing.
It’s like the scene from Super Troopers, when the patrol car flashes its lights and bellows “pull over” on the loudspeaker to the car parked in the dirt on the shoulder.
“She’s already pulled over. She can’t pull over any more.”
I understand it being annoying having other people call her heroic, or praising her decision not to compete as an example of leadership. But not one ounce of that is on her. At all. She’s not labeling herself as anything other than a frustrated as hell gymnast who can’t compete right now at the premier event of her sport despite years of grueling preparation.
She did look America in the eye and tell us the truth right off the bat. And while the majority were understanding, a very loud, obnoxious minority spat back in her face and called her a quitter.
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