Injuries to the Mind — Simone Biles, Athletics, and Mental Health

Photo by Eugene Lim on Unsplash

The big story of the Olympics is one none of us wanted. Simone Biles pulling out of the team (and now individual all around) finals because of a “medical issue.”

Which turned out to be a mental issue. Of course, a lot of people are saying she lost it, that she’s weak or soft.

I’m not a gymnast, but I have a basic understanding from my own recreational athletic experiences of what happened to Biles.

It’s more accurate to call this an “injury” than to call it a “mental health issue.”

The Dangers of Gymnastics

If you look at old gymnastics videos you might see the gymnasts vaulting over a thin, padded device called a horse.

Now, the vault is done using a table. And there’s a reason for this.

The table, which is also called the “tongue,” was introduced internationally in 2001. The USA stopped using horses in 2003.

And there were reasons. In 1988, during warm ups for the World Sports Fair, Julissa Gomez slipped during her vault and hit the horse head first. She was paralyzed and later died from her injuries. She was 15 years old.

Vaulting disasters became so common that the new equipment was designed to reduce them by…