There’s been a lot of talking about Simone Biles withdrawing from several events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (maybe all, the events are under way as I write).
And of course, a lot of ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY chit chat on social media. Well, here’s a couple of ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY POINTS from me too.
Point one: a message for all of those commenting on how right she is, that having everybody talking about you is extremely stressful, and that all of that attention can lead anyone to dark places, et cetera…I mean, you do realise the irony yeah? ‘People need stop talking about her’, says online white knight talking about her. Genius.
Secondly: the message that accepting your weakness is the sign of being a winner is intrinsically wrong. If you withdraw you do not win; if you do not win you are not a winner; if you are not a winner, you are a loser. I mean, it’s not that hard.
Rather, the point ought to be: it’s OK to lose. Back to my point about the lesson I learnt from Roberto Baggio. It’s OK to not be on top of the mountain: if you are second, you are second, and it’s fine: do not take that silver medal off your neck in disgust (as I’m seeing in football quite too often). It’s a great achievement indeed! But at the same time, do not think that you are a winner: you lost, it’s fine, you can accept it, and try harder, if you want, next time. If you don’t want to, it’s fine as well.
There’s so much stigma around not being the number one, it’s sickening. Leave the poor girl alone, she didn’t feel like competing, there’s someone else who’ll be the winner here, it’s fine. Just leave her alone. What I hope for her is, she’ll manage to be OK with being a loser.
