Quick Reaction: Team USA finishes with silver after Simone Biles injury
(Photo courtesy of usatoday)
I felt like I had to write something about this because it is going wayyyyy overboard. In the team final for women’s gymnastics at the Olympics, Simone Biles bailed out of her vault and ended up with an injury. At this time, we do not know how serious this injury is or if she will compete in the individual all-around competition.
Right after Team USA won the silver medal, I went on snapchat and the Daily Mail magazine had a headline that said, “Simone Gets Fired: Superstar Pulled Out Of Gymnastic Team After Lowest Score in Years.”
Ok. Let’s get this straight. SHE DID NOT GET PULLED OUT OF THE COMPETITION BECAUSE OF HER SCORE. She got pulled out because she got hurt, and with her level of difficulty in every single event, she most likely could have injured herself more if she continued to compete. The vault that she got injured on scored only 1.5 points lower than her prelims score. The skills that she is competing in are groundbreaking for any athlete in this sport. The fact that her score was still competitive on a skill that she got injured shows how amazing this gymnast is.
All of these spotlights are on Simone and, rightfully so, she is the best gymnast in the world. That doesn’t mean she isn’t allowed to have a bad day. Just because she isn’t competing doesn’t mean that Team USA sucks. That team is built from a handful of the best gymnasts in the world.
Laurie Hernandez said it best in her Instagram story, “They didn’t lose gold, they won silver.”
I’m hoping to see Simone compete in the individual all-around, but if she doesn’t, she still has secured her legacy as the GOAT. I just really don’t think anyone can fight me on that because all you have to do is look at the numbers. And if people think she is handed scores, I just don’t agree. The Olympics judges did not hand out anything, and anyone who watched it can see that. And, if she was handed higher scores, she would be given the proper difficulty scores for her skills.
Okay, my rant is done for now.