Time Magazine Names Simone Biles as ‘Athlete of the Year’ for Withdrawing from 2020 Olympics

Simone Biles
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Warner Todd Huston

Time magazine revealed a controversial pick for its “athlete of the year” award on Thursday handing the crown to U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, not because she did well, but because she pulled out of events during the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Biles had a relatively poor showing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo winning only a silver and bronze medal in two events, compared to the handful of golds she won during the 2016 Olympics.

However, Time did not laud her for winning the two lesser medals as much as it did for her decision to pull out of several events in 2020 for her “mental health.”

In July, Biles abruptly pulled out of several events claiming that she did so for her mental health. Specifically, Biles said she suffered from the “Twisties.” A condition that affects gymnasts when they lose their spacial awareness as they’re flying through the air.

Simone Biles

(LOIC NENACE/AFP via Getty Images)

“I have to focus on my mental health,” Biles said after announcing she was pulling out of the events in which she was scheduled to compete. “I didn’t want to go out and do something stupid and get hurt… At the end of the day we don’t want to be carried out of there on a stretcher.”

Biles also noted that she was inspired by other sports stars who abruptly quit events, including tennis player Naomi Osaka.

But instead of branding her as a quitter, Time decided that she is a hero for her actions in Tokyo.

“[W]hat Biles did transcended the chatter: she fought the stigma that has long silenced athletes, and shrugged off the naysayers who belittled her decision,” Time wrote in its Nov. 9 article.

The magazine added, “A month after the Games, Biles put her vulnerability on display once again. Along with three other of the hundreds of other athletes who had been sexually abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar, Biles gave emotional testimony before the Senate about the failures of institutions like the FBI, USA Gymnastics (USAG) and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to stop him.”

For Time, Biles refusing to compete sets her at a notch above other athletes.

“At a time when anxiety and depression rates are skyrocketing—the CDC reports a 50% rise in suicide attempts by teenage girls during the pandemic—and many people are struggling with what they owe themselves vs. what others demand of them,” Time wrote glowingly, “Biles made clear the importance of prioritizing oneself and refusing to succumb to external expectations. With the eyes of the world upon her, she took the extraordinary step of saying, That’s enough. I’m enough.”

Time also praised Biles for speaking out against USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal.

As Time sums it up:

So when a Black female athlete like Biles takes visible steps to safeguard her own mental and physical health, to indicate that it’s worth protecting, that action carries a special power. Plummer has noticed that since Tokyo, more personal and professional contacts have initiated conversations about their mental health. This is significant, as research has found that many Black women feel they must project an image of invulnerability and the stigma around mental health deters them from seeking help. And although Black adults are more likely than white ones to report symptoms of emotional distress, only 1 in 3 Black adults who needs mental-health care receives it. “It is a privilege of people who have money to see a therapist,” says Reuben Buford May, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who studies race and culture. “Intertwined with that is that African Americans have disproportionately been among the poor and have not been able to have health care to pay for mental-health services.”

The magazine awards Biles its top honor for her bravery, her heroism, her activism, and her press conferences, but not so much for her athletic victories.

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