Settling for Silver/Leave Her Alone

 

   Normally I don't watch or comment on the Olympics, but a couple of news stories coming out of Tokyo have caught my attention. 

   The first was a couple of stories with a headline that a team (or person) settled for silver. These headlines always bother me because I consider them to be a bit demeaning. It implies that only a gold medal is good. The silver and bronze are consolation prizes.

   I suppose this is an expression of the ,"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing", mindset predominate in our culture today. The gold medal winner is the one standing on top and is the one who gets all the attention. Second and third are just not worthy of much attention.

   To me this unfair at best and sick and twisted at worst. The silver and bronze winners worked hard to get to a point where they could compete. They did their best and they placed high enough to win a medal. That deserves some respect. I'm sure that those who placed fourth through tenth would have loved to have the experience of winning a medal. I'm even willing to bet that there might be a few people who tried out for an Olympic team hoping to gain a spot and did not that would have been grateful for the chance to compete, let along win a medal.

   If there are any headline writers or copy editors out there, please strike out any "settling for" headlines when in comes to silver or bronze medals. They worked hard for those medals and deserve better.

   The second story was about gymnast Simone Biles withdrawing from competition. While there have been many supportive articles and statements, there have also been a few that have been mean and judgmental.

   To the latter group, I have one thing to say. Leave Her Alone. I'm sure that most athletes have periods of time during their careers where something either physical or mental prevents them from competing at the level they would like. I would think that this is especially true in a sport that is mentally and physically demanding as gymnastics. Those moves look effortless are actually are the result of hours and weeks and years of work and practice. There is nothing effortless about them.

   I'm certain that if she felt that she could safely compete at the level to which she has been accustomed, she would have been out there. Since she and, I assume, her coaches and other medical professionals have agreed that competing could greatly increase the risk of injury for her and adversely affect the team as well, she wisely stepped back. 

   I have one other thing to say. Simone Biles is 24 years old. Assuming a normal life span she has at least 50 more years of living to do. The vast majority of those 50 years will not involve gymnastics as a competitor. If she is choosing to care for herself so that she doesn't end up being crippled mentally or physically for the rest of her life, then good for her. She's done a lot already and has nothing to prove.