Simone Biles grabbed our attention when she withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The reason? The GOAT's mental health was suffering. Luckily, she caught it and made the incredibly courageous decision to cheer on her teammates rather than push herself to her absolute breaking point.
Other athletes who know just how immense the pressure of competing at such a high level is have been coming to Simone's defense. Because the truth is, competing when you aren't mentally fit to do so can be dangerous for a number of reasons. That doesn't change the fact that Simone's decision was pretty much unprecedented.
While all athletes have to work hard and battle through physical and emotional pain at times, what female gymnasts have historically been pressured to put themselves through is downright disturbing. Many of us have applauded those female athletes as being brave and unstoppable. While that may, in fact, be true, what they also likely felt was powerless.
These eight female gymnasts have painful stories that we should be talking about in this moment.
1. Elena Mukhina
Russian gymnast Elena Mukhina was the 1978 women's gymnastics World Champion. But when she broke her leg just before the 1980 Olympics, she wasn't given time to heal. Her Soviet coaches put the pressure on, imploring doctors to remove her cast earlier than they knew was best.
Elena tried to advocate for herself. She pushed back, knowing that her leg wasn't healed and that she wasn't ready to train at such a high level, but she was told she must compete. During a training session, Elena under-rotated due to her weakened leg. She landed on her chin and broke her neck at 20 years old. She would spend the rest of her life as a quadriplegic.
2. Kerri Strug
Who could forget Kerri Strug? She was a part of the "Magnificent Seven" who represented the US in the 1996 Olympics. Kerri famously injured her ankle during a vault. Wincing in agony, she went back for another vault, with coach Béla Károlyi pressing her to go on.
Kerri asked her coach if she had to go again. He told her, "You have to do it." The US needed Kerri to land the vault in order to beat the Russians. She did land the vault in a move that would have her going down in US history as a hero, but after briefly landing on two feet, she collapsed in pain. Her coach had to carry her off the floor and to the podium to receive her gold medal.
3. Dominique Moceanu
If there's anyone who understands the pressure of being a female gymnast competing at the Olympic level, it's Dominique Moceanu. Just after Simone Biles opted out, Dominique opened up on social media about her own experience with feeling pressure to compete.
In a powerful post alongside of a video of herself getting injured during a beam routine, she wrote, "I was 14 y/o w/ a tibial stress fracture, left alone w/ no cervical spine exam after this fall. I competed in the Olympic floor final minutes later." She continued her post by pointing to how important it is to stand up for yourself, even at the Olympic level: "@simonebiles decision demonstrates that we have a say in our own health—'a say' I NEVER felt I had as an Olympian."
4. Julissa Gomez
Julissa Gomez's story is a heartbreaking one. The 15-year-old American gymnast nearly made it to the 1988 Olympics, but just before that she botched a vault. That vault would leave her paralyzed. She died three years later at the age of 18.
As an Olympic hopeful, the gymnast was under immense pressure at the time. The vault was one she'd been practicing for three years, but according to the New York Times, she had never been able to nail it. Still, her coaches pressured her, telling her that if she wanted to succeed in her sport, she had to push harder.
People are now pointing to the incident as what could have happened to Simone had she chosen to compete knowing she wasn't in the right headspace.
5. Sang Lan
Seventeen-year-old Chinese gymnast Sang Lan was performing a routine warm-up at the Goodwill Games in 1998 when tragedy struck. She landed on her chin and suffered a spinal cord injury. She would never walk again.
The incident raised huge red flags about safety in gymnastics at the time. Just this year, the gymnast sued Time Warner and the US Gymnastics Federation for $1.65 billion for failing to pay her medical bills and meet her needs, as was promised.
6. Alicia Sacramone
Alicia Sacramone has been quick to weigh in about Simone's decision to step back from Olympic events, telling ESPN that the pressure on Olympic gymnasts is unmatched anywhere else. That's because she understands the pressure completely and knows what it feels like to compete when you don't feel like you're at your absolute best.
Back in the 2008 Olympics, she told reporters just after her team won silver, "We would have loved to have that gold. And because of my mistakes, we missed out."
The gymnast's coach had persuaded her to keep competing after setbacks leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games, and it was tough to convince herself she made the right choice.
Alicia is the fourth most decorated US female gymnast, but she still felt like a failure. She retired following the 2008 Games.
7. Claudia Fragapane
British gymnast Claudia Fragapane understands pressure. She competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and told the BBC she could "understand exactly how Simone was feeling." Claudia fell in two qualifying events and again after a "mental block." She suffered a head injury, but luckily no permanent damage. Still, the experience will stay with her forever.
"It's really dangerous if you doubt yourself a little bit, or you find it really hard, you can really really hurt yourself," Claudia said. "I've been in her shoes and I ended up hurting myself."
8. Simone Biles
There is almost no one who can understand what it feels like to be the GOAT. Simone Biles certainly does, and she's incredibly grateful for all of her opportunities, but she's battled for every single one of them.
Simone's early life included painful experiences like living in foster homes. Then she was abused by team doctor Larry Nassar. All of her difficult experiences have likely made her work even harder to succeed. But all of that success comes with a price — a crushing amount of pressure from the entire world, expecting her to be perfect.
Simone just made it clear that her body and her mental health aren't up for grabs, however. They don't belong to anyone else but her. In opening up about the massive pressure put on Olympic athletes, Simone is doing a service to so many who have competed or who will compete in the future.
