Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast, faltered at the Tokyo Olympics Tuesday, showing that even our near-perfect heroes are fallible. Seeing her slip reminds her many fans of what that pressure, however well-intentioned, can do to an international idol.
She was attempting an advanced vault move known as the Amanar, which she’d executed perfectly in a previous competition. The move involves a back handspring with two-and-a-half twists in the air before landing. It’s a feat for the average Olympian, but when Biles nails it, she looks effortless. On Tuesday, though, Biles « looked like she got lost » somewhere in the air, CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan said. She nearly landed on her knees and left the field of play close to tears. Minutes later, word came that Biles would not compete with the team. « Worst nightmare coming to pass here, » Brennan said of Biles exiting the event. Her departure stunned the sports world and her many fans in the US who’ve seen her repeatedly make the most difficult moves in gymnastics look like standard playground stunts. Biles’ talent and charisma has catapulted her to a pedestal so high and seemingly untouchable that any mistake is magnified, and it’s all the more devastating — to Biles and to her many fans — when she falls. Biles isn’t one to hide how she feels. After her less-than-perfect performance in the preliminary round Sunday, she said she feels like she has « the weight of the world on [her] shoulders at times. » « I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but damn sometimes it’s hard hahaha! » she wrote on Instagram. Biles, the most decorated American gymnast, defies gravity like a superhuman, but even our near-perfect heroes are fallible. Seeing her slip reminds her many fans of what pressure, however well-intentioned, can do to an international idol. Biles is seen as superhuman Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time; watch any of her previous routines and this much is undeniable. She executes moves so complex, so far from anything her competitors are capable of, that the gymnastics judging panel has been accused of dampening her scores so she doesn’t obliterate the competition. Here is an athlete with virtually no rival; no one has ever done the kinds of moves she can. (Ever heard of the Yurchenko double pike? Not until Simone Biles, you didn’t, because she was the first to ever execute it.) Dozens of articles have said as much in the weeks leading up to her return to the Olympics. She’s such an outsized talent that she’s transcended sport altogether and become the kind of cultural phenomenon that only male athletes usually got to be in a previous era. For all the praise heaped on her, she’s generally seemed able to acknowledge it, owning her preternatural prowess without letting the expectations weigh her down. Gone are the days of the Fierce Five, the nickname for the 2012 US Women’s Gymnastics stars that included Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman. It’s all about the 24-year-old,4-foot-8 powerhouse with the bedazzled goat embroidered onto her leotards. But Biles returned to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with something more to prove.
