Thank You, Simone Biles And Naomi Osaka
If there were an ideal description of a "True Olympian", I would expect these ladies' photos to accompany the definition.
In addition to bringing home a total of 7 medals (counting both Rio and Tokyo),, Simone opened up (and made us aware) of something called "Air Awareness " or "Twisties" which are defined as a "sensation gymnasts can develop when they lose their sense of control in the air."
Very scary terminology - especially when one considers one could end up paralyzed were he or she to lose that awareness.
So my thanks to Ms. Biles for her candor in speaking of this. I empathized with her worried demeanor as she made the decision to finish with the Bronze medal, which must have meant more than the Gold. I include below a short clip of Simone finishing up on the beam and that smile at the end just says it all!
I would be remiss if I did not mention the other athlete, Naomi Osaka. Ms. Osaka sadly was eliminated in the third round of the Women's Singles Tournament, which brought the Japanese athlete's first Olympics to an end.
Naomi suffers from depression and expressed herself very well in Time magazine's article, "It's OK Not To Be OK"
While she did not fare as well as Simone, she gets props from me and millions of others who deal with depression every day.
In my opinion, both ladies are winners and the rest of the world can take a lesson from their willingness to speak openly of their fears and trials.
Here now, Simone's event on the balance beam.
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