Four-time Olympic gold medalist
Simone Biles has withdrawn from
the Women's gymnastics final at
the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Now she, at first,
didn't cite the reason and
then later cited mental health as
her concern.
And so, I want to
read a few statements that she
put out there and we can discuss,
because I think this is
an important discussion to have.
But also, aside from the mental
health component to it, I want to
discuss whether or not it makes
sense to be an Olympic athlete.
So she says, this Olympic Games I
wanted to be for myself when I came
in, and I felt like I was doing it
for other people.
So that just hurts my heart because
doing what I love has kind of been
taken away from me to please other
people.
So, four years ago,
she said that she suffered through
the competition despite the mental
health issues she was having
at the time.
She was really struggling.
So she struggled through it, but
she said this time around,
I'm not going to to do it.
She says, I don't want to do
something stupid and get hurt.
And it's just not worth it,
especially when you have three
amazing athletes that can step up
to the plate and do it,
not worth it.
Whenever you get a high stress
situation, you kind of freak out.
I have to focus on my mental health
and not jeopardize my health and
well-being.
It just sucks when you're fighting
with your own head.
At the end of the day, we're human,
too, so we have to protect
our mind in our body rather than
just go out there and
do what the world wants us to do.
With the year that it's been,
I'm really not surprised how it
played out.
So, it's been a difficult year,
year and a half for
a lot of people, so,
I totally understand that.
She had just won the silver medal
in the competition she competed in,
and then immediately after that was
when she decided to withdraw from
the other competitions.
>> Well, no,
she withdrew in the middle and
then the Olympic team combined,
the women's team in gymnastics got
a silver medal.
>> Got it. >> Okay.
>> Thank you for that
clarification. >> No, that's okay.
Look, I think this is a super hard
question. On the one hand, at least
I have tremendous sympathy for
her mental health concerns, right?
And they have a world of pressure
on them. And until you've felt that
pressure, it's hard for you to
understand it. And it's hard for
people to say, who cares and
just go back out there, right?
On the other hand, man, people work
so hard to get on that team, right?
And some didn't make it
because she has that position.
And you are letting your teammates
down, because in that case it
really is a team and they were
relying on you, and that's pretty
tough to withdraw from that, right?
On the third hand [LAUGH] she says
look, I'm in a bad state,
what if I screw up and
then I cost them a medal, right?
Whereas I've got all these great
gymnasts who could fill in for me,
and they did and
they got a silver, anyway,
that's a pretty good point, right?
If she's not in the right state of
mind at that point, right?
So I'm trying not to judge,
but at the same time she's taking
a spot there.
And if it's a team sport and
she's letting them down, and
then she's thinking of continuing
doing her own events.
My god, if anything, that's
going to create more pressure for
her, because people are going to
criticize the hell out of that,
right or wrong, right?
So that is a super hard question.
And then there's two more things.
Gymnastics is so subjective,
there's judges.
>> Right, yes. >> It's not like
its a, hey, I twisted my ankle or
I've got mental health issues
somebody else will run for me.
And then, okay, it's okay, she's
still faster than the Russians or
whoever else, right?
>> Mm-hm.
>> But in this case
once she withdraws,
the judges see it, they're not
going to give them the gold.
I know that people involved in
gymnastics will say, no, they're
objective or some will say that,
they're objective, etc.
No, perceptions matter,
they see the best athlete,
your best gymnast walk away,
they're not going to want to give
you the gold, keep it real.
That's my sense of it, right?
>> Sorry to interrupt you.
>> No, no, go ahead, go ahead.
I'm really curious actually
what you think.
>> Yeah, I'm going to say something
super controversial.
I think everyone's going to
disagree with me, but that's okay.
I think that the Olympics are bad.
>> Interesting, okay. >> And
the reason why I say that,
is because it is a profit-seeking
mission by the International
Olympic Committee.
The host cities typically lose a
lot of money in order to host, but
it's a genital measuring contest
between countries and cities,
which is why they get super excited
when they win the bid to do it.
I think that some athletes,
of course, if they perform well and
they've got name recognition,
will get all sorts of sponsorship
deals and make a lot of money.
But they put their minds and
their bodies through so much and
there's a good chance,
the vast majority of Olympians,
that they won't make money.
That they'll actually end up
spending a lot more money to
compete than actually earn a living
through putting their minds and
bodies through all of this, right?
And so,
I'm not in any way dismissing or
minimizing the sports or
the competitions, themselves, but
the whole model of how this goes
down, I do have a problem with.
And I oftentimes wonder what
happens to these athletes
once their athletic career is over,
right?
I mean, she's so young and
she's put herself through a lot.
And it seems like she's made decent
money doing this and she'll be
fine, financially speaking, but
what happens after this?
What do you do with your life
after this?
>> Well, she's going to be fine
because she's so
famous at this point and has so
many sponsorships, >> Yeah.
>> But it's the ones that are the
fifth, sixth person on the team,
the third person on the team, where
you worry, what happens afterwards?
I hear you on that.
But the flip side of that, and
do we have a poll on this Ana?
>> We don't. >> We don't, okay.
Go to our polls anyway.
[LAUGH] But
the flip side of that is, look, all
of athletics is super stressful.
I was signing my son into a flag
football camp yesterday, right?
And he said, Baba,
my stomach feels queasy.
>> Yeah, see.
>> Because he got nervous, right?
[LAUGH] I know but that's sports,
right?
It's all of sports.
>> Yeah. >> And we do get nervous,
but that's part of life and
that's part of the sport.
And, look,
Olympics has a lot of issues and
it's mainly for
the sponsors, I get it.
On the other hand,
I prefer it to war, [LAUGH] right?
>> No, of course, yeah, look, I
mean that's a ridiculous comparison
I mean- >> No, I know, but
in the old days we used to measure
penises, unfortunately, by, my
king's penis is larger than yours,
let's all murder each other, right?
>> America still engages in
that, for sure.
>> A little bit. >> Yeah.
>> Yes, for sure, but I prefer
sports as a way of doing that for
the World Cup
greatly as a way of doing that.
>> Dude, what's up with this whole
Russia thing though?
>> Russigate, wait.
>> No, hold on, hold on.
[LAUGH] >> No,
it's funny because this is actually
not an anti-Russia commentary.
>> Is that allowed in this show?
>> So, Russia gets in trouble
because their athletes were found
to have been taking performance
enhancing drugs in the Olympics,
correct?
>> Yeah.
>> And so the punishment
is to ban them from the Olympics,
but not really.
They could still be part of
the Olympics but they can't be
called Russia, they have to be
called the Russian Committee or
something like that.
What is that?
Somebody tell me what that is.
I need to know what that is.
That's so stupid.
>> Yeah. >> What is that?
>> [LAUGH] Honestly, I haven't read
enough about that story to know.
Okay, I wish I could answer that
question because it sounds-
>> Russia, very, very bad.
Very, very bad, so they show up
with like the glasses and
the fake mustache, and
they're like Russians aren't here.
We still have Russia in our names
but it's a little different.
>> It's so silly.
Look, if somebody's doping,
kick them out,
don't kick out the whole country.
That's my take.
So- >> Yeah, I agree.
>> Yeah, and the Russians
are really good at the Olympics
in a lot of different sports, don't
take that pride away from them.
>> See, not Russiagate.
Twist.
[LAUGH] >> Okay, but
back to Simone Biles,
my heart goes out to her.
And listen, at the end of the day,
the only thing that matters is your
health, both your physical health,
your mental health.
And so, this was not
an easy decision for her to make,
I have no doubt.
And while it might be difficult to
deal with, maybe, some of the
fallout over her decision, I think
that if this was the right decision
for her to be healthy and safe,
go for it, do what's right for you.
>> But, Ana, I'm even worried about
that because this is going to
create so much controversy, and so
much criticism.
I'm worried that it's going to
be counterproductive.
Because, look, we've told you this
a couple of times before.
We get a small, I say small,
it's not really small.
We get [LAUGH] hefty chunk of it
online, as well,
in terms of criticism, etc.
And we know how hard it is to deal
with, but they're on a world stage.
>> Yeah. >> And now,
anal sports talk, it's maybe
the only thing worse than political
talk in terms of bile, right?
If you will.
And so everybody's raining down
hate on her now.
And so now she's gotta deal
with that new wave of
hate because she withdrew.
And so- >> Yeah.
>> Damned if you do,
damned if you don't.
And then, of course,
you've got the tennis star who was
going to deliver gold for Japan.
And she was already worried about
mental health issues and
then withdrawn from one of
the tournament's recently and
then she loses.
So she loses and
then a new world of hate, right?
So you participate and you lose,
they hate you,
you don't participate,
they hate you.
So I understand it is tremendous
pressure on them.
>> Absolutely,
at the end of the game,
a tennis match is a game.
These are games,
they're supposed to be fun and
they've been transitioned into
a profit-seeking operation.
And there's so much pressure and so
much on the line and
it doesn't need to be that way.
Again, I'm not taking away from
the competition's themselves, but
the way that this is all done just
leaves a bad taste in my mouth.