Going into the 2020 Olympics, gymnast Simone Biles was an early favorite to clean house and capture gold, especially in the women’s all around. Biles is referred to as the GOAT of women’s gymnastics as she is the “most-decorated gymnast in World Championships history with 25 medals in total from all competitions, 19 of which are gold.” She hasn’t avoided the title and often wears a rhinestone goat on her leotard.

Biles withdrew from the the team final event last week and withdrew from the individual all-around competition earlier this week. Yesterday she withdrew from the uneven bars, vault, and floor exercise finals. She has yet to withdraw from the beam final. Biles withdrew from all of the events citing her mental health as a concern. Further comments explained that she was experiencing the “twisties”- what gymnasts describe as losing their sense of position while in the air and losing control of their body while performing tricks.

Former UFC Champion and gold medalist wrestler, Henry Cejudo, weighed in on Biles pulling out and he did not mince his words. He said, “I believe Simone Biles pulling out of this thing is like, I think she really needs to check herself. I think there’s time for a little bit of tough love. ​​If she was my sister, this is exactly what I would do. So, I would never say something that I wouldn’t do to my personal family or anything like that. Or even for me, because I do believe sometimes we do need a nice kick in the arse.”

Who better to critique an Olympian than a gold medalist himself? It begs the question can one really refer to themselves as the goat if they pull out of events in times of difficulty? Or is it fair to those whose spot she took? Cejudo went to say that he thinks Biles will ultimately regret her decision to withdraw, “I do believe she made a mistake. I think now she kind of tends to take it back knowing that a lot of things are backfiring.”

Cejudo explained the pressures of the media and how athletes put that upon themselves and must rise above. He also believes Biles needs a kick in the “arse.” His full statements can be seen below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvWqaUkUDIY

Check out some of her amazing highlight performances:

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