Thank you Jordan Chiles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Gabrielle Douglas received a lot of heat for not smiling enough--no one likes reserved, talented black women

I remember that - and for having messy hair, which I notice Simone has sometimes too. Messy hair, don't care - show me how well you flip.

I think Simone and Suni intentionally keep their "gym rat" hair for competition specifically as an fu to critics who want these women to be perfectly done up while the compete in an incredibly difficult sport. Notice that they will have a full face of makeup and Simone wears huge false eyelashes but they still wear their hair in messy buns with no hairspray or pins to keep flyaways in check. It's a purposeful choice and I do think it dates back to Gabby getting a ton of criticism for her hair and that criticism being both sexist and racist because part of the issue was with Gabby's hair texture and treatment.

In any case these are Olympic athletes doing stuff I could never do in a million years and I don't care how they wear their hair. They aren't beauty queens.

Look at the track and field women--they all wear polished, modern, adult hairstyles, that fit their personal styles--low cut fades, TWAs, pink hair, braids, ponytails, some with baby hair, flowing wigs, the point is, they are being themselves. Simone and crew, they think they are doing an edgy we are athletes and we don't worry about hair, but they actually just look uniformly silly and sloppy, as if to make it a virtue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

Oh for FFs. The veterans earned their spots by performing better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Simone has had made very good money on endorsement deals and she's married to an NFL player and her family owns her gym. She's not going broke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why should the best gymnast in the world stop doing gymnastics when she is still the best gymnast in the world?

+1

Yeah, people still want Tom Brady to come out of retirement. The double standard with male and female athletes is astounding –🙄🙄🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Gabrielle Douglas received a lot of heat for not smiling enough--no one likes reserved, talented black women

I remember that - and for having messy hair, which I notice Simone has sometimes too. Messy hair, don't care - show me how well you flip.

I think Simone and Suni intentionally keep their "gym rat" hair for competition specifically as an fu to critics who want these women to be perfectly done up while the compete in an incredibly difficult sport. Notice that they will have a full face of makeup and Simone wears huge false eyelashes but they still wear their hair in messy buns with no hairspray or pins to keep flyaways in check. It's a purposeful choice and I do think it dates back to Gabby getting a ton of criticism for her hair and that criticism being both sexist and racist because part of the issue was with Gabby's hair texture and treatment.

In any case these are Olympic athletes doing stuff I could never do in a million years and I don't care how they wear their hair. They aren't beauty queens.

Look at the track and field women--they all wear polished, modern, adult hairstyles, that fit their personal styles--low cut fades, TWAs, pink hair, braids, ponytails, some with baby hair, flowing wigs, the point is, they are being themselves. Simone and crew, they think they are doing an edgy we are athletes and we don't worry about hair, but they actually just look uniformly silly and sloppy, as if to make it a virtue.

Talking about this without looking at the culture of these sports is silly. Women's gymnastics in the US (and in other countries) has a very sordid history of exploiting very young women, controlling every aspect of their lives, and abuse. Not just the sexual abuse that came to light in the last decade but the weigh ins and pressure to be tiny that led to sometimes encouraged eating disorders and the pressure to compete through injuries. Until VERY recently there were essentially no actual women in women's gymnastics -- just little girls and old men controlling their every move. Gymnastics is still recovering from that era and Simone is from the generation who endured some of the worst treatment. As gymnastics as moved to older and more mature athletes and finally put in place a better culture that empowers individual athletes more some of the older athletes have taken on a rebellious posture as a kind of guard against going backwards.

The refusal to bend to certain demands about appearance and insisting on the style and culture of the sport being driven by the athletes and not by the media or the coaches is about standing up for themselves and doing it their way.

Women's track and field is a totally different sport and has always had older competitors plus has never had this weird culture of tiny girls in pigtails performing for the grown ups. It's just a totally different thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Simone has had made very good money on endorsement deals and she's married to an NFL player and her family owns her gym. She's not going broke

+1 she's among the most recognizable athletes in the world. She hasn't made a "pivot" because she's still competing at the highest level and doesn't need to. But she could easily shift to coaching or commentating when she does actually decide to retire.

To me the fact that she's performing at this level at age 27 is really phenomenal. This is a sport that used to consider an athlete over the hill at 18. Good for her and good for us that we get to watch her compete at another Olympics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why should the best gymnast in the world stop doing gymnastics when she is still the best gymnast in the world?

+1. Let the woman continue to amaze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For not feeling the pressure to wear a shiny red 90s scrunched, eschew edge control, and for saying no to the toddler-ish shiny red bottom unitard.

I don't think the athletes got to pick their leos. They were split into rotations and there are a set number of Team USA leos. Perhaps the groups got to vote among themselves for which leo they wore but their options were probably limited. Agree the other leo was better but it's not like Jordan got to pick -- she wore the same leo as everyone in her rotation.

They do get to decide how they wear their hair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

This is a weird take when the team selection was heavily impacted by the fact that three top gymnasts suffered major injuries either right before trials or on the first day of competition. Shilese Jones and Skye Blakely were very likely to make the team before they got hurt and DiCello would have been in the mix. Jones and Blakely going out led to space both for veterans AND young gymnasts. It's impossible to know what would have happened if they hadn't gotten injured but Jones was a near lock for the team and Blakely highly likely and it's probably Hezly and Jade Carey who benefited most from those open slots. Simone and Suni were pretty much always going to make the team if healthy and things didn't fall apart. Jordan had a phenomenal meet.

It's a good team but not as strong as it would have been with Jones and Blakely. Hezly is great but very untested. it's good they have so many veterans to carry the team despite these very major losses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Gabrielle Douglas received a lot of heat for not smiling enough--no one likes reserved, talented black women

I remember that - and for having messy hair, which I notice Simone has sometimes too. Messy hair, don't care - show me how well you flip.

I think Simone and Suni intentionally keep their "gym rat" hair for competition specifically as an fu to critics who want these women to be perfectly done up while the compete in an incredibly difficult sport. Notice that they will have a full face of makeup and Simone wears huge false eyelashes but they still wear their hair in messy buns with no hairspray or pins to keep flyaways in check. It's a purposeful choice and I do think it dates back to Gabby getting a ton of criticism for her hair and that criticism being both sexist and racist because part of the issue was with Gabby's hair texture and treatment.

In any case these are Olympic athletes doing stuff I could never do in a million years and I don't care how they wear their hair. They aren't beauty queens.

There's actually a surprising amount of hairspray, pins, and elastic bands keeping that "gym rat" hair in place. Simone and Suni also had tight braids holding their hair in place. Sloppy floppy half buns would fall out in 2 seconds. Their hair is carefully constructed to give the illusion of being messy, while actually being very carefully sculpted into place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For not feeling the pressure to wear a shiny red 90s scrunched, eschew edge control, and for saying no to the toddler-ish shiny red bottom unitard.

I don't think the athletes got to pick their leos. They were split into rotations and there are a set number of Team USA leos. Perhaps the groups got to vote among themselves for which leo they wore but their options were probably limited. Agree the other leo was better but it's not like Jordan got to pick -- she wore the same leo as everyone in her rotation.

They do get to decide how they wear their hair.

This.

In fact, I think there were two leotards. Half wore the red bottom Day 1, the other half Day 2.

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIF.lh0iyGEutg07%2bNr7%2buawkQ&pid=Api&P=0&h=180

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Gabrielle Douglas received a lot of heat for not smiling enough--no one likes reserved, talented black women

I remember that - and for having messy hair, which I notice Simone has sometimes too. Messy hair, don't care - show me how well you flip.

I think Simone and Suni intentionally keep their "gym rat" hair for competition specifically as an fu to critics who want these women to be perfectly done up while the compete in an incredibly difficult sport. Notice that they will have a full face of makeup and Simone wears huge false eyelashes but they still wear their hair in messy buns with no hairspray or pins to keep flyaways in check. It's a purposeful choice and I do think it dates back to Gabby getting a ton of criticism for her hair and that criticism being both sexist and racist because part of the issue was with Gabby's hair texture and treatment.

In any case these are Olympic athletes doing stuff I could never do in a million years and I don't care how they wear their hair. They aren't beauty queens.

There's actually a surprising amount of hairspray, pins, and elastic bands keeping that "gym rat" hair in place. Simone and Suni also had tight braids holding their hair in place. Sloppy floppy half buns would fall out in 2 seconds. Their hair is carefully constructed to give the illusion of being messy, while actually being very carefully sculpted into place.

You are right -- the braid it back to keep it out of their faces and those buns are not actually messy and unsecured -- you never see them redoing them mid-competition. I also think the main choice they are making is to not shellack the crap out of their hair with gel and hairspray which might reduce the flyaways and frizz by the end of four rotations. There definitely ARE ways to do this even when you are doing very athletic flipping and twisting and sweating (I'm a dance mom) but it kind of sucks especially if you have naturally textured hair (even if you straighten it -- once you sweat the moisture will make your hair want to frizz and poof so you are fighting nature). You basically have to glue it to your head. I think they just choose not to do this. They still put effort into it and do all the braiding and pin it to keep it out of their faces and up but they don't spray and gel the crap out of it to make it look smooth because they don't want to. Which I think is fine. They are not hair models.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Simone has had made very good money on endorsement deals and she's married to an NFL player and her family owns her gym. She's not going broke

+1 she's among the most recognizable athletes in the world. She hasn't made a "pivot" because she's still competing at the highest level and doesn't need to. But she could easily shift to coaching or commentating when she does actually decide to retire.

To me the fact that she's performing at this level at age 27 is really phenomenal. This is a sport that used to consider an athlete over the hill at 18. Good for her and good for us that we get to watch her compete at another Olympics.

The myth that gymnasts are over the hill once they turn 18 needs to die. The US women's elite gymnastics program is now under the leadership of two former elite gymnasts, Chellsie Memmel and Alicia Sacramone. They both competed into their twenties and have been very supportive of helping other athletes continue competing elite through college by being more accommodating to the college and elite schedule as well as making more of a shift to encouraging better nutrition and mental health to help athletes continue performing at high levels. Although the formation of the Paris team is somewhat attributed to other athletes being injured, it isn't really a coincidence that everybody except hesley is appearing for their second or third Olympics team. It's because the athletes want to keep competing and the training systems now better encourage and accommodate older athletes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I thought this was going to be something amazing like Jordan Chiles had stepped aside to let the younger generation in. I find it so incredibly selfish of people like Simone Biles just to keep going and shut amazing young athletes like Hezley, Tiana, Jocelyn, and others from shining.

I watched Hezley's bars today and was really impressed. I think the thinking is twofold:

1. With Simone, she full on said she stayed in the game to bring awareness and change re: the abuse that was happening.
2. Some people have nothing else going on in their lives. Madison Kocian went to UCLA after the Olympics and has become a physician's assistant or something. But someone like Gabrielle Douglas didn't go to college and hasn't transitioned to doing something else - some mild social media influencer work, but what else? She's floated around and finally tried to make another go of gymnastics at 27. What else does she have? She didn't transition to public/motivational speaking (Shawn Johnson East), to opening her own gym (Dominique Dawes/Moceanu, Chellsie M., Kim Z, etc.), to advocacy work (Aly Raisman), to running the National team (Chellsie M and Alicia S.), to sportscaster (Laurie Hernandez, Samantha P.), to running her own gymnastics competitions and/or clinics (Samatha P., Nastia Luikin). So what else is there? Simone promoted an unaccredited college after her first Olympics but never completed any degree. She does some influencer work. Eventually her body WILl give out. Olympic gold medals don't "pay" that much. It doesn't even cover the cost of coaching.

Someone like Jade Carey doing her second Olympics? I mean, whatever - she had to deal with the weird Covid Olympics so maybe she just wants a normal one. I feel bad for people like Simone B. and Gabrielle Douglas who don't seem to be pivoting to another career - their bodies are going to fall apart in their 40's - hip or knee replacements, osteoporosis, etc. Simone has already said she has horrible back pain all the time.

Don't feel sorry for Simone Biles, in addition to the millions of dollars in sponsorship money she has earned, she is also married to a pro football player. I don't think money is going to be an issue for her.

[Anonymous]

Love when the armchair gymnastics experts come out. Good on you for reading NBCSports this week, ladies!