This article originally appeared on 07.28.21
Simone Biles withdrawing from the team final in the Tokyo Olympics and subsequently withdrawing from the individual all-around finals after getting a case of the "twisties" has the world talking. She's received overwhelming support as well as overwhelming criticism for the move, with some praising her for recognizing her limits and others blasting her for not persevering through whatever she's dealing with.
Some people pointed to Kerri Strug, who landed on one foot after vaulting with a broken ankle in the 1996 Olympics to help the U.S. win gold, as an example of the kind of sacrifice an athlete should be willing to make for their country.
Byron Heath shared some thoughts about that fateful day in a viral Facebook post that has been shared more than 370,000 times in less than a day.
Heath wrote:
"This realization I had about Simone Biles is gonna make some people mad, but oh well.
Yesterday I was excited to show my daughters Kerri Strug's famous one-leg vault. It was a defining Olympic moment that I watched live as a kid, and my girls watched raptly as Strug fell, and then limped back to leap again.
But for some reason I wasn't as inspired watching it this time. In fact, I felt a little sick. Maybe being a father and teacher has made me soft, but all I could see was how Kerri Strug looked at her coach, Bela Karolyi, with pleading, terrified eyes, while he shouted back 'You can do it!' over and over again.
My daughters didn't cheer when Strug landed her second vault. Instead they frowned in concern as she collapsed in agony and frantic tears.
'Why did she jump again if she was hurt?' one of my girls asked. I made some inane reply about the heart of a champion or Olympic spirit, but in the back of my mind a thought was festering: *She shouldn't have jumped again*
The more the thought echoed, the stronger my realization became. Coach Karolyi should have gotten his visibly injured athlete medical help immediately! Now that I have two young daughters in gymnastics, I expect their safety to be the coach's number one priority. Instead, Bela Karolyi told Strug to vault again. And he got what he wanted; a gold medal that was more important to him than his athlete's health. I'm sure people will say 'Kerri Strug was a competitor--she WANTED to push through the injury.' That's probably true. But since the last Olympics we've also learned these athletes were put into positions where they could be systematically abused both emotionally and physically, all while being inundated with 'win at all costs' messaging. A teenager under those conditions should have been protected, and told 'No medal is worth the risk of permanent injury.' In fact, we now know that Strug's vault wasn't even necessary to clinch the gold; the U.S. already had an insurmountable lead. Nevertheless, Bela Karolyi told her to vault again according to his own recounting of their conversation:
'I can't feel my leg,' Strug told Karolyi.
'We got to go one more time,' Karolyi said. 'Shake it out.'
'Do I have to do this again?' Strug asked. 'Can you, can you?' Karolyi wanted to know.
'I don't know yet,' said Strug. 'I will do it. I will, I will.'
The injury forced Strug's retirement at 18 years old. Dominique Moceanu, a generational talent, also retired from injuries shortly after. They were top gymnasts literally pushed to the breaking point, and then put out to pasture. Coach Karolyi and Larry Nassar (the serial sexual abuser) continued their long careers, while the athletes were treated as a disposable resource.
Today Simone Biles--the greatest gymnast of all time--chose to step back from the competition, citing concerns for mental and physical health. I've already seen comments and posts about how Biles 'failed her country', 'quit on us', or 'can't be the greatest if she can't handle the pressure.' Those statements are no different than Coach Karolyi telling an injured teen with wide, frightened eyes: 'We got to go one more time. Shake it out.'
The subtext here is: 'Our gold medal is more important than your well-being.'
Our athletes shouldn't have to destroy themselves to meet our standards. If giving empathetic, authentic support to our Olympians means we'll earn less gold medals, I'm happy to make that trade.
Here's the message I hope we can send to Simone Biles: You are an outstanding athlete, a true role model, and a powerful woman. Nothing will change that. Please don't sacrifice your emotional or physical well-being for our entertainment or national pride. We are proud of you for being brave enough to compete, and proud of you for having the wisdom to know when to step back. Your choice makes you an even better example to our daughters than you were before. WE'RE STILL ROOTING FOR YOU!"
Many people shared Heath's sentiment, with comments pouring in thanking him for putting words to what they were feeling.
We're in a new era where our lens of what's admirable, what's strong, and what's right has shifted. We understand more about the lifelong impact of too many concussions. We have trainers and medics checking on football players after big hits. We are finding a better balance between competitiveness and well-being. We are acknowledging the importance of mental health and physical health.
We are also more aware of how both physical and mental trauma impacts young bodies. Though Kerri Strug pushing through the pain has long been seen as an iconic moment in sports, the adults in the room should have been protecting her, not pushing her through an obvious injury.
And the way this fall of Dominique Moceanu at age 14 was handled is downright shocking by today's standards. She said she never received an exam for it, even after the competition was over. So wrong.
In our sport, we essentially dive into a pool w/ no water. When you lose your ability to find the ground\u2014which appears to be part of @Simone_Biles decision\u2014-the consequences can be catastrophic. She made the right decision for the team & herself. @bisping— Dominique Moceanu (@Dominique Moceanu) 1627491095
Nope— Dominique Moceanu (@Dominique Moceanu) 1627484220
Athletes are not cogs in a wheel, and the desire to win a competition should not trump someone's well-being. Elite gymnasts already put themselves through grueling physical and mental feats; they wouldn't be at the top of their sport if they didn't. But there are limits, and too often in our yearning for a gold medal—or even for a triumphant Olympic story—we push athletes too far.
Now we see some of them pushing back, and knowing what we know now, that's 100% a good thing.
A teacher lists his class rules.
The world would be a much better place if humans weren’t so … human. We all fall short of perfection. Common sense is, sadly, not too common. And there’s one guy out there who always manages to screw things up when things start getting good.
Call it Murphy’s law. Call it the great “reason we can’t have nice things.” Call it entropy. It feels like a whole lot of pain could be avoided if we all had just a little bit more sense.
But what if there was one rule that we all agreed to follow to make everyone’s life better? What would this magical rule be?
A Reddit user who goes by the name P4insplatter came to this realization and asked the AskReddit subforum, “What simple rule would fix the world if everyone actually followed it?” They received dozens of simple rules that if everyone got behind would make the world drastically better.
It’s no shock that most of them felt like a variation of the Golden Rule. It’s funny that a lot of folks believe the world would seriously improve if we could just abide by a simple saying that we all learned in kindergarten.
Also known as the “ethics of reciprocity,” the Golden Rule is so innate to humans that versions of it have been found in religions and cultures throughout the world.
Here are 17 of the best responses to P4insplatter’s simple, but world-altering question.
“Let go or be dragged” an old zen proverb I heard at a meditation class. Really changed the way I let myself worry about things." — civagigi
"Don't be a dick." — WuTangLAN93
"Treat others how you want to be treated." — AlbanyGuy1973
"I read somewhere that if you want to change the world, you have to change the community, to change the community change your relationships, and to change your relationships change yourself." — cagibaxii
"Don't use more resources than what the Earth is capable of renewing." — DaethSpiral321
"Be excellent to each other." — pnotar
“Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling." — Bonhomme7h
"Use your turn signal(s) properly." — futilelord
"Simple, the non-aggression principle. You don't do, initiate or threat any harm unto others, unless acting in true self defense." — ufrag
"Leave it better than you found it." — Narcoid
"Be generous and humble. Being generous and kind encourages us to perceive others in a more positive light and fosters a sense of community. Humility teaches you to improve and make a positive impact on the world." — SuvenPan
"If you are not educated on the subject, sit down and stfu. Let the experts with years of education and experience talk." — Ch3m1cal420
"Everyone gets a chance at one [thing] before anyone gets seconds." — ehsteve23
"Obviously making daylight savings permanent." — ObviousINstruction18
"Listen more, talk less." — TryToHelpPeople
"All empty buildings should not have any lights/ac/heating on at night or after business hours depending on the nature of the work. their ac/heating and lights if necessary should only be turned on before the start of the day. This will not only help with energy costs but also with light pollution." — hadrainsgate
"You cannot do ANYTHING without consent." — DeepCompote
Proof that cheerleading is the ultimate sport.
The true MVP during an NCAA March Madness game wasn’t even a basketball player. Instead, the game was saved by a couple of cheerleaders who quite literally rose to the challenge to save the day.
A hilarious clip sweeping the internet shows a basketball completely stuck between the backboard and shot clock as St. Mary’s College played against Indiana in Portland, Oregon.
Not even the tallest players could jump high enough to retrieve it. A mop didn’t work, a referee on a chair didn’t work. They were quickly running out of ideas.
“Major issues here in Portland,” the announcer chuckled.
I mean, they could have gotten another ball, but where’s the fun in that?
Luckily, inspiration hit!
Cassidy Cerny gracefully hoisted herself onto the shoulders of her teammate Nathan Paris in that effortless “why yes, I’m a cheerleader, I defy gravity all the time” way. Cerny grabbed the ball, the crowd went wild … and the rest is epic sports history.
Cerny and Paris went above and beyond (see what I did there?) to lift spirits. And people were quick to share their praises in the comments.
“It’s amazing how sometimes the most simple and mundane things cac bring people together,” one person wrote.
Another person added “I love moments like these. Proves humanity still exists in people.”
Showing true cheerleader spirit, Cerny told Good Morning America “just being able to bring that exposure to my team was really fun.”
And they say the perfect play doesn’t exist. When are these cheerleaders getting their trophy, already?
Hashtags with "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon"
Who hasn’t been led astray by dumb bet? The promise of five bucks to name every state capitol, or a whopping $50 to eat something bizarre or grotesque … why, it’s a classic form of mindless (but mostly harmless) entertainment. And sometimes the entire plot of a movie.
When the chance of winning money is involved, that little voice inside our head that says “hey, since when can you do parkour?” can become nothing more than a whisper. Think Truth or Dare, but with a tiny capitalist twist. Plus, there’s the thrill of defying the odds. Get lucky, prove your friend wrong. What could be better?
Personally, I still tend to play it safe. I’ll make some quick cash testing my obscure sci-fi knowledge, but that’s about it. But clearly, some people take it up a notch. Jimmy Fallon recently asked his “Tonight Show” audience to share some of of their wagers with #MyDumbBet on Twitter. Here are 20 of the silliest, most satisfying responses. Bet you can’t get through them all without shaking your head.My friend bet me $50 he could finish his beer without touching it. He then paid the bartender $5 to pour it in his mouth. #MyDumbBet
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) March 14, 2022
A $45 dollar profit! Not bad.
my friend bet me $50 that I wouldn’t jump off the garage roof and land on my feet. I landed on my feet… in the trashcan #MyDumbBet
— Marina ╰(*´︶`*)╯💙 (@kanothenano) March 14, 2022
Sometimes even when you win, you lose.
in HS - friend bet me to hop out the window at school, run across the lot, and sneak back in - I did it!
— zach urquhart (@zurquhart) March 15, 2022
I bet him to do it...he got out and ran, but as he returned, the teacher came to the window and stopped him dead in his tracks - his face was PRICELESS #mydumbbet
When we were kids I bet my brother he couldn’t sit in the babies safety swing at the park. Technically he won the bet but it took over an hour to free him and we had to call Mum and Dad #MyDumbBet
— Sonya (@Sohnzie) March 14, 2022
When I was a kid, my grandmother bet me 100 bucks to eat a whole raw onion. I ate it. She didn't pay. #MyDumbBet
— Dr. S e f e r 🩺 🇦🇱🇽🇰 (@SeferMemaj) March 14, 2022
Wow. That's cold, grandma.
Last year in a snowy winter, I bet my friend if he touch the pole with his tongue 😛 then i will give him $20. He told me to give him a demo and I ended up with my tongue stuck in the pole for 30min.🤣
— BeatBot NFT creator (@BeatBot_NFTs) March 15, 2022
I bet my kid $5 to tie his own shoes. He told me he would except no less than $100 for that. 🤣👌 #mydumbbet pic.twitter.com/oyh2CJlvlx
— Just Sarah 🏀💍🦌 (@Soccer_3_Mom) March 14, 2022
This kid knows the value of a dollar.
On the first day of my new high school, a classmate was reading the roll sheet and bet me $10 that I couldn't spell a student's first name since it's "so odd". The name was Shayna. I spelled it right and he asked how. I smiled and said, "That's me". Easiest $10 ever. #MyDumbBet
— sup?ImaBeaver (@overbaughs) March 14, 2022
That's spelled P-A-Y-M-E-N-O-W.
In high school, my friend Nancy and I couldn't get to the ice cream shop fast enough after school, so I bet her we could beat the train that was coming down the tracks in my 1978 Ford named "Bucky." Yeah. We made it in the nick of time. Dumb, invincible teenagers.#MyDumbBet
— Laura Oakes (@LauraWCCO) March 14, 2022
My anxiety shot through the roof after reading this one.
I bet my friend $20 that a large trash bag could be used as a parachute. After breaking his ankles from jumping off the house, I’d say that I lost. Not as bad as him though. #MyDumbBet
— Mark McMillan.. (@Markey227) March 14, 2022
It’s actually a cute one for me, a dumb one for my friend… I asked my friend if her gf would propose to her first, and she said her gf would never propose. I bet my friend she would… fully knowing that her gf was about to propose. Easiest $100 I ever won. #MyDumbBet
— Bia👑 (@BiaKing93) March 14, 2022
An easy win and a sweet moment!
My cocky highschool friend was 3 weeks into martial arts lessons and was boasting his reflexes. He challenged me to red hands. He said "bet you $20 you can't slap my hands". SLAP. Then he got mad and said "double or nothin!"...SLAP. #MyDumbBet
— bigmonu (@bigmonu) March 15, 2022
#MyDumbBet I bet friends I can jump higher than the building. I then hop, and tell the building,"your turn."
— Grantt Ward Gaming (@GranttWard) March 14, 2022
This guy knew how to use language to his advantage.
In high school I bet my coworker I could "open" the ice cream store in 15 min (usually took an hour). Going great until I poured 6 gallons of liquid froyo into the machine. Heard splattering. I forgot to put the fronts of the machines on. Took an hour to mop it up. #MyDumbBet
— seamirac1979 (@seamirac1979) March 14, 2022
Fro-oh no!
I bet my dad 100 bucks he couldn't eat a slice of pizza with chopsticks in 30 seconds. He then somehow managed to fit the entire slice in his mouth in one big bite. #MyDumbBet
— Yash Jagnani (@TheJokerDead1) March 14, 2022
Dad's not messing around.
I bet my friend he couldn't slap my teacher on his head
— Wendie the OverSabi😏😏 (@Wendie_anya) March 14, 2022
He proceeded to the board and gave him a hot slap...
He told Mr. Charles that there was a mosquito on his head.🤣🤣🤣
I was riding on the church bus going to Sunday School and a girl put her glasses on the floor and bet that I wouldn’t step on them. I put my foot over them, not intending to step on them but we hit a bump and I crushed them. #MyDumbBet
— Jay Offer (@joeoffer2) March 14, 2022
That's the thing about dumb bets ... you never know when you're being set up for failure.
I bet my nephew $50 he couldn’t stop saying the word “like” for one hour. Without hesitating he said, “This is gonna be like the easiest 50 bucks…Doh!” #MyDumbBet
— Rob (@rschmidt42) March 14, 2022
Ugh, I would, like, lose so hard at this too.
#MyDumbBet I bet my college friend that she couldn't catch more 10 peanuts in her mouth from across the room... She caught them all, but also found out she had an allergy...
— Samantha Davidson (@Sallyjo25) March 14, 2022
I bet my friend I could get a date with Chris Evans! 😭🤣
— Danielle Nicole (@DNicola22s) March 15, 2022
Still trying so I didn't lose right? #mydumbbet
Never give up!
