Simone Biles lost her confidence and focus somewhere in a myriad of unprecedented twists and turns aloft. She was smart enough to know she could get seriously hurt in that state of mind, and therefore, exited the Olympic competitions–until last mourning when she returned to claim a bronze metal in the beam exercise.

She maintained that she lost her mojo, in part, because of the undue pressure for her to be a shoe-in again (like in Rio) for whole bunch more gymnastic metals. Her exit allowed a couple of her teammates to participate and excel to achieve metals of their own. She was a real trooper, enthusiastically supporting them from the her bench position.

When an athlete of her statue goes/executes where no one has gone before, and certainly more than once, fails to execute at her level of competence, the disappointment can be overwhelming. Hers would be a case in point. In football, especially at the pro level, it’s always stressed by the coaches that it’s a hard, long road to the penthouse, but a quick drop to the shithouse. Your only as good as your last game–period

But I’m hopeful the Olympic, TV spectators consider Simone Bias’ bump in the road of competition a mere exhibit of her being human. I know I certainly do. God bless her for being her. Amen?