Simone Biles resigned from the competition for women gymnastics on Tuesday. Amira Rose Davies and Rebecca Schuman will discuss the Olympic Games and how they are for women in a forthcoming episode of The Waves, Slates podcast. Below is a portion of the conversation that was cut early and edited for clarity and length. You can listen to the entire episode on Thursday morning.Amira Rose Davies: We saw Simone Biles pull out in the women's gymnastics final. There was a lot of discussion about mental toughness and perseverance. It's like, "No, no," no, not, no. Even as a fan, it is harder to take part in these events. Yet, the Olympics is seductive and draws even anti-sports people in.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo I understand that it is possible to feel sick watching one thing, but then suddenly find an unknown athlete in a new sport at two in morning and become completely enraptured. Big Sean said it best: Don't save her. Rebecca, she doesn't want to be saved.Rebecca Schuman Simone suffered a mid-air crisis during her vault, and she balked a bit. She then pulled out of all the competition. She told the media that her head was not right and she was afraid she would hurt herself. That was my decision. The double-way makes winnings less important. So I believe that Simone, the face and symbol of the Olympics should be able to nope out.AdvertisementAdvertisementDavis: When Simone says nope, part of the calculation is that I could not stop feeling the weight she carries. This is something I feel very strongly about, particularly Black women who have historically carried so much weight at the Olympic stage.Naomi Osaka lit the torch, she was the last torchbearer for Japan and the darling of all the games. We've also seen Naomi Osaka leave the Olympic Games. Her forehand was all over place after a very poor matchup. We also saw Simone's exit, which was something I couldn't help but cry about. I wept because I could only imagine their weight. This is partly because of my conversations with Black women athletes in multiple sports, from rugby to volleyball to track and field to water polo to swimming, there is an articulation, a symbolic burden. It's not just the names that we know. Even though that is more visible and comes along with things, one thing they mention is that it's also a burden that Black women who work in cafeterias or as teachers are familiar with.AdvertisementAdvertisementSchuman: All these women athletes, especially the incredible Black women athletes have this voracious fanbase. It brings support but also expectation and a sense of entitlement. We, the fans, are entitled to the extraordinary bodily labor of these Black women and women. But the truth is, they don't owe anything. They don't owe anyone anything.Simone's feat on Tuesday morning was so remarkable because, even though she felt like the entire games were on her shoulders, when she lost sight of where they were in the vault, she realized that I am the only one capable of lifting this weight off my shoulders. It might have some consequences because the structure doesn't support me. But no one will take this weight off my shoulders. Everybody feels entitled to me getting hurt, my neck breaking, my death, and that I am not entitled to these sacrifices.AdvertisementAdvertisementDavis: It was fascinating to watch Simone and Naomi in the pressure to succeed and to talk to the media. I also enjoyed watching Naomi, and I am inspired by the moment. But I think about all the women who don't have the financial backing or the platform to make the decision to withdraw. This is what I believe, Rebecca, when you speak about the future of these Olympic sports. I am thinking about the inability of imagining other possibilities and the changes that are necessary to change how we do business.AdvertisementImagine if we built a professional track system that was strong enough to compete in the Olympics. What if we supported gymnastics by supporting it in other ways so that the Olympics are more like a Slam and Naomi can withdraw from it? We can create more revenue opportunities that don't require you to take off your clothes for something or be marketable. This is often racialized.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe world is changing, even now with the changes we are seeing in how sports are offered and how they will be played. This will require people to have big ideas and to give up on prioritizing money. It is possible to see Mina Kimes's ideas, such as the Olympic Island, as a way to make profit less important. What if an apparatus was built and a host country took over like party planning every four years? And we stopped displacing people? What happens if there is a strong childcare system, an Olympic Village daycare?These are the ideas that require us to come together. This is the cooperation that it demands. We can challenge everything we know about the Olympics and imagine another way to go.
