Tuesday night's primetime Olympics broadcast began on NBC with a brief news update. Mike Tirico, NBC host, stated that the focus is on gymnastics. Simone Biles was the reigning Olympic gold medalist. She returned for these games at the age of 24, and she was forced to withdraw from the team event shortly after it began. We don't know much about her status for the remainder of the Olympic individual competition.Tirico was speaking about something that happened hours before. Due to the time difference between Japan and the United States, many Olympic events are broadcast on tape delay. This meant that many viewers knew the story. Biles abruptly pulled out of the women's team gymnastics finals after landing a subpar vault. She had lost trust in herself and wanted to avoid injury.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt was quite shocking, not only because it is very rare for a professional athlete to leave during a competition. Biles is more than a gymnast. Simone Biles is the American face at the Tokyo Games and the consensus world's best gymnast. At the moment, her withdrawal was the defining moment in these still-young Summer Olympics. NBC found itself in a strange situation where it had to report on the news and ignore the role it played in creating the conditions that led to Biles abrupt exit.NBC effectively made the Tokyo Games the Simone Biles Games in accordance with its cyclical mandate of giving casual American sports fans one to two U.S. Olympians to root for. You could not visit any NBC-branded property in the lead-up to the Olympics without seeing coverage of Biles. This included her chances of matching or surpassing her Rio Rio performance and her uncharacteristic stumbles during the Olympic trials. American gymnastics is full of highly talented and likeable athletes. NBC has Simone Biles and all the other people who happen to be on her team.AdvertisementAdvertisementBiles was chosen by the network to be the face of the Tokyo Games. Biles, telegenic and technically flawless, is a star in an Olympic sport. She was a household name after winning four gold medals at Rio 2016 Games. With ShaCarri Richardson out of the race, Michael Phelps had retired and Ryan Lochte was no longer available to engage in his lovably oafish antics. Biles became the American Olympian transcendent by whose light NBC would navigate in 2021.Biles has been under more pressure than any other American Olympian in Tokyo due to the network's decision to focus on her above all others. To be fair, NBC did its best to cover her exit on Tuesday as thoughtfully and sympathetically as possible. Tirico was compassionate and non-judgmental about Biles' decision. Nastia Liukin and Michael Phelps, former Olympians, shared honest insights into the anxiety that can be associated with the pursuit of gold and the weight of expectations. NBC did not include two key themes on Tuesday: self-awareness, and contrition.AdvertisementNBC is the most prominent promoter of the Olympics in America, so it seems a little excessive for them to focus on Biles' psychological struggles without also examining the ways that its decision to make Tokyo The Simone Games a more intense form of those pressures. It would be like your boss telling a packed auditorium that the fate or your company depended on how well you work. Then he/she took you aside and said that you were stressed and that a healthy work/life balance was the key to happiness. Although I can't fault NBC for featuring Biles, it should be able to honestly assess the ramifications and admit to the consequences of its wall-to-wall coverage. Simone Biles was a champion. NBC attempted to make her a superhero. It is important to reevaluate the process of making the cape for her that she rejected.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt is not an easy task to create quadrennial TV sporting heroes. Because the Olympics are a continuous event, casual viewers don't have the opportunity to root for many of the games. As such, the majority of people rely on NBC to provide a list of stars to cheer for or complain about. This is why NBC focuses on just five to six people per game. The network has only two-and-a half weeks to work with so they need to be relentless in convincing you that these are the people you should watch.This sudden, unavoidable pressure and constant attention can prove to be incredibly disorienting for those being observed. Biles, an elite Olympic athlete, is not subject to a constant microscope, unlike other sports like basketball and football in the United States. They are only watched by a few people every four years. The rest of us don't think much about them except when they are in Subway ads or their sport is featured in the news. They are under tremendous pressure to perform and then they blame all of that pressure for their failure.AdvertisementAdvertisementBiles' head was literally smashed during the Tuesday night primetime coverage of the team gymnastics final. Come back for the vault of the gymnast universally acclaimed as the greatest, stated Terry Gannon, NBC gymnastics anchor. The cameras captured Biles in closeup. The gymnast seemed tired and sad.Two clips were shown by NBC of Biles making uncharacteristic errors in the build-up to the competition. Tim Daggett, a commentator, stated that Simone was doing many un-Simone-like actions, including falling off balance beams and missing parts on uneven bars. Later Liukin spoke out about the pressure she feels, not only from her teammates but also the whole nation. And not just the nation but the entire world expects her to be as good as she is.AdvertisementIt is the most rare air. Gannon said that there is no one else who occupies it at the moment. It's a lonely spot at times.The troika appeared to be unaware of the role it played in placing Biles on this pedestal and creating the pressure she would soon succumb to. The commentators were shocked when Biles failed to vault her vault shortly thereafter. This was not only because she had made an unusual mistake but also because this media-created model for sporting excellence had shown her to be human and betrayed all that had been told about her. It was quite bizarre. Simone looked almost lost in the air, as if she had just gotten a little lost. Daggett said that this is something I've never seen her do. Gymnasts must know where they are in the air. This is called air sense. Sometimes, you can get lost. She lost her way in the air.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt is possible to get lost in the air and on the ground, or both. Sometimes, however, both can happen simultaneously. It is a good idea to take some time to reorient yourself in these situations. This is exactly what Biles did. The team event was over and the Americans won the silver medal. Biles pulled out, but the gymnast provided additional context to her decision to withdraw. It is hard to feel the weight of the entire world and feel like there aren't enough outlets for all the training you do. Biles said that although we were fully prepared, it was hard to fight with our heads. You want to do it yourself but you worry about what everyone else will say.AdvertisementBiles' honesty is admirable. However, I think she knows there is little she can do to stop the internet, world and NBC talking about her anyway. The Olympics are a TV show, and the producers of it strive to create drama to attract viewers. NBC and other networks tell stories about competitors, not the athletes, despite what you might think. If NBC had not made Simone Biles a hero when she was too young to rent a car anywhere in the United States without a deposit, the internet and wider world wouldn't be as obsessed. Television loves a hero in distress more than any hero.AdvertisementAdvertisementMike Tirico spoke later on Tuesday's primetime broadcast with Phelps. Phelps is Biles' immediate predecessor and Americas most renowned Olympian. He has spoken out about his struggles to meet the expectations of the world. It is overwhelming to watch the Olympics. Phelps said that there are many emotions involved in the Olympics. Phelps said that he could talk for hours about this topic. However, despite being very articulate and sincere, the conversation was a bit depressing. You can become the person on television who talks about your successors if you survive a stint at NBC's Olympic crucible.AdvertisementBiles announced Wednesday morning that she will also be withdrawing from the individual all-around competition. Biles has also qualified in every individual apparatus final, including vault, floor exercise and balance beam. She hasn't withdrawn from these yet. Biles' last hope in securing the Simone Games is to withdraw completely. Biles recently stated to the media that there is more to life than gymnastics. Yet, it is the one thing television and fans never want to hear about a star athlete. NBC makes great athletes Olympic heroes. In return, athletes are expected conform to their narratives: to always aim for the gold because that's what Olympic heroes do. Biles has finally written her own story by rejecting the network's laurels and moving on her own terms.
