United Airlines has expressed its support for U.S. gymnast Simone Biles after she pulled out of the group gymatnics
United Airlines Supports Simone Biles And Her Decision To Withdraw
Earlier this month, United Airlines flew Team USA to Tokyo, including 24-year-old gymnast Simone Biles.
. @United knows! Thanks for making sure Goldie gets a ride to Tokyo. 🐐 @TeamUSA is taking the #RoadToTokyo to the skies – next stop, Japan! #ad #MyUnitedJourney pic.twitter.com/70ns0NP4T4
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) July 14, 2021
For years, United Airlines has partnered with Team USA and Simone Biles:
When @Simone_Biles comes to visit us at work, we can’t help but get excited. #TeamUnited pic.twitter.com/lQCCwYmXzH
— United Airlines (@united) October 10, 2016
But on Tuesday, Biles announced she would not compete in the women’s team event, citing mental health issues. On Thursday, she withdrew from the women’s all-around gymnastics final. This morning she withdrew from the finals for vault and uneven bars:
After further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars. She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam. pic.twitter.com/kWqgZJK4LJ
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 31, 2021
Despite the last-minute withdrawals, United Airlines has thrown its support behind Biles. A spokesperson e-mailed the following statement:
“We have huge admiration for Simone Biles — not just for her world-class talent on the mat, but more importantly for the individual she is every day. We’ve been proud to partner with her for years and continue to support her.”
United also tweeted its support:
Superhuman ability. Superhuman bravery. 🐐
💙 and support to our partner and friend @Simone_Biles. pic.twitter.com/iUoIiHElEZ— United Airlines (@united) July 28, 2021
Others have not been so charitable, calling her a traitor or selfish for pulling out a the very last moment and letting her team down. Nevertheless, Biles’ teammates have also stood behind her.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines, a sponsor of team USA and of Biles personally, is standing behind Biles’ decision to pull out of competition in several events at the Tokyo Olympic Games. It remains unclear if Biles will compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam, but her support from United Airlines is secure.
> Read More: New United Airlines Ad: “Time to Let Yourself Fly”
image: @Simone_Biles / Twitter
This is really a tough one. At first I thought it was outrageous but then the more I thought about it and the safety aspect she probably made the right decision. However you can’t go around claiming you’re the GOAT and embracing that title and pull out of the Olympics like this.
GOATS just don’t
I don’t think she has ever called herself the greatest of all time. That’s for others to judge.
She had the figure of a goat imprinted on her uniform. For her to pull out when she got to Tokyo, dumping her team in the crapper is a disgrace. I wonder if the same sympathies would have been accorded her if she was white.
Although this really doesn’t deserve a reply, I’ll take the bait in the hopes that other people who read this understand TEAM dynamics. In any sport, even a GOAT has off days. On game day, if you’re unable to perform at your highest level for whatever reason, you have a responsibility to the TEAM to not drag them down by toughing it out. Simone at 100% or even 90% would have likely brought gold for the team, but If she’s performing below that because of an injury, illness or ANY reason, someone else on her TEAM will likely score higher and it’s her TEAM responsibility to bow out. They won a silver medal… Simone toughing it out could have taken them out of medal contention entirely.
Check the picture of her on United flight. PILLOW that she is holding up on her leg has the image of a GOAT head on it.
And then…. read this: https://www-nbcchicago-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/tokyo-summer-olympics/inside-the-creation-of-simone-biles-goat-leotard/2563924/?amp=&_gsa=1&_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16277896120893&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcchicago.com%2Fnews%2Fsports%2Ftokyo-summer-olympics%2Finside-the-creation-of-simone-biles-goat-leotard%2F6287613%2F
Simone Biles was already the GOAT before she arrived at this Olympics. The “twisties,” as gymnasts call i,t is a situation that they don’t have much control over and usually takes a lot of training and time (like a couple weeks) to push through it. No one knows why it happens when it does, but it happens at some point to almost every elite gymnast.
Regardless having to step down at one Olympics doesn’t change anything for Simone Biles’s GOAT status. This will be the first time since she became eligible to compete at the senior elite level 8 years ago that Biles won’t be taking home team and individual all-around gold in a World Championships/Olympics she has participated in. Furthermore, when she has won in all of these events she hasn’t just squeaked by, she thoroughly destroyed her closest competition. She holds the all-time record for most gold medals (19) and most medals (26, yeah its not a huge difference because she almost always wins gold) won over all at the gymnastics World Championships for men and women. She was the first gymnast in almost 50 years to win a medal at every single event at a World Championships. There’s more, but if that alone doesn’t make her the GOAT in gymnastics, you have no clue what you are talking about.
She is very good. But this GOAT ‘thing’ is highly subjective; it’s very hard to compare achievements across generations; there are many others with strong credentials ( but they don’t claim it by wearing clothes with a goat embroidered on them, nor sleep with a goat pillow, possibly because it’s unnecessary or just that it’s cheap, tacky and vulgar).
Of course they do. What corporation is going to stand against her? It’s private individuals complaining because they don’t need good PR. Corporation’s stance on anything is pretty much meaningless.
Only in today’s lame society would we praise a quitter…what a slap in the face to all elite athletes everywhere who deal with pressure, injuries, and all other hardships just for a chance to compete at that level. Who cares why she quit? If Tom Brady were to talk our of a Super Bowl in the 4th quarter because he couldn’t handle the pressure or he hurt his wrist we would crucify him. If LeBron got to game 7 and said he was dropping out because his ankle hurt he’d be a laughing stock. Look at all the other teenage and young competitors in these Olympics and those past that have dealt pressure far greater and prevailed. Celebrities all ‘standing behind’ her – what does that even mean? How about standing behind those that actually tough it out and compete? Maybe she quit because like all athletes she had a bad day and knew she couldn’t win gold, so instead of taking her silver or bronze she made up all this BS to drop out so she didn’t look bad. None of us know what is going in her head, yet we are all so confident we can judge the virtue of her decision. She’s an elite athlete and this is what she signed up for – there’s a reason nobody here is an Olympic athlete; we can’t do it (and now neither can she). You have pro athletes playing the day of a death in the family, playing with serious injury, playing with immense personal strife in the background, but they still complete. That’s what makes them special and unlike you or I. She’s a quitter, end of story and that is nothing to lauded. Great message to our youth, when the going gets tough, quit. USA – United Snowflakes of America.
You probably haven’t accomplished anything even remotely approaching her record, sweetheart.
Wow you are a disgusting person who doesn’t know a thing about gymnastics.
If your body and mind are not in sync when you are doing flips over a 4 inch beam or swinging between two bars, you could land on your head and become paralyzed.
I’d love to see what you look like Nick Stevenson. I’m sure you are an overweight loser who can’t even climb a flight of stairs. Stop being jealous and racist that a black woman who persevered through a difficult childhood in foster homes and being sexually abused by a doctor has done the most difficult jumps we’ve ever seen in the sport.
Thank you Simone for putting yourself first and not letting these racist judgemental idiots effect your decision. This is no different than a pitcher or quarterback that gets injured yet still cheers on and supports his teammates.
I’m certain those on here criticizing her for not thinking about her other teammates and the country and the greater good also are the ones that scream they have a right not to get vaccinated or wear a mask bc it is a personal decision.
lol – nothing you have said has anything to do with what I wrote. First, where did I say anything about race??? My comments were strictly about profession performance and how the same actions would be seen in other professions. People like you who call racism at every turn diminish the meaning of the word. For you to glean that anything I said was motivated by that would mean you have special insight into what’s going on in my head. You clearly don’t. Where did I say anything about not wanting her to cheer on teammates or that those cheers would not be welcomed? How am I judgmental? She did quit, right?
So ultimately you just have to resort to calling me names and making assumptions about me without actually knowing anything about me as a way to somehow make your argument. That sound like ignorance. I didn’t call anyone names or state anything that wasn’t a fact. Anything I didn’t know, I posed as a question to start discussion on the topic, but you decided to come after me personally without actually addressing anything material in my analysis of the situation. Again, that sounds like an ignorant person to me.
Come back when you can actually tell me what in my written comments is ignorant and why. Let me guess, you won’t be able to…
I’ll be brief because it’s clear that someone with your level of proud ignorance is beyond debating.
You don’t have a clue what you’re blabbering about.
Do yourself a favor and disappear. You’re an embarrassment to humanity.
@Nick Stevenson – Thanks for saying it exactly how it is.
My favorite things about comments from people like Dan and Charles is they are so quick to throw around the word ignorance yet they can never tell you which comment actually shows ignorance. It’s become the liberal cry of you’re right but I still don’t agree with you and have no way to articulate why.
JH – thanks for telling me how difficult gymnastics is, that has nothing to do with my comments. I never said it was easy. She is a professional who couldn’t meet the demands of her profession and doesn’t deserve celebration because of it. Her reasons don’t matter. Like she is the only elite athlete in the world that has pressure on her. What about all the other athletes who followed through win or lose? What about the health care workers who literally risked their lives for minimal pay and no glory throughout covid? How can I be the ignorant one for not wanting to celebrate a loser.
Can one of please tell me what specifically I said was ignorant?
You are in no position to judge Simone. Nobody says you have to support her. But you felt you had to go out of your way to trash her because… why?
It’s telling us more about you than it is Simone.
Out of my way to trash her? All I did was comment on what actually happened and say it’s not deserving of praise given the countless athletes who deal with life and still compete and still win. She can do whatever she wants. You went out of your way to defend her like you know her motivation which you cannot. My comments stuck to the facts of what happened. Saying there is legitimacy to her reasoning requires knowledge that none of us have. Everyone has an agenda and reasons for doing things that remain hidden. So again, you are clearly not reading what I’m writing. Tell me, what am I saying that is factually incorrect? She quit, good for her, I don’t care, let’s focus on the competitors who are sticking it out and not put her on pedestal next to them.
Your ignorance is showing.
She has serious prima donna issues. Her mental health was just fine up to and including the first competition, but suddenly she performed a lousy vault, realised she wasn’t going to win anything …and bingo:paralysing mental health problems ( and blames ‘the world’ for ‘asking’ her to perform..). A real piece of work…
She’s not alone: the Australian basketball player Liz Cambage also pulled out saying she’d been so stressed that she’d been unable to eat, notwithstanding being filmed stuffing herself with popcorn while spectating at the All Star Game the day prior.
how is Paolo’s comment any different than mine?
I weep for this country, where even a young woman’s decision to protect her health gets politicized and subjects her to ridicule. For those who are criticizing her, I know it’s a lot to ask, but do just a tiny bit of research on what she’s been through and the dangers of flinging yourself in the air when your body is not doing what you expect it to do. I know empathy is impossible for people like you, but can you at least just admit that you have no idea whatsoever what it’s like to be in her shoes? If you’re not an elite gymnast who’s dealt with these issues, maybe listen to those who have? Or at least just keep your harsh judgements to yourself.
I mean, who cares? Who cares what United airlines opinion is on this topic? Honestly. Why would anyone care what a mediocre US airline thinks about Biles decision.
She’s very privileged for being able to play the “mental health” card – people who aren’t rich athletes go to work and do their jobs best they can under immense pressure all the time, because their livelihoods depend on it. Ms. Biles will likely get richer because she cried “mental health.” Thank goodness none of her teammates were under any amount of pressure to succeed.
FWIW if the pilot of her United flight announced during taxi that flying that day was too much pressure and they were putting their mental health first by not flying and returning the plane to the gate, they wouldn’t be a United pilot much longer.
She was an orphaned kid in and out of foster homes who later dealt with sexual abuse at the hands of her team doctor. Yup, definitely entitled and privileged.
P.s. A United pilot at risk of not being able to perform the task in front of them has a duty to return to the gate. They’d be put on leave to seek the help they needed, very unlikely they’d be fired. Would you want to be a passenger on that plane if they were having a breakdown and decided to take off?
The past doesn’t matter, she’s part of the privileged class now. These bootstrap stories are exploited by privileged people to make everyone think we’re all on an equal footing, and people who come from so-called humble beginnings are the worst about weaponizing their privilege.
Pilots fly under real pressure so a mental break could actually be dangerous. Absolutely nothing is at stake for rich, spoiled athletes except for their own egos and bank accounts.
Nothing is at stake for her? Except she could seriously injure herself and become paralyzed.
Gymnasts practice over a soft surface thousands of times bc they will fall. Gymnastics is all about repetition. After you’ve practiced a tumbling pass over and over and over, your mind controls everything. The twists, turns, flips….all simultaneously done in a fraction of a second.
If your mind and body are not perfectly synchronized, these jumps can be incredibly dangerous.
Yeah and every athlete has a risk of injury every time the compete or practice. Why should she different than every other athlete that takes risks and doesn’t quit?
How about supporting the athletes that didn’t crack under pressure? They are the real heroes. Not this arrogant staye-hogging, head case drama queen. United should put the spotlight on the high achievers and real champions.
Ignorant. But then again, you are from Texas so that’s understandable. Why can’t you have compassion for a remarkable athlete of color that made a decision with her coaches and doctors that is best for her health and her team?
What great sport accomplishments have you achieved DFWSteve?
What does her skin color matter? Racist.
UA pilot walks out of the cockpit on final approach due to pressure.
And then the copilot says, “Yikes, this is a lot of pressure, people are asking too much of me…” and leaves the cockpit too…
Exactly. She’s nothing more than a quitter.
Snowflake generation. That is a great example of what this generation will be.
And the parents of that particular generation aren’t any better and share the blame for those kids turning out the way they have.
I’m amazed that the dolts at United think I will chose their airline just because they pay Simone Biles to shill for them. The same holds true for any celebrity shill they pay gobs of money to, not just Biles.
Then you may want to stay in the house and live entirely off the grid. In this ‘digital age’ this is just the tip of the ice berg, not just United Airlines endorsing celebrities.
I prefer Olympic athletes that don’t quit.
Can we please celebrate Suni Lee instead for stepping up and winning overall gold, and not for Simone Biles’ “bravery” for quitting? What kind of upside down clown world are we living in?
Simone Biles is a great record!
Simone Biles should receive sympathy for her mental health!
Simone Biles is a hero!
Simone Biles is a great spokesperson for a company!
However, in the 2020 Olympics, she performed poorly as a gymnast. Pressure is part of sports. Not sexual abuse or beating (like Saddam would do if you lost) but the pressure to excel. If there is no pressure, then it’s an exhibition, not a competition. Then there would be no medals, just a certificate for all participants.
Interesting how this ‘quitter’ has almost certainly accomplished 10x more in her short life than any of the whiners in this group.
Grow up. Nobody here knows anything about the kind of pressure she’s dealt with.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/sports/olympics/biles-gymnastics-injuries.html
If anyone wants examples of how dangerous gymnastics can be…
Tom Brady quits during the Super Bowl in the first quarter because he throws 2 interceptions. Not acceptable. If she never tried out for the Olympic team, then I would be fine with her decision. But after she made the team, after she flew to Tokyo, after she warmed up with the team, she quit. No bueno.
I mean if Tom Brady realizes that the two interceptions are a sign that something is off. It might be the better thing for his team to step down instead of selfishly pushing through when he’s not playing at the level his team needs him to play at. That, and the fact that she knew competing would be dangerous, is why Biles bailed on the team competition (and before you ask, “why didn’t she back out earlier?”, we all know she would have gotten just as much criticism for that decision, so she held on until it was clear she couldn’t do it). If she couldn’t perform at the level her teammates needed her to perform at (and I don’t mean at her GOAT normal level, but even at their level) they were better off if she backed out instead of selfishly insisting she could do it.
Also, Simone Biles has explained that she has what gymnasts call the “twisties” when out of nowhere and inexplicably a top gymnast suddenly loses the ability to keep track of where he/she is in the air vs. the ground and how many rotations they have completed on jumps and can’t get it back. It happens to pretty much any elite gymnast who has been in the sport long enough and no one understands why it happens. For most gymnasts the answer is just practicing and practicing on soft surfaces (not the hard surfaces in competition) for a couple weeks until it goes away, but until it goes away, Biles would be insane to participate in any Olympic level gymnastics event. Biles is working in a private gym (she needs a non-Olympics gym for practice because the Olympics gymnasts only practice on hard surfaces) every day and that’s why she has been gradually pulling out of each event instead of just calling it quits. She’s working to fight through this, but she’s not going to do anything that could put her in danger. Also, she wants to make sure she makes the decision in advance so another member of the US team will be able to take her place if she can’t do it.
United…. sponsor of Olympic Team USA. Does United get paid the airfares or are they flying everyone free? Do all the Olympians flying United get a free ride ?….. either way, well, of course, they’re going to “stand behind” her/ them. Why would United say anything negative – they are the Social Services of the whole industry.
Pretty vain of corporate to think anyone gives a shit about what “United Airlines” thinks of it.
Dan – first you – uh, did you read what I wrote? part of my point is that none of could do what they do so pointing out that I’m no Olympic athlete accomplishes what? How about you comment on the facts of what I did write.
Charles – Love you people who just call other ignorant but can’t actually say what about. What did I say that was ignorant? Was it the part about her quitting? Was it the part about the scores and scores of athletes who don’t quite and they should be the ones getting our praises? Tell me, what was ignorant? What didn’t I have a clue about? You think an NFL player could walk out on a game because of ‘pressure’ and not be ridiculed? You think the teenagers and young adults in every sport that accomplish greatness in their fields are less deserving than a quitter? Let me guess, if you even respond to this it won’t be anything material other than to say I’m a bad person because you probably didn’t get enough trophies twhen you were a kid because if you did you’d understand that winners aren’t quitters.
I’m glad you both have such great powers of ESP to know exactly what was going on her head and the truth of her motivation. I’m sorry, but all I can comment on is what I actually saw.
So what… you’re admitting your pissy, pointless screed is just that?
You know nothing about what it means to be an Olympic athlete. Outside of being an athlete, I’m wagering you know nothing about real pressure or, frankly, real success. That’s why you’re here, venting about something you clearly know nothing about, on a friggin avGeek message board.
Great, more comments simply making assumptions about me and attacking me personally instead of the content of my comments. I never said I was some kind of professional athlete and what does “knowing anything” about gymnastics have to do with knowing she quit and that is not a trait of athletes at the highest level.
Still you have not made a single comment to indicate what I said was incorrect. Only assumptions about who I am or what I do or do not know. I have not made one personal attack on anyone here or made any assumptions about any poster here…yet I am the ignorant one. LOL.
She’s explained multiple times what was going through her head and what she has been going through since she decided to step down. No ESP is required to understand what Simone Biles thinks right now, just you know actually listening to what she says instead of pushing your own narrative. On Tuesday, when we still didn’t know what was going on, it was one thing to interpret the situation based on what you saw. Now it’s Sunday and you have been given many opportunities to actually listen to Simone Biles and others as she has given us a detailed explanation of exactly what’s going on with her. Choosing to still interpret things as “you saw them” is willfully ignoring and silencing Simone so you can justify bashing her to yourself.
I don’t understand why United would comment unless they have an endorsement or marketing deal with her.
I know all the racism floating around in your head has made you foggy, but that’s precisely the case with them
The best in this situation came from Katie Ledecky: she knew very well, long before the Olympics, that she wasn’t going to win the 400 or 200. It would have been so easy for her to say she wouldn’t race those events, preferring to focus on 800/1500. But no, she had a go, because she was the best chance of a medal for the USA., even silver or bronze.
I admire that, but not Biles, Osaka, Cambage and a host of others of the same ilk ( particularly the way they blame ‘the world’ for their shortcomings)
( BTW, American Airlines sponsors Ledecky)
+1!!! You go out there and do your best. You lose. So be it. She should be ashamed. What a terrible example for many kids. She felt she was not at her best so she gave up instead of losing it. She is the perfect example of a generation of snowflakes that blame their failures on everyone but themselves. United and Biles deserve to be compared to each other.
It’s a team sport based on individual performances. Her going out there and not being able to give her best (let alone being dangerous) would drag down the average score of her team. Sometimes being a team player is knowing when bow out for the best of your team instead of insisting on pushing through when all that’s going to do is hurt your team more.
Paolo is spot on…we were already kind of society that liked to blame others for our problems, but now it’s just over the top. Everyone has a tough life, everyone has problems, everyone goes through difficult situations and has baggage. Some of us decide to play the hand we were dealt, to work through our issues and achieve something regardless of what has tried to hold us back. Nobody knows what went on her head, so the real ignorance is blindly falling all over yourselves to praise a quitter, one that could have lied about everything just to cover up her a bad day (as all athletes have). None of you know the actual truth of the situation so the best you can do is call it like it is – she couldn’t handle it. How is that a trait of a champion. I’m not discounting her previous achievements at all, but she just doesn’t have it any more. United was a sponsor of the Gymnastics team, so their involvement here is strictly marketing to the snowflakes. Like United’s ‘standing by’ her means anything other than the $ it means to them.
We all know what’s going on in her head because she has explained it multiple times since she bowed out on Tuesday. I know it’s far easier to push your own non-reality based agenda and say you are objectively “calling it like it is” when you ignore what she has been saying for the last week, but it just shows your bias and bizarre desire to tear her down. If you actually listened to her you would know she’s going through a situation that randomly effects almost all elite gymnasts at some time or another. It takes a lot of work and typically a couple weeks to break out of it. Her unparalleled career in gymnastics is far from over unless she wants it to be.
She knew exactly what was in her head before the Olympics. That’s when you quit. Let the 5th place finisher in qualifying join the team instead of enjoying a free trip to Japan. Selfish loser. Dont call yourself the goat when you can’t even compete. Don’t have a pillow with a goat on it when you can’t take the pressure. Could any of us hsve done better? Of course not. But do we go around pretending to be the best ever? If she wasn’t a black woman she would be vilified. But you know, woke equality. Women and sports! I’ll never fly this bs airline. Charge me extra to support an American quitter. You can all suck it!
Oh look, a black didn’t finish their job.
Shocker, another low IQ, mouth breathing racist MAGA troll has found its way to this blog
So the real question is will she get 4A again on the way home????
To hell with these insufferable, borderline-millennial prima donnas. First Naomi Osaka, now Simone Biles. You want to play in the big leagues, stop whining when things get rough. Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali are laughing their asses off at all you fragile, coddled clowns.
Man.
Y’all are triggered.
You say she’s a professional, and expect her to power through, all while ignoring the fact that her expertise and her health professionals indicated that she not.
Ok, she disappointed today. What about yesterday? What about tomorrow? Or is that too distant to contemplate?
These Olympics shouldn’t have taken place to begin with.
M2c