- Title: Biles trusts her own voice, says former Olympian Dominique Dawes
- Date: 28th July 2021
- Summary: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CANADA (JULY 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST DOMINIQUE DAWES SAYING: "It could be a simple skill and you're overthinking it. Your body knows how to do it. Your muscles have memory, is what my coaches would always say, however your mind then is overthinking the situation and then you maybe bolt a move or you have a complete mental block and you are paralyzed and you freeze completely. I feel as if that's really what happened to her. I'm sure it scared her quite a bit. I'm not saying she hasn't gone through it before but if you're in the competition and you do that, it's really hard to regain your composure. And then you're very concerned that you may then eventually injure yourself." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST DOMINIQUE DAWES SAYING: "She needs to find a way to push all of that noise and chatter, even in her own head, off to the side and recognize that she's done these routines thousands and thousands and thousands of times. And while this is the biggest stage ever that she's been on - these are her second Olympic Games - she is very capable of hitting her sets, or at least doing them to the best of her ability that day." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST DOMINIQUE DAWES SAYING: "She made that decision for herself and I think she recognized that there was a possibility of her creating a very serious error that could lead to a very serious injury. What she does out there is very difficult maneuvers. She makes it look very easy - that's the problem - people think that what she does is very easy and maybe even easy for her but it takes a lot physical toughness, mental toughness, psychological toughness and she felt off of her game and recognized that she didn't want to put herself in jeopardy so she made the decision. That's what I love. Most gymnasts don't make decisions for themselves. They are robots. The coaches tell them what to do. The federation tells them what to do. The federation decides who is on the team. The athlete normally doesn't have a voice nor does an athlete trust their voice. She not only has a voice - which I love - but she trusts her voice. And she knows she's going to get a little bit of backlash from fans and people are like, 'How can you let your team down?' or whatever. But the best thing she can do is shut off all this outside chatter. Anything that's not coming from her own head or her support system need not, need not be heard." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER OLYMPIC GYMNAST DOMINIQUE DAWES SAYING: "It wouldn't feel like the Olympic Games without an audience, I will say that. I was at three Olympic Games: 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia and 2000 in Sydney and the enthusiasm and energy from everybody in the stands, family included, friends included, really adds to the adrenaline, the hype and the rush, the excitement that all of these athletes should be feeling. However, when I watched the prelims, there was something missing and it was the fans. It was something missing, them looking over in the audience for their family members. I remember in 1996 during the Atlanta Olympic Games, I looked up in the audience and was looking for my family members. So that's something that you need as a young athlete for some reassurance. However, she's got her faith. Maybe her sister is there. And hopefully her mom and dad jumped on the next flight to Tokyo to give her that moral support that she needs."
- Embargoed: 11th August 2021 01:26
- Keywords: Dominique Dawes Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles Tokyo Olympic Games women's gymnastics
- Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CANADA / TOKYO, JAPAN / BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES
- City: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, CANADA / TOKYO, JAPAN / BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Olympics,Sport,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA008ENMB9S7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former U.S. Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes expressed her support for Olympic gymnast Simone Biles who dropped out of the women's team final at the Tokyo Summer Games, saying she had to focus on her mental health.
Biles, who has racked up multiple world and Olympic medals in a spectacular career, said Tuesday (July 27) that the pressure of living up to expectations had left her no other choice but to drop out of the team final.
Dawes, the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics, said Biles is under tremendous pressure and it is important for the 24-year-old to trust herself in order to prevent injuries.
"She made that decision for herself and I think she recognized that there was a possibility of her creating a very serious error that could lead to a very serious injury. What she does out there is very difficult maneuvers. She makes it look very easy - that's the problem - people think that what she does is very easy and maybe even easy for her but it takes a lot physical toughness, mental toughness, psychological toughness and she felt off of her game and recognized that she didn't want to put herself in jeopardy so she made the decision," said Dawes.
"The best thing she can do is shut off all this outside chatter. Anything that's not coming from her own head or her support system need not, need not be heard," she added.
Dawes also said that without an audience or family members in the audience, athletes at this year's Olympics are missing the reassurance that she found so critical when she competed.
The U.S. team went on to win silver in the event.
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