This week saw USA gymnast Simone Biles drop out of the Olympics due to mental health issues and was widely praised by parts of the media for doing so. According to Biles, she dropped out due to a case of the ‘twisties’ which is a gymnastics term where a gymnast loses awareness whilst performing twisting movements mid-air. Apparently, if this happens, the outcome can be quite dangerous as a result.
This prompted Gordon Ryan to give his own take on the subject and his response was controversial, gaining over one thousand replies on Instagram, which received mixed views. Whilst some firmly agreed with Ryan, many others disagreed with him.
For the record, Biles has achieved 4 gold medals in the 2016 Olympic games, whilst Gordon Ryan has achieved 3 golds at the prestigious ADCC tournaments – which many perceive to be the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu equivalent of the Olympics. According to Ryan, this experience in high-intensity situations gave him a key insight into the mindstate of a top athlete, and coincidentally both he and Biles are often referred to as the ‘GOAT’s of their respective fields.
As seen, Gordon Ryan pulled no punches in his assessment of Simone Biles. However, was he right? Check out the comments on his post to see how the grappling community reacted.
