For Simone Biles, everything has finally become too much

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Finally, it all became too much. Simone Biles felt it hours before sitting on the floor in Tokyo, a tension she couldn’t explain as she waited to deliver what everyone but her was sure would be a gold medal for the US women’s gymnastics team.

“I was shivering, and I could hardly sleep,” Biles said. “I’ve never felt like this entering a competition before.”

Five years ago, she came for her country with four gold and one silver medals in Rio de Janeiro. But tonight in Japan – with the official coronation of her Olympic greatness at stake – proved one bridge too far, even for the gymnast considered by many to be the greatest of all time.

Not only was Biles supposed to lead her team to the gold medal, she was supposed to start the largely overlooked Olympics at home. She was facing the pressures of Olympic history while also being tasked with bringing eyeballs to prime-time evening television on Tuesday to help save the billion dollars or what NBC spent to land the games.

Her failure before she even started was as shocking as it was demoralizing. She was unharmed and made no other excuses before withdrawing after a weak vault on the first turn.

She just doesn’t have enough mental focus to feel that she can compete with her teammates against the Russians and everyone else.

If it was shocking, it couldn’t be that surprising. Olympic history is filled with athletes who, for one reason or another, could not live up to the occasion.

Add to that the fact that being the face of the Olympics for an entire nation is very difficult and difficult.

On the same day that Biles found herself unable to continue, Japan’s Naomi Osaka bounced unceremoniously from the games amid persistent questions about her mental health, leading her to withdraw from the French Open two months ago. Like Biles, the tennis player was meant to be the star athlete of her country, and the intensity increased when she was chosen to light the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony.

It didn’t matter that there were no fans on hand to watch her lose in the third round of the Olympic tennis tournament. Eyeballs all over Japan were focusing on her every movement, feeling every single one of them.

“I definitely feel there was a lot of pressure for this,” Osaka said. “I think maybe it’s because I’ve never played in the Olympics before and for the first year (it was) a lot.”

Part of the problem is the Olympics themselves. They are so important to many athletes, who realize that they not only compete for their country but also only have a chance on the big stage every four years.

Come on and you’re a hero. Fail, and begin pointing fingers.

Dan Jansen was a victim of this, long before mental health was something athletes would be comfortable discussing. The world’s best speed skater, he fell in two races at the 1988 Olympics as television cameras were recording his every move as a predictable star of the games.

Jansen was also competing after learning that his sister had died of leukemia. However, a skater who seemed destined to win a few Olympic medals would only end up with one in four different games.

On the other hand, Dan O’Brien had a breakdown even before his first Olympics. He and decathlon competitor Dave Johnson were the subject of a major advertising campaign by Reebok prior to the 1992 Olympics. America knew him well, and his story rivaled that of the Dream Team as summer approached.

But O’Brien missed the pole vault mark in Olympic trials and never qualified for Barcelona.

Four years later, O’Brien got a second chance, this time without an ad campaign and without much pressure. He would have won the gold in Atlanta for the kind of recovery most Olympic athletes don’t get.

Like O’Brien, Biles will get a second chance – if she wants to. After her teammates finished second in the team’s ROC competition, she said she would regroup before deciding whether to continue in the singles events.

Her teammates still wanted her. Her country still needs it. And an Olympian who longs for big stars is desperate for her.

“Seeing her going out like that is so sad because, I feel, these Olympics is kind of her game,” said Sunisa Lee, her teammate.

Just as no one should dispute the greatness of Beals, no one should argue with her decision. She is responsible for herself, and anyone who doubts her resolve should take a look at her trophy bag.

She made us happy before, and it didn’t seem like she was trying. Shame on us if we thought it would be easy for her to do it again.

On this night, in these Olympics, it was just too much.

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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for the Associated Press. Write to him at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/timdahlberg

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