Today, when you say the word gymnastics, Simone Biles is bound to come to mind. So has been the stature of the athlete – 7 Gold · 2 Silver · 2 Bronze, and that is just her Olympic achievement. But the journey to becoming the GOAT of this sport and staying at the top has been laden with so much online hate. “Respectfully, f— off,” these are the words that came out of her mouth about her online trolls. She has also talked about TikTok and Social Media in a recent interview. What more does she have to add now?
In an exclusive interview with Netflix, Simone was asked about social media and whether it has been a force for good or a challenge. The OG star of her sport answered, “TikTok is mean; it’s the meanest platform I have. I used to think it was Twitter, but TikTok is mean!” There exist people on both these platforms who could eat you alive for any simple misstep, and at times even for none, but social media can be a great place as well. Simone recognizes that.
Further answering the question, she talked about how social media can be a cool tool. The multiple-time Olympic gold medalist emphasized that social media platforms help break down barriers between the essence of a person as a celebrity and their normal life. Pointing out that people can go see her do regular things on her accounts, she said, “Oh, she’s just like me. She’s shopping here today at blah, blah, blah,” or, “She’s eating here at … Oh, I love that restaurant,” or whatever it is.“But the downsides of it cannot be ignored as well.
Simone said in the interview that people on social media will pick apart each other, and it isn’t fair because she didn’t seek out such a huge following on her accounts actively. She has 5.3M Followers on TikTok and a freaking 12.4 million followers on her Instagram. That being said, she also pointed out that she has her own ways of dealing with it. She said, “We just grew up in the gym, and we’re doing what we love. I know when to shut off my social media, which is usually around Olympic time.”
Know that, when the 7 times Olympic gold medalist says all these things, she has been through enough. She has seen her comment sections and DMs flooded with messages that had only one intention – to troll and hate the gymnast.
Simone Biles has been trolled enough
From her hairstyle to her mental health struggles and even for her husband, Jonathan Owens, there is not one thing that Simone Biles hasn’t been trolled for. Back in the 2020 Olympics, when the gymnast had to pull out of the Olympics due to her mental health struggles with Twisties, many people didn’t like it on the internet. Back when she made the announcement, social media was flooded with comments saying that she “failed her country” and “acted selfishly.” Some even called her “weak” and “not a real athlete” for pulling out of the competition to focus on her mental health.
During the Paris Olympics, Biles won 3 Golds and 1 silver medal, but the trolls focused on something else: her hairstyle. Commenting on her hair, one of the trolls said, “Simone Biles hair never being done properly be pissing me off. Everybody else on the team is put together, then she looks like she just rolled out of bed .” The gymnast hit back to her trolls by warning them to never question a black girl’s hair.
Another instance was when her husband, Jonathan Owens, was seen wearing her Olympic Medal. People took to the keyboards and said, “Why he holding it like he won it?”. Another user remarked, “Mr. I’m the prize wants to wear her prize… I’m not surprised.” Biles chose to hit back on the and ignored that she would put her medal on every one of her family members and take pictures. She also said, “Like y’all are so f–ing miserable. Leave us alone.” Justified reaction, don’t you think?
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