Is Gymnast Simone Biles A ‘Clout Chaser’?

Gymnast Simone Biles has been labelled a ‘Clout Chaser’ for returning to Olympics after initially backing out. But hold on.. there’s always two sides to a coin.

The pride of the United States, gymnastics champion Simone Biles sent shockwaves throughout the world of sports last week.

The Background

On July 27th, Simone Biles announced that she will not be taking part in the Tokyo Olympics 2021 citing mental health concerns.

Her performance during the first rotation wasn’t good enough as well and she decided to back out.

Simone Biles told she was experiencing a typical sportsman phenomenon of ‘twisties’, a state where you are not confident about your mind and body’s cooperation in midair.

What Happened Now?

She is hailed as the greatest female gymnast of all time and just recently it was announced that she will return to Tokyo Olympics competition for the balance beam final on Tuesday, a little over a week after she announced her exit from the competition to focus on her mental health.

The US Gymnastics issued a statement saying “We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow — Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!”

Clout Chaser Vs Government Pressure

While sports lovers were happy to hear this news, there were many who weren’t convinced. People on the internet are now calling Simone a ‘clout chaser’ and an ‘attention seeker’. Have a look at some of the comments:

Disregarding her prior ‘mental health’ statement, users took to comments to criticize her return. Some also said that Simone was being ‘pressured’ to return to the games. Here are a few more comments:

Do you think that the internet is being too harsh on Simone? Or do you feel it was really a publicity stunt? Or worse, was she pressured by the game authorities to participate? Tell us in the comments!