Simone Biles, the peerless American gymnast has pulled out of another final at the Olympics citing mental health issues. In a statement she said she was off form and likely to risk injuring herself. “We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do. I don’t trust myself as much anymore. Maybe it’s getting older. ”
At 24 she’s already older than Nadia Comaneci and Olga Korbut, two other world class gymnastic Olympians who took the world by storm when they performed years back. They retired at 20 and 22, having started very young.
There’s not many similarities between the three charts. Olga Korbut, 16 May 1955 in Belarus, is a driven and determined Sun Taurus opposition Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto; with a creative Venus in Aries opposition Neptune square an adventurous and lucky Uranus Jupiter in Cancer.
Nadia Comaneci, 12 November 1961 in Rumania, is a Sun Scorpio conjunct Neptune on one side and Mars on the other, sextile Saturn – so has a streak of Korbut’s determination. Her Jupiter is inconjunct Uranus and trine Venus Mercury in Scorpio.
Simone Biles, 14 March 1997 maybe 12.30 am Columbus, Ohio, is a Sun, Venus, Mercury in Pisces opposition Mars in Virgo; with a tough-minded Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries trine Pluto sextiling onto a lucky, adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Aquarius.
Last Olympics she ignored a kidney stone, refused to be operated on and couldn’t be drugged to ease the pain, and still managed to win her thirteenth gold. Her signature vault – ‘the Biles’ – has never been attempted in competition by any other woman. Nadia Comaneci said of her: “You have somebody who can do something we cannot even design on a paper.” Her superstar 22nd Harmonic stands out as tough and unique; as well as super-confident.
Simone had an inauspicious start in life with a drug and alcohol addicted mother and never knew her father. She was rescued from foster care by her grandparents, who despite their modest circumstances indulged her drive to succeed. Earlier this year, she came forward to testify that she, like so many of her fellow gymnasts, had been sexually abused by the US team doctor Larry Nassar.
Jupiter Uranus appears to be the only common factor between all three gymnasts which is best described as the ‘power of positive thinking’.
Simone’s Pluto is exactly conjunct her exuberant Mars/Jupiter midpoint. Olga Korbut’s Sun and Pluto are also in aspect to her Mars/Jupiter midpoint; and her Jupiter=Sun/Mars. Nadia’s Sun is conjunct her Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. So a fair sprinkling of confident and high-spirited connections, with two of them having their enthusiastic Venus Mars midpoint also in play.
If Simone’s 12.30 am birth time is sound then tr Saturn is moving down through her lower profile, less successful first quadrant at the moment; and tr Neptune is hovering around her IC opposing her midheaven which could explain her lack of motivation with tr Neptune conjunct her Sun this year or next depending on birth time and moving onto oppose her Mars in 2023. We may have seen her peak and she’ll have a tricky transition into retirement and her next phase of life/career.
Piers Morgan in his usual crass, brash fashion is berating her withdrawal. But there’s a real risk of serious spinal and other injury if complicated mid air twists go wrong.
Add On: In late May this year she was executing a move so awe inspiring no one else would attempt it. That was when tr Uranus was square her focal point Jupiter giving her the confidence to take a risk and succeed. Then evidently she had problems in training running into the Olympics – that was when tr Saturn had retrograded to conjunct her Jupiter dampening her confidence and causing her to doubt herself. Tr Saturn is now moving to conjunct her Jupiter/Uranus midpoint from August 4th – so she’s stuck in a patch where her self-esteem will be low and her mental attitude not as strong as usual, which for this particular sport is crucially important, if life-changing injuries are to be avoided.
Cricketer Ben Stokes, 4th June, 1991, has just stepped back too, citing mental health reasons just post his Saturn return. He’s Mars/Jupiter in Leo opposite Saturn. Seems to be a 2021 trend. Sports people are not commodities – perhaps that’s a lesson for the various sports governing bodies etc to take to heart?
I will never forget when gymnast Kerri Strug competed on an injured ankle and took the vault anyways. Seems it won the gold for the American team. She had that Scorpio determination. (November 19, 1977)
I thought of Kerri Strug as well. She should never have been pressured to take that jump, what an awful thing for that coach to do. I note that Strug herself has given her full support to Simone Biles.
Sorry just caught up with Patrick and Solaia’s earlier comments – such a long scroll on this device
This morning I read a terrific article in the Guardian about Simones choice… written by Casey Gerand.
Here is the link.
Simone Biles and the rise of the ‘great refusal’
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/28/simone-biles-naomi-osaka-great-refusal-no?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
As I read earlier news reports I was struck by the need to frame her choice to not compete as a medical issue rather than a simple, clear definitive choice. No explanations necessary. God.. women are always explaining and justifying their actions!!!
Yes.. I know that is what she said… but honestly? I think that is the only option any athlete has to say “no”… especially at this high level. It’s the only reason the public will accept.
Pluto in Capricorn is at it again…. now in the realm of high level sport. Yes.. these athletes get paid a lot of money in some way. And There Is A Cost. The football athletes who now have major brain damage. The feeding frenzy of the media on tennis players immediately after they have played intensely. There is some rot at the core that needs to be addressed.
Lovely Simone….. this was the time for her to “refuse”. To say “no”. Letting her country down? her teammates? I certainly know that there have been times when I have “suddenly” hit a wall… thinking all was well and then Wham!!!… it wasn’t!!! I’m giving her that.
Was this political? I think it is now and that is fantastic. Read the article listed above!
Another Plutonian reveal… a clearing.
And how about the lovely story of the basketball game between USA and Iran!!!
Their camaraderie and support for each other.
Good ripples.
Oddly.. lately.. I’ve been feeling somewhat hopeful….
EVERYTHING is getting shattered. There is something right about that.
(ahh.. my Pluto in the 8th!)
Your comment made me think about the fact that Americans are quitting their jobs at record numbers right now. Maybe the refusals to play along of Simone Biles (and Naomi Osaka refusing the media, the Norwegian women refusing to wear teeny tiny bikinis to play handball) are part of this. Much of this is fallout from the stress of the pandemic over the past 15+ months, which by the way led to a delayed Olympics that put another year on the “aging” Biles who was planning to retire last year after the 2020 Olympics. Plus the ongoing pandemic issues with lack of spectators to cheer on the athletes and all of the safety measures and surrounding anxieties, not to mention the protests of Japanese citizens who don’t want these games to be going on. Maybe these stresses have hit some harder than others (Biles multi-Pisces and Virgo) and some have decided enough is enough and their own health and well-being is too much to give despite institutional/corporate pressure.
Yes!!
“Your comment made me think about the fact that Americans are quitting their jobs at record numbers right now.”
I read about this, and how it affected White Collar positions, too. Having had an inside view of American Corporate Culture, I absolutely can see why it’s happening, too.
I just came across an article on Bela Karolyi who was extremely abusive to Nadia Comenici. He badgered Kerri Strug into doing a vault with a broken ankle. Several Romanians have verified this. They recently had their ranch closed down after they were accused of covering up Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse. Simone Biles helped to get some insiders fired at USA gymnastics which rivals FIFA for corruption.
@Patrick, FIFA corruption almost got me off football (honestly, I think Euro2020 was the first tournament in 10 years I fully enjoyed, thanks to generation of players standing up or rather kneeling to injustice), but US Gymnastic is still worse, truly Stalinesque in power structure. I also vividly recall Kelly Strug incident, and being SO angry at Karolyi at the time. Now there’s a picture of Nassar “helping” Kerro Strug off floor after the incident all over the internet, and I’m so upset for Kelly – who has been supporting Simone 100 per cent.
Simone Biles is at the top level of her sport, the stress levels on the global stage must be immense. Simone won 4 gold medals in Rio and has said she didn’t want to risk the team a medal. Gymnastics is a very dangerous sport and although part of a team ultimately they go it alone. This young woman should be admired for her courage. Mental health issues can strike at any time. To be interviewed by the media adds to the stress and her awareness of not being able to perform at her best must have put enormous pressure on her emotionally. It’s not a time when an individual is going to be thinking of the world!
Good luck Simone!
Thanks Marjorie. I used to be in gymnastics and if you aren’t focused and feel confident to fly thru the air you don’t do it. Why risk seriously injuring yourself or worse? Everyone is human. Piers Morgan need to STFU. I can’t stomach him. I’d like to see him on a balance beam.
I read his article. He included the interview he once had with her. She is a strong sassy lady. Morgan is marmite, you either like him or loathe him. Yet there is always a nugget of shrewdness in his writing. Yes he is confrontational and challenging, however, he has been around for a long time and knows his job. The Guardian and the Times also ran stories on her. This Olympics is different, yet many sponsors make these athletes extremely wealthy. Normally people would have paid a lot of money to watch these athletes perform. It is interesting the attitude which is developing in sport, as quite a few of the sports people are complaining, which is fair enough, yet will people stop paying for seats? If athletes are going to decide whether they perform or not. Biles has pulled out of everything in Tokyo. Yet she is not injured, stated she was fit and just focussing on her needs. Her needs? The team was not in her repertoire.
@Nel, in this case, Piers Morgan, who I gather must have skipped his school gymnastics too 50 years ago (he definitely strikes me as the boy who had “sprayed ankle” every time a sport he knew he would not be good at was on program) simply does not have a clue on what he is talking about.
Simone Biles is experiencing a technical/neurological issue where she loses sense of direction in the middle of air and thus can’t guarantee a safe landing really vital in avoiding a possibly life threatening injury. This condition is well-known to anyone practising or even following sports involving spinning – gymnastics, diving, trampolining and skating, for instance. Now, imagine experiencing this in the middle of an Olympic event where everybody is “counting on you”, what kind of psychological effects that might have.
Also, as someone who has been looking at money side of sports a lot, I regret to inform you that very little of the money from those “expensiveseats” somehow finds itself to the athletes in most Olympic events. For instance, one of the most “likely” winners in Athletics events, discus thrower Daniel Ståhl, who has been dominating the sport, was recently dropped by Nike. Arguably, Athletics has “price money events” nowadays, but in many other disciplines what ever financial support athletes get is behind some sort of National “board” or “association”, which can be positively corrupt – as in case of US Gymnastic paying for a child molestor for decades. As a daughter of a mother who was pushed to take steroids when on National team training to make her competitive against Eastern Bloc athletes in the 1970’s, and saw her “career” cut when she refused, I fully endorse athletes FINALLY talking about this stuff.
There really is no excusing Morgan’s constant bullying of, mainly, young women who are going through a physical or mental health challenge. Sickening, almost with a seemingly ‘Hitchcock’ air.
Thanks Marjorie, I’ve been wondering about this. She is such a magical gymnast to watch, and has achieved so much already. I think her decision was courageous and she’s doing what’s right for her. Sport is such a cruel world now, perhaps it always was – but more than ever it is driven by money and not the wonders of the human body. Which is, of course, inextricably linked to the mind.
May’s lunar eclipse in Sagittarius was on her Pluto in Sagittarius, which could have sparked off some very deep feelings or doubts. Plus, there’s Neptune, melting things or her perception of things – and Saturn transiting her Jupiter. Interesting that the Moon was swimming along through Pisces as the announcement reached the media.
I hope she’s ok, she’s brought much inspiration and pleasure to so many people.
I frightened to post what I think because of the backlash. However, I don’t think it is her performance. Transiting Pluto is approaching her natal Neptune. Which is square her Mars/South Node. She is ready to explode and use her strength and opinions on the Political scene. . Her Pluto/ Moon opposition midpoint is in Pisces. Saturn is transiting Pisces. Her Mercury/South Node midpoint is opposite Mars which is conjunct her North Node in Virgo in the 10th. Or this point to form. Water and Earth can make mud, which either can either form your thought or muddle them. Virgo is one of the signs aligned with Politics. My immediate thought was that this was done purposely. She is bulking against her country, her mother and her life. I think she will become a Black Icon for Politics. I think she is part of a wider movement sweeping American sport right now. She has overcome many obstacles to get what she wanted. The past has shaped her and she is going to use her anger and her opinions to fight for what she believes in.
So you’re saying Biles is enacting some nefarious plan to catapult herself into a post-sport political career? She wouldn’t have to. She would be exceptionally well-respected and well-paid as a sports commentator, for instance. Painting her as an “angry black woman,” as Michelle Obama was similarly tarred, is so 2008. The sole reason I’m not going to drag you harder about this paranoid-sounding drivel is out of courtesy to Marjorie.
Her chart was put up by Marjorie. I was drawn to the chart, as I was drawn to Biles as she was speaking. I actually think that she has several things going on her life. It is documented online that she has said that she suffers from AHAD. I have worked with students who have had AHSD, Asperger and Autism. They all go hand in hand and sometimes it is difficult to actually state what someone really suffers from. She may be perceived as being focussed, yet I can see her manner as being slightly Autistic. I wasn’t being discourteous to Marjorie. Marjorie does not hold back in giving her opinion to those who post on here and have gone off topic. Her chart shows that her life will change. Transiting Pluto is coming up to conjunct her Neptune in Capricorn/2nd house. Capricorn is the Ruler of the 10th house, normally associated with being in the public. This combination may well block her movement and drag her into a dark place. Which we may have seen the beginning of this transit at the Tokyo Olympics, or it could bring out her anger. She has a very interesting chart. Mars is in the tenth house conjunct her North Node and midpoints her Part of Fortune and North Node, which is in Virgo. However, this may give her form in her energy, which she has so far worked with in Gymnastics, yet Virgo his normally more verbal and dedicated to teaching people, delivering detail and communication. I think she is going to change. She mentioned being bored and not enjoying it. She also was quoted saying that she has had enough of Social Media. I treat the black ethnicity as any other. I am well conversed with all ethnicities having work in Education. By actually treating everyone the same, I am giving respect not attacking anyone. I have Uranus in the 1st, I am always go to come to the table with a different opinion, not out of being rude, just because I am drawn to a different angle.
@TrisKit, also funny because Dan Crenshaw, the usually very Trumpian Republican Congressman from Houston tweeted in support of Simone Biles. Texans love their sport heros, and if she had any political aspirations she could well run on that.
Hmm I wondered about this post as well. I know people lie but there’s a knee jerk tendency nowadays to assume everyone is or has an ulterior motive that is being hidden. Being suspicious of everyone is paranoid thinking and you might want to ask yourself why you think her motivations are dubious.
Other sports people and gymnasts have come out fully in support and her explanation clearly rings a bell with them. I’ve also read she has been disheartened because the ruling sports body was and continues to be less than vigorous in owning up to its lax approach to stories of Nassar’s abusive behaviour. I would think if she had a cause that might come top of the list. And it might well be, given her traumatic background from childhood onwards, that some of the buried terror surfaced in flashbacks very suddenly which it can do. And that put her off her game, dangerously so.
It appears very difficult to say anything about American Black Icons. None of us can help a gut reaction to an incident. Yet my gut reaction is normally very reliable and this story has not finished. Many women have the gift of incite and intuitively react to sensational stories. However, in this heightened world of accusations and counter accusations, it is best to say nothing. Which I normally do. Being on controlled pain relief does not help and perhaps I should not post.
You obviously knew you were courting controversy with your other remarks, Nel. People disagreed with you, and you doubled down by expressing yet another paranoid belief. If you’re on drugs, as you acknowledge you are, you should indeed do yourself a favor and stop now.
I don’t recount being rude to anyone. I may have posted from a perspective of an observer which is what my job was and related what I saw. Police workers never really let their jobs go, teachers are the same. I saw what I saw. “you should indeed do yourself a favor and stop now”? Is this your right to tell a poster? It is Marjorie’s as it is her website and she paid for the domain, but yours? I was not rude, I just may have inadvertently posted without fully considering the tone of which I would be denounced. Provocation was not what I intended. People from around the world use this website. I am not American.
The Washington Post has a good article today about her withdrawal, which she ascribed to the “twisties,” which other gymnasts immediately recognized. It’s a mental loss of awareness of the location of and connection with your body.
Simone Biles said she got the ‘twisties.’ Gymnasts immediately understood.
By Emily Giambalvo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/28/twisties-gymnastics-simone-biles-tokyo-olympics/
Surely she would have found this out in training? It is not as if this was the first attempt. She also stated it was her mental health. None of what she is stating is making sense for an athlete of her calibre. There would have been months of training with the Team. Pulling out whilst actually partaking, weakened the Team considerably.
Have you read the article? What she experienced is not uncommon, according to other elite gymnasts. It comes on quickly, without warning, they say, and takes a long time, weeks or months, to retrain to get over it. And the special stresses of this Olympics, without spectators and with many restraints but few means of relaxation, are extraordinary. Notice how many athletes have failed to meet their perhaps unreasonable expectations.
I did and I also watched her interview online. Her attitude was fascinating. Totally focussed on her needs, her thoughts and her decision. My team, my way and myself, is the only thing she said.She kept reinforcing this. There was no acknowledgement of letting people down. No connection with her country and no acknowledgement of a committed responsibility to the Olympics. More interestingly there was no response to suffering a shock in having just experienced something like that. No tears of lettering herself down or her team mates. It was a clinical execution and totally detached. In my profession it was my job to observed students in placements. I became used to observing people.
If you observed gymnast and other elite athletes this is what they do. They remove themselves emotionally. She had talked about this in her FB docuseries. You have to learn to reconnect when you are trained/taught/learned to be disconnected.
She could die or be paralyzed if she makes an error
He routine is so dangerous the Olympics forbade anyone else to do it
So she sacrifice her life for her team?
That is insane and cruel.
I taught 30 years, k-12 and new teachers. I read people too
When they tell you things BELIEVE THEM!
Some people on this thread would rather have her break her neck. The team won silver. Why are you haters so angry and ready to paint Simone Biles as an angry? Perhaps Nel, you have some awareness that she does indeed have much to be angry about? Oh, and mental unfitness is regarded in some quarters as a medical issue. Certainly it’s health related. Stop confusing someone’s beauty, grace and public poise as an indicator of their mental health. It isn’t! Most commentators have been sympathetic. Why read what Piers Morgan says about Simone Biles unless you like his obsessive badgering of women. As Ariana Grande said,”Also @piersmorgan, I look forward to the day you realise there are other ways to go about making yourself relevant than to criticise young, beautiful, successful women for everything they do.
“I think that’ll be a beautiful thing for you and your career or what’s left of it.”
He has no credibility on this. He’s not shrewd. Just rude.
Yes, I saw that. The “twisties,” getting lost, sounds very Neptunian. Good on her for taking care of herself—glad she did what was right and best for her. If she broke her neck like Elena Mukhina did, everyone would be shocked for a day and then just go on with their lives. But Biles would not have the luxury of just walking away from that. She doesn’t have to potentially maim or kill herself for everyone’s entertainment.
Also, I’m struck by how mutable and Piscean Biles’s birth chart is. So much concentrated energy in her 3rd decan Pisces/Virgo. The precision of Virgo being opposed by the floatiness of Pisces. Korbut’s chart looks fairly mutable too, but with the concentration in Gemini rather than Pisces.
Thanks Marjorie for this
Quite clearly she is very in tuned with her body and knows when to say enough, as opposed to singing and dancing like a puppet to the tune of the media, the powers that be and give the audience what they want.
Very striking to me that this is where we are in 2021. Not so much being a more enlightened and sophisticated global society wherever we live, but more so according to ‘sound bites’ and ‘likes’ that mean more rather than respecting a person’s decision to do the right thing for their personal well-being? This is a serious thing!!
More informed but not so evolved then!!?
Thanks Marjorie. I know diddly squat about it but I wonder if astrocartography has an impact on how individuals perform at Olympics etc. Tokyo might be a really duff place for her.
Yes it certainly would. Though her birth time is dodgy which you need for astrocartography. On this BT Tokyo puts Sun Venus in the 8th and Pluto in the 4th – which might have a bearing.