Kent Anderson
Jul 28, 2021

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I see your point, but I don’t believe I mentioned her being Black. I’ve been involved in the Movement since the late 70s. Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Allison Schmidt have all suffered from high expectations and depression. There was an HBO documentary done about it. Back in the day, when I was a competitor, there was no mental counseling, no support. The local Rotary/Kiwanis club sponsored me. Or I had to self fund or my family had to pay my fees. I pulled back for 15 years and then returned. So, for close to 40 years, I competed at a very high level. I have mostly good memories of it. Biles admitted the pressure got to her. She didn’t bail, she made the decision to withdraw to help her teammates win Silver. And, as I pointed out, this isn’t the first time the hype machine ate up an Olympian.

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Kent Anderson
Kent Anderson

Written by Kent Anderson

Purveyor of Truth and Facts. Lifelong Detroiter. Journalist. Loves good TV, sports, friends and family. Mostly. Also: https://rollingwheelie.substack.com/

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