Role Model - August 16, 2016

Simone Biles keeps us on task with her grounded sensibility, centered wisdom, compassion, and humanity, never mind her spell binding athleticism. She makes politics and the media look petty and insignificant as evidenced in the ESPN interview excerpt below after her beam bronze medal performance where only they could be disappointed.

"I'm so happy she could share with the world what she does in practice, and that's exactly what she did tonight," Biles said. "I told her, 'You did it, good job, and I couldn't be more proud of you.' And I'm so excited for her, so excited. She deserves it more than anybody." 

Standing next to Hernandez in the interview area afterward, Biles was asked if she was disappointed and if it fired her up for Tuesday's floor routine. "I don't know how to answer that," she said flatly.

Was she upset about the end of the "Drive for Five," the catchphrase coined to describe her quest for an Olympic-record five gold medals by a female gymnast at a single Olympics? This would have been a record-tying No. 4.  "Not necessarily," Biles said. 

"It's something you guys [in the media] shove into my head, but I don't put that much stress on myself because I am only 19, and I think you guys want it more than I do. I just want to perform the routines that I practiced."

beam routine, August 15, 2016