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Texas deputy AG apologizes to Simone Biles after calling her childish National Embarrassment
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The deputy attorney general from Texas, Aaron Reitz, has issued a public apology after he called Olympic gymnast Simone Biles a “selfish and childish national embarrassment” earlier this week on Twitter.
Simone Arianne Biles, born in 1997, is an American artistic gymnast who has won a grand total of 31 Olympic and World Championship medals under the American flag. At just 24 years of age, she is already the most decorated American gymnast and is widely considered one of the greatest athletes of all time.
MENTAL HEALTH IS A PRIORITY
However, on Tuesday before her event in 2020/21, Tokyo Olympics, Biles withdrew from the women’s team competition, citing mental health issues. She had also not competed at the women’s all-around final on Thursday either.
Biles discussed the enormous pressure she was under and also expressed fears that she might be hurting herself if she did not take the time to get in the right mindset.
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OUTRAGE
Following the series of events that panned out in Japan, the Deputy Attorney General from Texas, Aaron Reitz, had tweeted from his official handle calling Biles a “childish,” “selfish,” “national embarrassment”. One could only imagine how that might have landed on the young 24-year-old who had only chosen to take care of herself first, just like anyone else would have.
US Attorney General for Texas was quick to respond to the situation as his deputy had caused a massive stir in the American twitter space.
“Today, I learned about a very inappropriate and insensitive tweet by one of our employees. This will be handled internally.”, he wrote, following a post heaping praises on the young gymnast that has made America proud consistently over the years.
After a public outrage following the disputed tweet, the deputy Attorney General has since released a subsequent tweet as an apology to Biles.
THE DEPUTY A.G. APOLOGIZES FOR HIS OUTRAGEOUS REMARKS
The apology, also issued via his Twitter handle, said that the deputy Attorney General made the tweet in a “frustration and disappointment” without being “adequately versed.”
“In a moment of frustration and disappointment, I opined on subjects for which I am not adequately versed. That was an error. I can’t imagine what Simone Biles has gone through”, wrote the deputy Attorney General.
“Simone Biles is a true patriot and one of the greatest gymnasts of our time. I apologize to her and wish her well. I owe @Simone_Biles an apology. A big one.” he Tweeted with a picture of his full apology attached to it.
THE US GYMNASTICS STANDS WITH BILES
USA Gymnastics said Biles would be evaluated daily before making a decision if she will participate in next week’s individual events. Originally, Biles had qualified for the finals on all four apparatuses, something she didn’t even do during her five-medal haul in Brazil Olympics at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Before the Olympics started, Biles came to Tokyo as possibly the “face of the Games” following the retirement of legends like swimmer Michael Phelps and sprinter Usain Bolt from Jamaica. She topped her qualifying rounds on Sunday despite piling up mandatory deductions on vault, floor, and beam following some shaky dismounts.
FRUSTRATION AT THE SHOW
On Monday, she took to social media to say that she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. And apparently, the weight became too heavy after vaulting during team finals. During her performance, Biles lost herself in mid-air and completed 1 1/2 twists instead of 2 1/2. She immediately consulted with the US team doctor Marcia Faustin before walking off the field of play.
“We also have to focus on ourselves because, at the end of the day, we’re human too. We have to protect our mind and our body rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do,” said Biles in her statement.
SOMEONE EQUAL TO FILL THE SHOES
On Thursday, Sunisa Lee, another artistic gymnast of the United States, stepped up to fill Biles’s shoes to win the Olympic women’s gymnastics all-around gold medal.
NORMALIZE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
The Deputy Attorney General, who faced massive criticism from around the world for his outrageous statement, is still a topic of discussion for the people, and it shows how we still do not think that mental wellbeing is as equally important as physical fitness.
The fact that one can not function properly in one’s social or professional roles without being in a proper state of mind should not be a matter of discussion.
Deputy Attorney General for Texas Aaron Reitz has since deleted his Twitter account.
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