By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Simone Biles’s critics are terribly quick to condemn the iconic gymnast’s decision to bow out of the Olympics team competition, contending that she “quit on her team.”

Hmm. Well, let’s ponder something for a moment. Shall we?

Suppose Biles had decided that her mental and emotional issues were no big deal and she competed in the team competition. Then she tanked terribly. Suppose a horrible performance would have cost her team a chance at any medal, let alone the gold medal.

By stepping aside, Simone Biles not only didn’t quit on her team, she well might have enhanced its medal prospects simply by being there to cheer her friends on.

Did she “quit” on her teammates? No … way!

Here’s a thought. Let’s just give this courageous young woman the space she needs to deal head-on with whatever is troubling her.

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Simone Biles has walked away from Olympic glory.

Or has she? The premier U.S. gymnast took herself out of the team competition at the Tokyo Olympics the other day, citing emotional stress and unreadiness to compete.

I am not going to weigh in with a heavy-duty critique of what she did. Nor am I going to try to assess why she has bowed out and might be done altogether as the current Olympic Games plays out.

You see, few of us outsiders can understand fully the pressure, the intense scrutiny, the proverbial weight of the world pressing down on the shoulders of a young athlete who competes at the highest level imaginable.

For that reason alone — my ignorance of what she is enduring and has endured during her years on the world athletic stage — I am going to give this young woman a pass.

I want her to find peace. I want her to expunge whatever demons are lurking inside her soul. I wish her the very best … which I suppose when you add all this up is my  endorsement of Simone Biles’s decision to bow out.