Team USA gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Games, which led to backlash from fans and athletes alike. Now added to this list, is retired MMA fighter and Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, Henry Cejudo.
Cejudo won gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which at the time made him the youngest American to medal in the Olympics in wrestling. He went on to have a successful career in the UFC, becoming the only Olympic gold medalist to win a UFC title, which he did across two different weight classes simultaneously.
Henry Cejudo Gives His Thoughts On Simone Biles
Speaking of the video on his Twitter, Triple C decided to give his thoughts on the situation regarding Biles and her withdrawal from the Tokyo Games. Here he heavily criticized her for crumbling under the pressure of being an Olympic athlete, saying that it was her responsibility to not let what media says get to her head.
“I believe Simone Biles pulling out of this thing, it’s like she really needs to check herself. I think it’s time for a little bit of tough love. If she was my sister this is exactly what I would do, so I would never say something that I wouldn’t do to my own personal family or anything like that, or even for me, because I do think sometimes we need a good kick in the arse,” Cejudo said.
“We don’t need no yes men, or yes people around us. What we need is somebody to check us (and tell us) it’s every 4 years, in this situation it’s 5 years, in order for you to go down as one of the greatest athletes of all time. But again man, people say that the media created her, and they put on pounds of pressure. Not really. They only give you a platform and limelight, it’s up to you to believe it and accept it.
“If you start to believe that you’re the GOAT and the greatest of all time, then that’s on you, and it’s okay to strive for that, but if you’re going to go through all that and tattoo a goat on you… then you just have to live it man,” Cejudo continued.
“I do believe that she made a mistake, and now she’s trying to take it back, knowing that a lot of things are backfiring. But if I had to give my two cents, and I hope she listens to this, I’m not going to tag her, but if one of you guys wants to tag her and she ends up listening I think it’ll help her a lot. There’s two things that pressure can do, pressure can either break, or it can make diamonds… You choose what to do with it, remember that.”
My take on Simone Biles pulling out of the Olympics. 📠🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/Y7z4AJWejR
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) July 30, 2021
As Henry Cejudo noted, Simone Biles has since taken back some of her concerns. As a result, she competed only in the women’s beam event, where she landed a bronze medal on Tuesday, with a score of 14.000.
