So Shines A Good Deed In A Weary World

Linda Sharp
9 min readAug 5, 2024

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Our world is a mess.

Simple statement of fact.

In this country we have a compromised Supreme Court not even hiding the fact they are in the pocket of billionaire gift givers and the MAGAverse. Nazis roam freely and proudly. A party has a felon-rapist-bankrupt at the top of their ticket. A couch diddling, shape shifting power whore as their second. The stock market — here and abroad — is continuing its slide as panic sellers dominate in the wake of the fed not cutting rates last week. Part of our country has too much fire, while another spot currently has too much water.

In Sudan a famine has officially been declared and much needed food and medication cannot make its way in. Children suffer, parents suffer, all suffer, the pain of a dire hunger so familiar to them, so abstract to most of us. Hamas and Israel continue to kill their way to no solution. And Iran stands ready to say ‘Hold my beer’ and escalate things in dramatic and bloody fashion.

Gang violence and criminal activity in Haiti continue to undermine every effort to stabilize the country. And in another example of how little we can relate, complaints of inconvenience are still to be found daily on cruise boards as ships cannot make dock at Labadee, Royal Caribbean’s slice of beach paradise on the Haitian coast.

Far right violence is roiling England as attacks on Muslims and an asylum seeker hotel was stormed and attempted to be set alight, with ten police officers being injured in the rioting.

Ukraine continues on against Russian aggression and bloodshed. Now they have F-16s to aid in their attacks/defense.

And on and on. Close your eyes and place a pin anywhere on a global map and you are sure to find strife, suffering, and struggle nearby.

Humans have a long track record of being pure shit to other humans. Whether through intentional aggression and power seeking or through simply shrugging and turning away. So when something simple, innocent, and smile inducing happens, we are often taken by surprise.

Today in Paris, as the Olympics continues on into a new week, gymnastic events were held to determine gold-silver-bronze in women’s floor and balance beam. It is not an overstatement to say we were all expecting certain results, especially on floor. Simone Biles is a phenom. Having already secured gold in the individual all around, team all around, and individual on vault, we all easily assumed she would take the rest of the top medals today as well.

Because she is rightly referred to as a GOAT — greatest of all time. Like Leo Messi has been to soccer, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky to swimming, Michael Jordan to basketball, Simone Biles is a force. To watch her perform is akin to watching magic take place. She makes the incredible seem effortless, tells gravity to get bent, and sticks the landing when the rest of us would simply fall into a pile of sticks as all our bones break beneath us.

There is power and grace, although not simply in her movements. Three years ago she showed the world the true meaning of strength when she withdrew from the competition at the Tokyo Olympics from developing a case of the “twisties”. While that might sound like an easily shrugged off or even made up affliction, it most certainly is not. In the case of a gymnast, performing all those high speed, high altitude jumps, twists, somersaults, and flips relies on the athlete knowing exactly where their body is at all times. Throw that off even an inch and the results can be catastrophic.

Think about we mere mortals. For the majority of us simply spinning in circles a few times is enough to throw us off kilter. We are not trained to spot as we go round and round, and heaven forbid we close our eyes in the process. We lose complete touch with where our bodies are. We stop, flail, stumble to the side, fall — and in some cases (raising my hand) land head first on the edge of the fireplace and require Frankenstein stitches in our ten year old eyebrow line.

In removing herself from that competition, she shone a bright light on mental health and self care. She took a two year break from a sport described by former high level gymnasts as “corrosive”. “Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out,” Biles told reporters at the time. “I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.”

That is strength. That is admirable. That is a life lesson for everyone.

Well, not everyone. Conservative voices (shock) came out condemning her, calling her weak, selfish, and far, far worse. VP wannabe, Vance, whose personal gymnasties involve his living room furniture, was one of those voices with a big microphone. He went on FOX deriding her decision to drop out, and the media’s coverage of it.

“What I find so weird about this… is that we’ve tried to turn a very tragic moment, Simone Biles quitting the Olympic team, into this act of heroism,” Vance said at the time. “I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments.”

Sigh. Someone take this guy to Rooms To Go, give him a rubber glove, and turn off the lights.

One of the best advances societally is that we have begun to understand, accept, and value the place therapy has in our lives.. Feeling a limit, a block, anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, post-partum, stress, panic attacks — whatever the individual’s personal crisis may be — asking for help, seeking it out, those are absolute signs of strength. And having to go through it publicly? That is an act of heroism. Having to stand against not only the inner turmoil she was experiencing, but the vile condemnations and judgements from people like Vance? Seriously, bury that guy under the throw pillows and walk away. The biggest thing he has ever had to dismount is his Grammy’s davenport.

Fast forward to the Paris Olympics and Biles was back in fine form. Million watt smile in place, kind words for all around her, and an exuberance that could easily be completely stifled by the pressure. Not only that of our expectations of her, but the pressure of competing against such high level competitors from around the globe. One of those, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, has kept Biles on her toes this whole time. Game truly recognizes game and after winning the all around just ahead of Andrade last week, Simone told the press, “I don’t want to compete with Rebeca anymore! I’m tired. She’s very close to me — I’ve never had an athlete so close. This definitely kept me alert and brought out the best athlete in me. So I’m excited and proud to compete with her, but — no.”

She added: “I’ve never been so stressed before. Thank you, Rebeca.”

That is certainly high praise coming from the GOAT.

But as in every sport, no matter how much you train, prep, practice, or believe, it all comes down to the moment. The dive, the swing, the kick, the final yards, a stumble, a mental blip, a mistimed turn.

It happened twice during the balance beam event today. In a jawdropper, both Suni Lee and Simone Biles fell off the apparatus during their routines. Heartbreaking, for sure, but I also view it through another lens. I have long said that it helps younger athletes to see their heroes, those at the top of their respective games, struggle, and sometimes fail. For a 12 year old soccer player, seeing Leo Messi miss a penalty kick? It immediately humanizes the hero and reminds the up and comer that even the greats are not perfect. I think of all the small gymnasts who watched today as not one, but two of their aspirational heros hit the mat, and then kept going. It will make a difference in how they move forward the next time they stumble and fall.

In the beam event, neither medaled. Not the expected result.

Then came the floor event, a place where Biles defies wicked gravity — nearly 12 feet in the air. Even competing against Andrade, we all expected another gold medal to be placed around Simone’s neck. But in the end, a few steps out of bounds resulted in this: Gold — Rebeca, Silver — Simone, and Bronze — USA’s Jordan Chiles.

An upset? I imagine if you ask Simone, she would say no. No one knows better than a fellow athlete what they are seeing, who they are competing with, and how they are all performing. The scores? Rebeca: 14.166. Simone: 14.133. Jordan: 13.766.

Sour grapes? Pffft. Yes, photographers have caught side eye, rolled eyes, and unhappy medal winners who missed out of the top prize, but not today. Which brings us to that Shakespeare quote from The Merchant of Venice. (I know, I know, you can be forgiven for thinking it was an original WIlly Wonkaism)

The full line reads: “How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world”.

In our world full of strife, suffering, hatred, and war, this is what took place on the podium.

First there was this…

And then there was this…

True joy, true sportsmanship, exuberance, and one of the best pictures to come from this Olympics. Rebeca being bowed down to by two women at the top of the sport, two women who did their best, fell a bit short, but feel nothing but happiness for their fellow athlete.

Yes, winning feels amazing. Anyone who has ever competed in anything and won knows this. Losing sucks. But these photos capture how possible it is to feel it all at once. More importantly, how possible it is to be elated for someone else who managed to best you.

Yes, these women will take home their medals. But this memory — what they have in their hearts and minds, and the gift of this small good deed — given to Andrade and the rest of us, will shine on forever.

As the Clare Pooley quote goes, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Thank you for that reminder, ladies, and congratulations on winning the gold in the humanity all-around.

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Linda Sharp

Author, columnist, blogger. Don’t Get Me Started and Transparent Trans Parent blogs