(NEW YORK) — Pro golfer Max Homa added his name to those supporting Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from the women’s all-around competition at the Olympics.
The 30-year-old Genesis Invitational winner took to Twitter on Wednesday to tell people to “cool it with the judgement and anger” because “we’re all battling something internally.”
Homa later told ABC Audio what went through his mind when he first heard Biles would not be competing in the Olympic event that she was predicted to win.
“I think that the moment it dropped, I knew it was going to be crazy, but at the same time, I knew that there’s got to be something big going on in her head if she doesn’t want to compete,” he declared. “So if she said she couldn’t do it, there’s a big reason [why].”
“I don’t think it’s up to all of us to judge… Basically, she knows there’s going to be a lot of people not happy with that,” he continued. “I don’t think that you need to start calling her a quitter and getting angry with her and saying that she’s letting people down because nobody around her has said that!”
“Not everybody can feel cool, calm and collected at all times… even people like Simone Biles who is amazing at what she does,” Homa explained. “I think people forget that she wants to compete and she wants to get gold medals and she wants to win and she wants to be with her team.”
Saying Biles is “doing what’s right” for her, Homa said that a reliable way athletes recharge is by “listening to their friends and family” who have their best interest at heart — not to the “random people on TV” telling them otherwise.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.