Simone Biles Sticks her Crisis PR response landing

I don't know where you might stand on Simone Biles and the drama that she had to endure after stepping away from a couple of the events at the Olympics. However, I will tell you from a Crisis PR perspective, I think she and her team handled the situation as best as you could hope.

In the early stages of this event, Simone Biles came out publicly and told us why she was dropping out of certain events and then continued to talk about the struggles she was dealing with about her mind and her body not being in sync on her social media pages. Biles further explained this issue by, at least temporarily, posting on Instagram the issues she experienced in training for the upcoming event with the uneven bars.

I thought Biles demonstrated serious boldness by her actions that proved necessary as people were obviously going to be confused about why one of the top athletes certainly of the last decade now seems to find herself in a position in which no one would have expected her to face. In doing so, Biles endeared herself to so many people; direct connections, fans, mental health experts, and other athletes. She also made the detractors look silly when, in fact, Biles came back and competed in the balance beam competition and metaled.

I really give kudos to Simone Biles, the U.S. women's gymnastics team, her teammates, and all of the people in her camp for being transparent, open, and honest about how she struggled through this event and demonstrated her toughness. Not only do I believe Simone Biles owes no apology for any of her responses, I feel that her actions serve as a textbook for any organization dealing with situations out of their control to emulate.