Simone Manuel Says Media Needs To Leave Athletes Alone After Disappointing Performances

“Please stop interviewing athletes right after a disappointing performance before they have any time to process anything. Trust me. They gave it their all,” the swimmer said on Twitter.

Please stop interviewing athletes right after a disappointing performance before they have any time to process anything. Trust me. They gave it their all. Nothing else people need to know at that time.

— Simone Manuel (@swimone) August 6, 2021

“The amount of people who say we’re just sore losers or that we are ‘obligated’ to do the interviews is problematic,” she continued.

Manuel went on to inform her followers that she enrolled in a few journalism classes while in college and is well aware of the role media plays. She wanted to make it clear that she is not attacking journalists, however, she advises that there should be training for members of the media to know “how to talk about certain topics, victories, and disappointments alike.” 

As an athlete, I’m hyper aware on how their role can be improved for the betterment of all of us. Personally, I believe there should be some type of/better training to know when/if to interview and how to talk about certain topics, victories, and disappointments alike.

— Simone Manuel (@swimone) August 6, 2021

“It’s mentally and emotionally exhausting to coherently answer questions while trying to process the fact that people already saw you fall short of the goals you worked so hard for on the world’s biggest stage…as athletes, we aren’t obligated to give people all of our soul,” she added.

She ended the Twitter thread by saying “Y’all can argue here but I said what I said. Take care!”

Y’all can argue here but I said what I said. Take care! ♥️

— Simone Manuel (@swimone) August 6, 2021

Manuel follows Simone Biles and Raven Saunders who have also spoken up about the importance of their mental health and other athletes during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.