Simone Biles (b.1997) is considered by many to be America’s most successful gymnast. She has 7 gold Olympic medals (tied with Shannon Miller). In 2022 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hackers released her medical records in 2016 showing she takes ADHD medication. She acknowledged her diagnosis of ADHD and her taking medication and has since fought to reduce the stigma of ADHD and ADHD medication.
Simone Biles, Twitter (2016)
“I have ADHD and have taken medicine for it since I was a kid. Please know, I believe in clean sport, have always followed the rules, and it will continue to do so as fair play is critical in sport and is very important to me”.
Simone Biles, Twitter (2o16)
“Having ADHD, and taking medication for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I’m afraid to let people know”.
ESPN (2016)
Dr. David Conant-Norville (Psychiatrist) “Athletes with ADHD are facing an oversized set of obstacles” “And ADHD can be a confounding condition because it often makes kids fidgety and unable to focus and yet — as Biles proved so inspirationally — many ADHD athletes are capable of concentrating intently on an activity they find rewarding.”
“Some coaches still scoff at the disorder, mistaking its real, medical symptoms for bad behavior, poor parenting or an athlete “just not trying hard enough” and dismissing the kid as “uncoachable.”
Dr. Ronald Kamm, (Past president International Society for Sport Psychiatry) “Both parents and coaches need to understand that distracted, impulsive or hyper behaviors are not willful, but part of the brain wiring in ADHD children,” “It’s not personal. It’s the condition. Prescribing medication for an ADHD child is no different from prescribing insulin for a diabetic.”
Michelle Carter (7 * U.S. shot put champion, 3 * Olympian) “What I would tell a kid with ADHD and dyslexia or someone who struggles with anything in life is this: ‘When you put your mind to it, you can do anything,'” “‘Learning disabilities do not go away, but you learn how to adapt. You may have to work a little bit harder, it may take a long time, you just may do it differently — but you can do it.'”
BBC (2o16)
Following withdrawing from many events for mental health issues at the Tokyo Olympics “unfounded claims spread widely on social media that she’d been unable to take ADHD medication because it’s banned in Japan”.
“Team USA have told us the claim about the medication is not true because she’s not using it.”