"It's really hard not looking at the comments" - Jordan Chiles opens up on facing cyber bullying
Jordan Chiles is one of the most exciting gymnasts to have represented the United States of America in recent years. Though she has a long road ahead of her, Jordan is already a well-known name due to her impressive performances so far.
She won a silver medal in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics. The professional gymnast also claimed one gold medal and two silvers at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool.
Chiles has shown tons of improvement in her performance every time she competes. According to the official website of the Olympics, Jordan stated, during the latest session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, that it's difficult to snub online bullies.
"As a female athlete, it's really hard being able to have that ability to continue your sport when there's so much cyber-bullying going around. I can give you an example - if there is a video posted of me online, it's really hard not looking at the comments, knowing somebody is criticizing you for whether or not you're not doing good enough, not looking the same as everybody else or something like that."
The Oregon-born gymnast further added:
"Knowing that we have the ability to speak about it and learn about the different ways that we can make sure our mental health is OK. I think that's honestly an amazing thing."
Not only Jordan, but several other athletes from various sports also have spoken about being cyber-bullied.
Jordan Chiles opens up about the effects of negative social media
The Oregon-born gymnast spoke about feeling the effects of negative social media.
"Social media is something that I personally dislike. I know as athletes, that's our platform, that's what we use. So, it's really hard to step away from."
The professional gymnast believes that coaches can help their athletes steer through difficult realities online.
"If there is any way that we can have our coaches helping us out, being able to speak to people, to tell them our truth, what we can do. So that we can pass that era of that bullying process (that would help). I feel like it's the same as being in school: You have a teacher or principal that you can talk to if you're being bullied, but for us it's more difficult. What are we going to do in order to push past (it)? Who am I doing to speak to? That's the communication part."
Jordan Chiles further added:
"At the end of the day, if we have something online that we can incorporate to have the coaches and athletes go through to figure out if someone is being bullied, if you as an athlete, are being bullied. Especially because of what a big thing social media is."
The topic of athletes suffering from online bullying has always been discussed. But only a combined effort from the respective sports organizations, social media companies, and everyone else can help in stopping it.