Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and the media’s coverage of mental health in sports

YESTERDAY, during the women’s gymnastics team final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Simone Biles, of the USA, lost her bearings while performing a vault, and stumbled as she landed. Soon after, she left the venue, accompanied by a medical official; when she returned, it was only to watch her teammates. All this happened early in the morning, US time. NBC, which holds the rights to the Olympics, was broadcasting the event live on Peacock, its streaming service, but not on linear TV. The Today show picked up the story of Biles’s exit—speaking from...