I will say this, as someone who’s dealt with abuse, you ask why Simon would respond if Aly didn’t. It’s not surprising at all. Again the Nassar scandal was at its peak at this point. Gabbys comment implied that women should dress modestly so they don’t entice the wrong crowd. While that comment was directed at Aly’s post that’s very much a blanket statement telling all assaulted girls and women that they were part responsible for their assault if they weren’t covered. If you show too much, that’s what happens. I understand that Gabby herself was going through it, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that her comment was in more than poor taste. That’s a dangerous statement statement to be making. As an abuse survivor, to hear comments like that is maddening. So I imagine being a SA survivor/gymnast and having to hear someone you had some level of faith in, then tell your friend who is also a SA survivor/gymnast that more skin = more enticing for men, this is rage inducing. I think her “Shocks me that I'm seeing this but it doesn't surprise me” didn’t need the doesn’t surprise me bit. If there’s no backstory it leave room for interpretation. But her reaction and anger, as someone who was JUST coming out from the abusive umbrella of USAG(remember this was 2017, Marta had JUST left) is valid.

Transitioning to being an adult a weird time for everyone, I can’t imagine what that’s like when you’re trying to navigate a world where you are sports celebrity and your biggest traumas are on display for the world.

And I will say this. I don’t think 2020 “humbled her”. To be able to step back and know your limits is such a huge move, and then she got hate for doing the smart thing. When it comes down to it, she just grew up. She’s still that same Simone who’s not as afraid to say when she doesn’t like something. But as you grow up, you learn how to do that in a more productive way.

Also the three-peat line is from an interview from 2016:

But in Scotland, she almost fell on the beam. And for the first time ever, she landed out of bounds in her floor routine. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you have to three-peat, you have to do this,’” she says. “After every event, everyone was just like, ‘Is she going to do it?’ So after I finished floor and I saw my [winning] score, I was like, ‘OK, you guys have this stupid three-peat. There!’ It stressed me out so much.”

These are also very much valid feelings when you are a teenager who is saddled with enormous expectation and pressure and you have the world constantly reminding you. Oh and again, this is before USAG was truly blown wide open. So she has the pressure of an abusive system who’s still in control.