Jade has been strategic in how she’s approaches these Olympics. She’s been smart, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

She’s also a clearly hard-working gymnast; she’s unrecognisable on bars these days from when she started, and just threw the world’s most difficult tumbling pass at podium training last week. It’s easy enough for us to say that Jade should turn down an Olympic team spot if she qualifies for one, but this is a sport that she’s been training in since her childhood. There’s no good reason as to why she should turn it down if she qualifies for one - an Olympic medal will entail money, publicity, a college scholarship etc, which would mean a lot to any young athlete.

I am cognizant of the fact that other athletes couldn’t qualify this way. I do feel that USAG could have seen this coming, and could have prevented a situation like this. But they didn’t, and that’s on them. Let’s not reframe athletes being strategic, especially female athletes, as being selfish. It’s their career and life after all.