The most impressive athletic moment of 2021 was when an athlete chose not to compete. At the Summer Olympics, gymnastics icon Simone Biles decided to sit out because she put her health first. Her mental health. Many people scoff at the notion of “mental health” in sports. This is precisely why Biles is one of my two athletes of the year. The other winner? It’s the Anonymous Athlete. The athlete we don’t know about, at any level of sport, who bravely pulled out of competition because of mental health issues. It could be a St. Louis-area high school athlete who took time away from their sport, e…
