Simone Biles - heroic or an example of today's "me" mentality?

People either think this is the greatest thing since jelly beans or a cowardly act. Perhaps it is neither.  

I am not certainly no Olympic athlete sitting in my 50's staring at a computer. Even in the best of my athletic prime I was a long ways off from being good enough to even fathom the concept of being in the Olympics. I did compete in many sports from grade school through college. I understand the mental aspects of such a competition. I confess that the pressure got to me once or twice in my athletic career. I understand how hard it can be when competition becomes less about the glory of winning and more about the fear of defeat. 

Simone Biles suggested that her reckless abandon from her earlier years has been replaced with an inability to stop focussing on what could go wrong. The pressure of what could go wrong apparently is what has brought about her mental breakdown (for lack of a better description). I get that. Most of the truly successful athletes I knew personally had a sort of reckless abandon and confidence level that held off any thoughts about defeat or failure. When I was at my best in athletic completion, the next game, match, or race was just another chance to prove my skills for everyone to witness. When I was struggling, it was the concern that I would lose and be seen as a failure. 

But what does it say when a top tier athlete breaks down from the pressure and decides to literally just drop out? The question becomes, wouldn't you expect that other top tiered athletes (especially in these sorts of sports) have gone through similar bouts of doubts? Isn't there a time in every athlete's career where reckless abandon and oozing confidence is replaced with some doubt. Is the best manner to deal with that to shut down and stop competing? This is not unlike a golfer who gets the dreaded "yips" or the wide receiver who gets the "drops" or the basketball player who suddenly cannot hit a freethrow. Do they give up, or do they try to work through it?

At this point, I have no issue with Simone Biles. I think I do, however, have issue with people who are literally trying to glorify the decision to drop out and demanding that it was heroic and deserving of massive praise. She doesn't deserve massive amounts of criticism and she certainly deserves some benefit of the doubt considering all she has done for the sport. But her actions are not heroic and they should not be held up as the new standard of behavior in sports.