Well, first of all, she walked away because of this issue. She didnt walk away in order to promote this issue. I would argue that had she just been some average olympic gymnast nobody would have ever heard about it. However, since she is Simone Biles and she and everyone she knows was hounded by media coverage, the truth was bound to come out no matter what she said.
Also, she is a female who participates in an event.
Let's see what happens if Lebron or Rodgers or one of those type guys stepped away right before the finals or Super Bowl citing the yips. Any chance they get nominated or win athlete of the year??
It's weird the Biles thing was some sort of promotion for mental health awareness when she hardly has any sort of mental health issues. Competing your whole life both physically and mentally in one of the more grueling physical/mental activities and being affected by stress is hardly a mental health issue.
That's like cutting yourself with a knife every day and saying you have a skin issue.