“I think when you’re feeling that vulnerable and you’re kind of broken down mentally and physically in moments like that you get emotional,” the Olympian said of the interrogation that lead to her reflecting on the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.
Jordyn Wieber has no regrets about tapping out of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test — and still hopes her appearance will help viewers.
In an interview with TooFab following the latest episode of FOX’s reality series, the gymnast explained why she decided to rip off her armband and walk away on Wednesday’s episode.
“It’s hard for sure because I consider myself a really tough person. And some of the challenges I felt like really, really tested my physical toughness, but mostly my mental toughness,” she told TooFab exclusively. “Specifically with the water, that’s just never something I’ve been challenged to do my entire life.”
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Wieber said it all started with the Beehive challenge, where she felt she “nearly” drowned a couple of times. The troupes had to hook arms and tread water for as long as possible. “Just messed with my head. I did my best to fight through it, but really felt like at the end there, the next challenge was like beyond my limit,” she explained.
That was only the start of the water challenges for Wieber, however.
In Episode 2, the group was challenged to sit in the sea, link arms and rock back under water repeatedly. While the Olympian made it through this, vieers would see her face another water challenge that ultimately pushed her to throw in the towel.
In Episode 3 — appropriately titled “Terror” — the recruits were forced to retrieve a package from the bottom of a makeshift boat once it was fully submerged underwater. Despite words of encouragement from her fellow recruits, Wieber backed out at the last second, handing in her armband and voluntarily withdrawing from the course
“I don’t think I have regrets just because I remember how hard it seemed and how hard it was. And I’m not sure I would be able to do it even now. Unless I got a little more comfortable in the water. But I have a feeling that if I continue watching the whole season, there’ll be other challenges where I’m like, ‘Dang it, I wish I was there for that,'” the 29-year-old added.
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During the series, Wieber was interrogated about her anxiety in the water challenges, leading the Directing Staff (DS) to ask about her gymnastics career and why she retired at just 18. She then opened up about the impact that her gymnastics career and the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal has had on her life.
“I look back on myself as a child during that time and go, ‘Wow, she really … She was resilient,'” Wieber recalled during the reality series.
Wieber was one of several gymnasts who testified at Nassar’s trial in 2018, telling the courtroom that the disgraced former gymnastics doctor’s abuse began when she was 14 years old.
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“It was tough for me [to speak about the case], but I think when you’re feeling that vulnerable and you’re kind of broken down mentally and physically in moments like that, which is really what, what was happening, you get emotional,” she told TooFab.
“I feel like that whole story of my gymnastics career and everything I went through has really made me into the person that I am today and has made me a lot stronger and a lot, a lot more resilient,” she continued. “So not that I necessarily wanted to bring it up. It just kind of naturally came up… I think it’s important for people to see — for me specifically being a survivor of sexual abuse — being able to speak freely and openly about it, I think is inspiring for a lot of other survivors who may not feel like they can or feel like they want to.”
“Hopefully, even if it helps one person feel like they can have that moment of vulnerability and talk to somebody, that’s really what I see that can come out of that,” she concluded.
Check out TooFab’s full interview with Wieber at the top of this post to see more — including who gave her some helpful words of advice during the challenges.
