Simone Biles’s Olympic return is an inspiration

It was heartening to see Olympic gymnast Simone Biles make her return to this year’s games after being thrown off at the Tokyo Olympics due to a case of the “twisties”. Despite its amusing name, the twisties refers to a psychological condition similar to the “yips”, or even writer’s block, where a person who usually is proficient in a particular skill (in this case gymnastics) is suddenly unable to perform under pressure.

Biles has described the condition as like being “lost in the air”, saying “your mind and your body are at a disconnect. Your body is going to try to do something, and your mind is going to be like, ‘No, you’re not doing this’”.

Despite not possessing nearly the same level of skill as Biles, I have experienced my own version of the twisties many times – as, I imagine, have many people. There’s nothing worse than suddenly experiencing that sensation of vertigo when doing something you’ve done many times before. Luckily, must of us don’t experience it on the world stage.

Returning to this year’s Olympics after such an episode is an inspiration, and a reminder that no matter how hard we fall, we can always pick ourselves back up again.

Stephen Bloom

Canterbury

I was interested to read in Sunday’s edition that Dame Priti Patel would hand back some control of policy to ordinary party members and allow them to elect key officials.

Those are presumably the same ordinary party members who elected Liz Truss as leader and prime minister. What can possibly go wrong?

John Coppendale

Cambridge

The new government is to be commended for its publicly stated objective to govern with openness and transparency. This is desperately needed following years of Tory deceits, obfuscation and corruption. It is crucial to restore trust in democracy and UK politics.

Everyone – the public, our institutions, business, the media, the trade unions, so-called “think tanks” and pressure groups – all have their own vested interests in promoting their own version of honesty. Most of us have an incomplete picture of, for example, the state of the economy, and few are in a position to give a balanced view. But that won’t prevent many from expressing their own version of events. This will get personal, aggressive and feed the populist vultures.

It will be easy to ascribe ulterior motives to our new, open and transparent government.

We need to focus on the facts, and we need to cut the new government some slack. Openness and transparency are so much more difficult than the half-truths, partial pictures and ideological bias that we’ve become accustomed to, and take a heavy toll on the personal honesty and integrity of its champions. It is a risky management style, but it is the right one.

Is the country ready for it, or will bitterness and cynicism continue to prevail?

David Lowndes

Southampton

I, along with I’m sure many people, am having trouble adjusting to a media cycle which doesn’t confront us with some cringeworthy government embarrassment or outrage every 48 hours.

Labour are by no means perfect, but it cannot be denied that they are much better at keeping their heads down and getting on with the job – so far, at least.

Let’s just hope that it lasts.

Molly Howe

Liverpool