Gymnastics #24 - The Road to Paris

[skateboy]

Abuse produces abuse. We see it with parents who abuse their children who then often/sometimes do the same to their children.
Some of it is love and some of it is trauma and trying to explain to yourself that it was all okay and you are not broken by it. Some of it is just not knowing any other way.
That is why it is so hard to stop abuse.

That being said, I found her always to be a bit of an a$$.
The Golden documentary especially did her no favors

Agreed on all counts.

 

[danafan]

Simone Biles posted this on Threads and everyone seems to think it’s a response to Skinner’s video.

SIMONE BILES (@simonebiles) on Threads

not everyone needs a mic and a platform

www.threads.net

 

[ilovesalchows]

Skinner? Seriously? Did she ever block a vault with two hands?

 

[kwanfan1818]

Wait, a member of the 2020/2021 team is complaining about a lack of depth behind Simone Biles?

 

[canbelto]

Skinner is rightfully getting roasted, but tbh I felt sad for her. Her saying that even seeing Marta caused her to get a panic attack like it was a GOOD thing was awful. I hope one day she can get to a place where she realizes that it's not normal or good to have a panic attack at the mere sight of someone.

Also I saw a few of her YT videos and one of them was her and Jonas discussing "traditional gender roles." Jonas said he doesn't really believe in them and would be fine if a woman worked and he stayed more at home, while she looked horrified and said that she'd always been taught that women stay home and men work. He looked discouraged at her being so rigid.

She just seems so sheltered and shallow. Like there's just not a there there.

 

[danafan]

Wow now Kathy Johnson Clarke is getting invovled.

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[Tesla]

Wow now Kathy Johnson Clarke is getting invovled.

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"Five Phoenixes" is the perfect name for the women's team.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

As much as I am not a fan of Mykayla, I feel like her being on the team would have made more sense than her being a specialist.

I would have picked Riley McCuster to be given that specialist slot. Mykayla really didn’t have a shot to make vault finals unless Simone or Jade couldn’t go. Luckily for her, I guess, that happened. Riley had actually posted the second highest bars score at trials. Why send a specialist who can’t make it out of prelims with her best scores?

Using trials scores, Makayla could have added 0.5 on vault. Grace was supposed to do bars in team finals over Jordan after Jordan’s prelim falls, but that wouldn’t have been the thought when picking the team, so I’m going to ignore that. Same for beam. Using Mykayla instead of Grace for floor would have given a loss of 0.15 from trials scores, so a net gain of 0.35.

I would say Kara Eaker also had an argument. Without Grace, Suni would have vaulted which would be a loss of 0.2. Bars would not have been affected. Kara would have added 0.417 on beam over Jordan, so a net improvement of 0.217.

Leanne Wong would be the last person with a good argument. Leanne would have been a wash with Grace on vault based on trials math. Neither would have gone on beam or bars. On floor, Leanne would have added 0.25 over Grace.

In terms of highest scoring team math, Makayla had the best argument. Leanne was second best and a slightly better all arounder usually, but she made mistakes at trials.

All 3 would have been on a higher scoring team than Grace using trials. Only by 10ths, but 10ths are not nothing. When considering the scenario of needing a backup on each event, both Mykayla and Leanne were capable on all events.

(I didn’t use nationals as well because I’m on my phone and it would be too much work.)

That being said, I think Mykayla is not a good person or teammate and I was rooting against her making it to Paris at all.

 

[skatfan]

Wow now Kathy Johnson Clarke is getting invovled.

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Getting one’s remarks dissed by both Simone Biles and Kathy Johnson Clarke is certainly one kind of post-retirement achievement.

 

[ilovesalchows]

That being said, I think Mykayla is not a good person or teammate and I was rooting against her making it to Paris at all.

And I wonder if the poor teammate bit was what kept her from that team. Really, without the unforeseen issue in Tokyo, that team would have won gold no matter who the 4th teammate was.

 

[canbelto]

I remember Simone screaming and cheering for MyKayla during the vault event finals. Makes me sad.

 

[Hedwig]

I remember Simone screaming and cheering for MyKayla during the vault event finals. Makes me sad.

that is Simone - I think she is basically a very decent person and would cheer or anyone.

 

[Private Citizen]

As crass as Skinner may be, she's not wrong that:
1. There are an awful lot of injuries
2. The performances at trials were sloppy

I do think it's fair to take a critical view of the program when so many women are out, and the ones who made it underperformed.

I had hoped we'd see healthier athletes under the regime, but we see to have as many as ever down with serious injuries. Maybe the difference is that the likes of Shilese and Skye would've been taped together and told to go compete in the past.

Hopefully trials was a fluke, and the remaining women are getting it out of their systems prior to Paris.

 

[Allskate]

Simone Biles posted this on Threads and everyone seems to think it’s a response to Skinner’s video.

I wish Simone would ignore her. Simone is right that not everyone needs a mic and a platform, but I think Simone's tweet just gave Mykayla more of a platform and that some of the media may run with it - some already are- and make things more distracting and harder for the team members in terms of media scrutiny and criticism.

Also, I really, really wish Simone would ignore social media, including from people she knows who are like Mykayla. It's not healthy, and it can't make her happy.

The same is true for the other members of the team. Suni reportedly has been having confidence problems, largely because of her health issues and her consequent inability to get a higher number of repetitions in. She doesn't need to see crap from crappy people. She should be taking pride in the fact that she hit most of her routines, including the night that Kayla injured herself. Maybe someone should give her a recording of the audience after her bars routine so she can listen to it on repeat.

 

[her grace]

As crass as Skinner may be, she's not wrong that:
1. There are an awful lot of injuries
2. The performances at trials were sloppy

I do think it's fair to take a critical view of the program when so many women are out, and the ones who made it underperformed.

I had hoped we'd see healthier athletes under the regime, but we see to have as many as ever down with serious injuries. Maybe the difference is that the likes of Shilese and Skye would've been taped together and told to go compete in the past.

Hopefully trials was a fluke, and the remaining women are getting it out of their systems prior to Paris.

gymnastics is a really rough sport on the body, and I’m not sure what a regime change is supposed to do to fix that. Brazil also has injuries, Great Britain has injuries. Jones maybe could compete on bars, but you can’t tape Blakely’s Achilles.

As far as the inconsistencies, the US is definitely making more mistakes than they used to. If that’s the price to pay for removing (some of) the abusive coaching practices, so be it. The ends don’t justify the means.

 

[her grace]

And I wonder if the poor teammate bit was what kept her from that team.

Nah, Tom Forster didn’t have a strategic bone in his body. If she had finished top 4 in the AA, Skinner would’ve made the group that competed in the team event. All Forster did was select by AA results.

 

[Lynn226]

Dominique Moceanu

As someone who was directly coached by Bela & Marta Karolyi, who began their coaching careers in the U.S. in 1981, I experienced the intensity & demands of their decades-long influence firsthand....

www.facebook.com

Dominique Moceanu didn't mention Skinner, but she did mention the Karolyis. I think her comments strike a balance between striving for excellence and taking into account the well-being of the athletes.

 

[canbelto]

The drama continues. Simone, Suni and Jade unfollowed MyKayla.

 

[danafan]

And it’s made it to People magazine

MyKayla Skinner Claims Comments About 2024 U.S. Gymnasts Were 'Misinterpreted' After She Says They 'Don't Work as Hard'

Former Team USA gymnast MyKayla Skinner issued an apology following her controversial comments about the current U.S. women’s gymnastics team headed to the 2024 Paris Olympics

people.com

 

[her grace]

Nice article about Dominique Dawes in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaseyn...es-there-was-3-time-olympian-dominique-dawes/

 

[Allskate]

As far as the inconsistencies, the US is definitely making more mistakes than they used to. If that’s the price to pay for removing (some of) the abusive coaching practices, so be it. The ends don’t justify the means.

ITA. Suni's following her doctors' advice about how much to train. I'm glad nobody is pushing her to do more. Her health is more important. Who knows how much (and how permanent) the damage would be to Shilese's knee and shoulder if she were to compete (beyond that one bar routine) at trials and try to go to the Olympics.

Dominique Moceanu didn't mention Skinner, but she did mention the Karolyis. I think her comments strike a balance between striving for excellence and taking into account the well-being of the athletes.

That is what she seems to be saying, but I suspect that it's hard for someone whose beliefs were formed during that era to really comprehend that a "competitive spirit" can co-exist with something like the Suni/Kayla friendship or the support and friendship that many of the top American women genuinely seem to have while competing today. That they can demand so much of themselves while benefitting each other with their friendship and support. (It probably helps that they are often older than the gymnasts of her era.) I admire Simone Biles tremendously. Of course, a lot of that is because of how she has used her enormous physical talent. But, it's also because of her spirit and attitude, including placing a lot of importance on her physical and mental well-being and also supporting her teammates. Her grandma Aly would be - and is - proud.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Using trials scores, Makayla could have added 0.5 on vault. Grace was supposed to do bars in team finals over Jordan after Jordan’s prelim falls, but that wouldn’t have been the thought when picking the team, so I’m going to ignore that. Same for beam. Using Mykayla instead of Grace for floor would have given a loss of 0.15 from trials scores, so a net gain of 0.35.

…

In terms of highest scoring team math, Makayla had the best argument. Leanne was second best and a slightly better all arounder usually, but she made mistakes at trials.

Just quoting myself. Actually it was Jade who had the best argument to be on the team. Jade didn’t complete a full trials because she had taken herself out of consideration for the team since she had her own spot and there was a lot of animosity directed at her when she said she’d like to make the team.

Jade was easily better than Mykayla on both of their best events.

I wish that had been a 5 member team with Simone, Suni, Jordan, Jade, and Kara.

 

[HeatherC]

I have so many things that I could say about this entire situation but I'm just gonna say this: I agree with Simone. Too many people in this world have a mic and a platform who really shouldn't have them and it drives me nuts too.

And I LOVE the name that KJC suggested even if it is a bit of a mouth full, LOL

 

[dramagrrl]

The idea of MyKayla Skinner talking about "crisp and clean" gymnastics is just... so ironic.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

The idea of MyKayla Skinner talking about "crisp and clean" gymnastics is just... so ironic.

The shade she’s getting with people posting pictures of her splits though.

 

[VGThuy]

MyKayla Skinner was always a bitter Betty. And an idiot. She and some of her family members kept “World Champion - third” on vault in 2014 and when people corrected her and said she’s not a “world champion”, she and her family members kept arguing. Ahead of 2015 Worlds, she did an interview about how excited she was to wear a green leo and doing a floor routine to like Riverdance because Worlds were in Scotland… (obviously confusing it for Ireland). It was poetic justice when she was chosen for the team.

And the lack of depth worldwide is how she even won a vault Olympic silver medal. Maybe she’s mad that this perceived lack of depth wasn’t happening in her day.

I’m also not surprised at her subtle racism regarding Hezly. I know anybody with bad intentions can feign naive ignorance to defend her “mistake” and argue that it wasn’t about her race, she’s just ignorant and disrespectful in not caring to pronounce her name correctly despite being corrected on video multiple times. In the same vein, it’s also no wonder that she went after Suni Lee as hard as she did given her history. And I’ll never forget how she retweeted a photo of the 2016 Olympic team with Gabby Douglas edited out and added a monkey emoji in the caption. Her “fans” kept defending her by admitting she’s ignorant and just a sore loser (if those are your best defenses and you still root for her then I question your taste in people and intelligence), but I have a feeling some of those supporters (especially the new ones who became fans of her for this one incident) felt they were “in on it” even if MyKayla was “innocent”.

 

[Jammers]

The Ladies team needs to stop following Twitter and pay attention to the task at hand namely the Olympics and leave this nonsense alone and get focused.

 

[skatfan]

I think Simone is perfectly able to deliver one liners to take down the likes of Skinner and prepare for Paris.

 

[VGThuy]

The Ladies team needs to stop following Twitter and pay attention to the task at hand namely the Olympics and leave this nonsense alone and get focused.

Yeah, because these seasoned adult-aged athletes who’ve been training all of their lives, competing for years, and had to struggle with adversity and personal hardships like injuries don’t know how to focus.

 

[Sarah]

Vanessa Atler’s response is amazing too!

Vanessa Atler on Instagram: "I don't know what other people were watching but.... 1) I have never seen so much depth! I can't think of an era where 4 or 5 athletes can drop from injuries and we STILL have an amazing and epic team! 2) Not as hard wo

776 likes, 95 comments - riverdarwin on July 4, 2024: "I don't know what other people were watching but.... 1) I have never seen so much depth! I can't think of an era where 4 or 5 athletes can drop from injuries and we STILL have an amazing and epic team! 2) Not as hard working as they used...

www.instagram.com