Gymnastic news #22 - Tokyo or bust

[skatfan]

He is a great reporter, well-respected even. He's done a phenomenal job covering the abuse in gymnastics. I've read a lot of his articles covering Haney, Nassar, etc. I'll give him his due for that. I just don't agree with the way he chose to cover this.

By which you mean he should not have covered this story at all this month. Ok. This is why you are not a reporter.

 

[FiveRinger]

By which you mean he should not have covered this story at all this month. Ok. This is why you are not a reporter.

Shows what you know. My B.A. is in Communications and Journalism. And there is a such thing as ethics. You can stop with the personal attacks now....thanks.

 

[skatfan]

I don’t think calling you not a reporter is an attack. I’m done too.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I suspect for a lot of athletes in some of the niche sports, small or no audiences is pretty typical. And, even for athletes in bigger sports, they all start a small, local club competitions where there isn't much of an audience aside from family and friends. I'm sure they'll be fine, even if they would love to have their families there to support them at the OLYS.

Friend
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I suspect for a lot of athletes in some of the niche sports, small or no audiences is pretty typical. And, even for athletes in bigger sports, they all start a small, local club competitions where there isn't much of an audience aside from family and friends. I'm sure they'll be fine, even if they would love to have their families there to support them at the OLYS.

Friend also zIdb that with TVCOVERAVE these days

Shows what you know. My B.A. is in Communications and Journalism. And there is a such thing as ethics. You can stop with the personal attacks now....thanks.

I mean no disrespect. There WAS a thing called ethics. Now it is how fast can you get the story out? And it is probably true.

 

[canbelto]

I just read the charges against Jordan's mom. She's lucky she's only doing a year in prison and got to see her daughter make the Olympic team. Holy shit.

 

[VGThuy]

I just hope Jordan is prepared for any media backlash and distractions. Maybe the Olympics being a sort of closed event due to COVID may serve her well.

 

[Frau Muller]

I’m wondering if all of this would’ve come up if Jordan were white? Disgusting to bring this up.

 

[millyskate]

Meh.... believe it or not, criminals can be loving parents. This has nothing to do with Jordan. Newsworthy, sure, but disgusting that the media will now harass Jordan because of it.

One can hope for the best. The story regarding Simone’s brother passed and went really quickly. I cannot recall any follow-up related to sentencing or anything.
I expect the story would have made the news in connection with the relative of any public figure but hopefully nobody will be asking Jordan about it. It’s not like it has made headlines.

 

[clairecloutier]

I have more of an issue with this story not being reported before than it being reported now.

This is not kindergarten. These athletes are adults, and they can face the facts and unpleasant truths in life just like the rest of us. I'm sorry if the timing is inconvenient, but there's no way Chiles was unaware of this, or likely anyone on the team. I'm sure it's a widely known fact behind the scenes.

ETA: I do agree that I hope reporters covering the gymnastics itself won't repeatedly ask Jordan questions about it. I suspect they won't. What would be the point, and what could she even say about it, except that it's sad for her and stressful .... With its schmaltzy coverage, I doubt NBC will focus on it much. They may mention it in conversation with Terry, Nastia, and Tim, but I would expect it would be fairly brief.

 

[honey]

I doubt NBC will touch it. They never touched the stuff about Gracie’s dad (at least not that I remember), so very much doubt they will bring this up with Jordan. I suppose this being the Olympics, the comparison to Gracie is not entirely the same, but I just can’t see them going there. I could see a passing mention but I don’t see Andrea Joyce bringing it up in an interview on air. Mixed zone with other media outlets may be a different story though.

 

[Karina1974]

Oksana Chusovitina Heads to Tokyo, Her 8th Olympic Games: "I Only Got Better, Like Fine Wine"

This will be 46-year-old Oksana Chusovitina's eighth Olympic Games. She is the oldest known gymnast to compete at the Olympics!

www.popsugar.com

I was there when she competed at 1991 Worlds in Indianapolis. Unbelievable that she's still competing at such a high level.

That's insane. She's MY age, for cripe's sake!! Can't imagine how she manages to keep up with athletes young enough to be her kids.

 

[puglover]

From a broader perspective, I wonder what, if any, Naomi Osaka's stand in tennis over press conference attendance and their negative impact on some athletes will have going forward. I hope this heralds a new mentality that some comments and questions are hurtful and potentially damaging eg. asking an athlete two minutes after they had a disappointing showing to analyze what went wrong and embarrassing and totally unrelated details about family members. I am sure most world class athletes accept a certain amount of public scrutiny but would like some control over the time and place.

 

[Coco]

I doubt NBC will touch it. They never touched the stuff about Gracie’s dad (at least not that I remember), so very much doubt they will bring this up with Jordan. I suppose this being the Olympics, the comparison to Gracie is not entirely the same, but I just can’t see them going there. I could see a passing mention but I don’t see Andrea Joyce bringing it up in an interview on air. Mixed zone with other media outlets may be a different story though.

I hope you are right. Not sure what the mixed zone will be like with crud protocols.

With gracie, it was arguably relevant because it must have contributed to her own problems. But with Jordan it really seems completely irrelevant to her performance as an athlete. So I sincerely hope that Jordan gets the same respect that Gracie received.

 

[Karen-W]

I hope you are right. Not sure what the mixed zone will be like with crud protocols.

With gracie, it was arguably relevant because it must have contributed to her own problems. But with Jordan it really seems completely irrelevant to her performance as an athlete. So I sincerely hope that Jordan gets the same respect that Gracie received.

How do you figure its irrelevance? Quoting from the article:

A government sentencing memorandum stated that while Chiles “spent the bulk of her ill-gotten gains propping up her businesses, it was far from the only way she spent the money. She traveled extensively—she often dodged concerned calls from clients by claiming she was on the road—and spent at least $300,000 on personal expenses. Those included expenditures of more than $53,000 at retail stores and personal service providers, $166,000 in investments in her children’s businesses, and nearly $40,000 in untraceable cash outlays.”

There are a multitude of ways in which using those illegally gotten funds could have positively impacted Jordan's performance as an athlete. If you don't think there's any money problem then you don't have that in the back of your mind, as a potential stress, when competing. Would she have cracked under some unspoken pressure to place well due to family financial problems? And now? Who's to say that the bulk of the funds her mom has to pay as restitution won't be coming out of any of Jordan's future earnings, especially since her mom seems to have used some of the stolen money to invest in her children's business interests. It's absolutely a story and if media want to ask about it at the Olympics, it's probably fair game.

 

[Coco]

That's some interesting logic, Karen. We are talking about an athlete who was almost infamous in the gymnastics community for UNDERachieving until February of this year, 11 months AFTER her mom was sentenced.

 

[Karen-W]

That's some interesting logic, Karen. We are talking about an athlete who was almost infamous in the gymnastics community for UNDERachieving until February of this year, 11 months AFTER her mom was sentenced.

I don't follow gymnastics all that closely so I have no idea whether she was considered to be underachieving or not. I just don't think it's as cut and dried as you to say that Jordan received no benefit from her mom stealing that money. Using the stolen money to pay for personal expenses freed up other family income to support Jordan's gymnastics training. Period.

 

[BaileyCatts]

I don't follow them closely enough to know if they plan on competing for a college team, but will Grace, Suni and Jordan be able to benefit from any type of sponsorship deals that may come from the (more than likely) Team Gold if they are going to compete for a college team?

 

[canbelto]

If Jordan was like 15 I'd say yeah, don't ask about her mom. But Jordan is 20 years old.

I'm kind of interested to see how Jordan is judged at the Olys. So far she hasn't had the international success of the other team members.

 

[Garden Kitty]

One can hope for the best. The story regarding Simone’s brother passed and went really quickly. I cannot recall any follow-up related to sentencing or anything.

He was acquitted on retrial.

 

[danafan]

Chiles has only competed twice internationally at the senior level (according to her usag bio) so not a lot of data to go on. If she hits her routines at the olympics she’ll score well because she is an excellent gymnast.

 

[VGThuy]

Unless Jordan herself was actively involved in the criminal enterprise, I’m not sure what news journalists would hope to ascertain from her other than to just to rattle her before competition and see if she can “take it” and make her pay for the crimes of her mother because they really want some retribution.

 

[canbelto]

Unless Jordan herself was actively involved in the criminal enterprise, I’m not sure what news journalists would hope to ascertain from her other than to just to rattle her before competition and see if she can “take it” and make her pay for the crimes of her mother because they really want some retribution.

Don't think it's that cut and dry. Think of all the tennis pros whose parents have become part of the headlines (and not in a good way). Tennis players have had to field questions about their parents' behavior.

 

[ballettmaus]

Don't think it's that cut and dry. Think of all the tennis pros whose parents have become part of the headlines (and not in a good way). Tennis players have had to field questions about their parents' behavior.

If this had been a story about the crime itself, I would view it differently but why do I care when the mother is reporting to prison? I don't believe for a second that this story was written for any other reason than the attention it would generate.

 

[just tuned in]

One reason that the story is important is that NBC featured a fluff bit about the children's book that Gina wrote. It is called, "Go for Your Dreams, Chick" (or something like that). The broadcast showed the cover of the book and illustrations from it. They paraphrased a quote from Jordan who said she was proud that her mother's dream (of writing a book) had come true. NBC is always showing Gina in the stands. She is getting a lot of positive press and plugs. I think that balanced reporting would also let everyone know that she has not yet served her time for her crimes.

 

[FiveRinger]

One reason that the story is important is that NBC featured a fluff bit about the children's book that Gina wrote. It is called, "Go for Your Dreams, Chick" (or something like that). The broadcast showed the cover of the book and illustrations from it. They paraphrased a quote from Jordan who said she was proud that her mother's dream (of writing a book) had come true. NBC is always showing Gina in the stands. She is getting a lot of positive press and plugs. I think that balanced reporting would also let everyone know that she has not yet served her time for her crimes.

Of course they showed Gina Chiles in the stands. Just like showed the parents of all of the top contenders—Simone, Suni, Mykayla. It’s not inappropriate to discuss the book that the parent of the athlete wrote based on the life of her child. No shade, but I hope those proceeds are paying some of that restitution. That’s all related to gymnastics. Her mother’s crime, as atrocious as it is, isn’t. What are they going to ask about it? Some questions that would incriminate her if she knew about it? Or what about the standard stupid question that all journalists ask about some crime or tragedy....”How do you feel about your mother going to jail for wire fraud?“ Or, ”Aren’t you glad your mom got to travel with you for your competitions this year and see you in the Olympics before she goes to serve her sentence?”

Yes, I agree with @VGThuy. That reporter held the story on purpose. I’m sure that Jordan has been well-prepared for the shitty press. It might even be a good thing that this story was released now instead of when she’s in Tokyo without all of her support. She will be there with Simone and Laurent, but her family and everyone else will be stateside. At least she’s had a year plus to come to terms with this. It’s more than Sha’Carri Richardson had when a reporter told her her mother died.

 

[canbelto]

I feel like coverage of anyone is fair as long as it's fact-based. The article about Jordan's mom had no personal attacks against Jordan herself, just coverage of her mom's crimes.

What is not fair is judgment-based coverage. An egregious example was Al Trautwig making the comment about how Simone's parents weren't her parents.

 

[millyskate]

Having attended multiple FIG supervised press conferences, I can reassure everyone that there absolutely isn’t the freedom to ask that type of question to the gymnasts and they would likely get shut down ASAP and never be allowed to ask a question again.

Of course she could get caught in the mixed zone by someone but considering the normal crowd of gymnastics journalists I think the likelihood is small.

 

[skatingguy]

Given the circumstances in Japan regarding COVID lockdowns I doubt there will be a mixed zone for journalists during the events, and that press conferences & interviews will all be done remotely.

 

[skatingguy]

From a broader perspective, I wonder what, if any, Naomi Osaka's stand in tennis over press conference attendance and their negative impact on some athletes will have going forward. I hope this heralds a new mentality that some comments and questions are hurtful and potentially damaging eg. asking an athlete two minutes after they had a disappointing showing to analyze what went wrong and embarrassing and totally unrelated details about family members. I am sure most world class athletes accept a certain amount of public scrutiny but would like some control over the time and place.

Answering questions from the media is part of the job of being an elite level athlete, and that's going to include answering questions when things don't go well, and sometimes being a journalist means asking questions that people don't want to answer.

 

[puglover]

Answering questions from the media is part of the job of being an elite level athlete, and that's going to include answering questions when things don't go well, and sometimes being a journalist means asking questions that people don't want to answer.

I agree with you to some degree. I personally find it pointless and often painful to witness the interviews immediately after a poor and disappointing showing. I doubt many athletes feel ready to speak about it or have much insight at that point into what went wrong. As for being asked embarrassing questions about family members, surely there is better timing than when they are there representing their country at an Olympic games, already a huge pressure cooker. I understand the media has a job but showing some understanding and compassion for when and how they ask their questions seems a reasonable expectation to me and healthier for the athletes.