Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

[bardtoob]

Funny follow up to the ice cream and french fries tweet.

Note the Tweet is @ FLOTUS . . . that First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, who is big on nutrition.

Of course, splurging for Aly and Simone is smelling fries.

 

[MR-FAN]

Am I the only one who gets Javi Fernandez vibes when I see Dragulescu?

 

[hirshey girl]

Ok, this is just adorable! http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/side-side-laurie-hernandez-simone-biles-biggest-fan

 

[becca]

Sorry, but your incessant criticism of one of the great gymnasts really got to me. I don't think you are a racist but you are focusing too much on the body which the gymnast was born with. It's a little like Misty Copeland being told that she didn't have a ballerina's figure. She is African American and is not blessed with long limbs, narrow shape, etc.

I didn't realize all African Americans had one body type. Douglas is African American and she certainly has a ballerina body type.

In real life I suspect Simone is as tiny as tiny can be... I don't know if I would call Simone classically beautiful... But I think she's a really cute girl with really beautiful eyes.

 

[jlai]

I am not sure why every young female public figure has to be considered cute. Reality is most young women arent ugly, but some are reaaaalllllly attractive.
Anyway,
I dont find Biles particularly attractive but I cant take my eyes off her on FX.

 

[jeffisjeff]

Ok, this is just adorable! http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/side-side-laurie-hernandez-simone-biles-biggest-fan

That was awesome (who doesn't love Laurie?) but would've been even better if they'd panned to the left a bit so we could've seen Jake a bit better.

 

[Wyliefan]

Wow, looks like NBC isn't showing the gymnastics gala tonight!? Bummer. I really wanted to see it. And I would imagine a lot of other people did too.

 

[rhapsody]

Am I the only one who gets Javi Fernandez vibes when I see Dragulescu?

Nope.

http://www.gymmedia.com/Rotterdam10/images/Dragulescu_port06.jpg

http://a.espncdn.com/i/oly/winter14/ap/bios/images/Javier_Fernandez.jpg

 

[becca]

I didn't realize all African Americans had one body type. Douglas is African American and she certainly has a ballerina body type.

In real life I suspect Simone is as tiny as tiny can be... I don't know if I would call Simone classically ... But I think she's a really cute girl with really beautiful eyes.

I think really good looks help if you are male or female in terms of advertisement. I don't see Simone who is a cute girl with a sweet personality having any issues. I do hope she soon gets a little bit more spotlight of her own.

 

[Rob]

Simone and Gabby have had a lot of commercials air during the games. Can't say I noticed any with Aly.

My DVR picked up about 20 mins of the gala- partially on NBC and partially on MSNBC. Recording picked up in the middle though- it must have started during the session right before. Usual cheesefest.

 

[DimaToe]

Wow, looks like NBC isn't showing the gymnastics gala tonight!? Bummer. I really wanted to see it. And I would imagine a lot of other people did too.

Really?

 

[Lucy25]

Wow, looks like NBC isn't showing the gymnastics gala tonight!? Bummer. I really wanted to see it. And I would imagine a lot of other people did too.

It was shown live on MSNBC this afternoon.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Simone and Gabby have had a lot of commercials air during the games. Can't say I noticed any with Aly.

My DVR picked up about 20 mins of the gala- partially on NBC and partially on MSNBC. Recording picked up in the middle though- it must have started during the session right before. Usual cheesefest.

I think it was supposed to be on MSNBC at 1;30, but it started late and they only showed excerpts. They were also supposed to have excerpts on NBC Sports starting at 7:30, but mixed in with boxing. And there are supposed to be more excerpts on overnight on NBC, but who knows?

 

[Allskate]

I missed the gala.

Simone and Gabby have had a lot of commercials air during the games. Can't say I noticed any with Aly.

I didn't see any with Aly. I saw a ton with Simone and a number of Gabby. That's understandable. Gabby was the reigning Olympic AA champion and Simone was widely expected to become the new one. Aly isn't in that category.

The Special K box is going to have the Final Five on one side and Simone on her own on the other side. That makes sense. The whole team did great, but Simone clearly did the best.

 

[Wyliefan]

And there are supposed to be more excerpts on overnight on NBC, but who knows?

My channel guide isn't showing any. Well, I guess I can always look for it online.

 

[Garden Kitty]

My channel guide isn't showing any. Well, I guess I can always look for it online.

Mine is showing up on my tivo info, so it may be out of date as well.

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

Is gymnastics' reputation for having the cattiest girls all gone?

I don't know about the gymnasts themselves, but it certainly has the cattiest fans...

My exposure to the "gymternet" has been horrific.

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

Do the girls on these gym teams really get on as well as they are meant to show on camera? Or do some of them secretly (or not?) hate each other's guts?

Are all these girls PC-ed to perfection or are there some more rebellious personalities? (This goes for all teams - not just US)

I do wonder if their comaraderie isn't hammed up, just a little bit, for the camera Maybe I'm just a btch.

As we've seen, their every move is watched, dissected and over-analysed to death. People are ready to read into fckin anything and rip these young ladies apart. The way people talk about Gabby, you'd think she'd committed some dreadful war crime. Her actual "crime" is not smiling enough....

I think they're more than aware of that. They know what they have to do and what's expected of them. From what I see, many US gym fans in particular like the bubbly, cutesy, relentlessly smiley and positive, cheerleader-esque vibe. I think Raisman is particularly aware. I'm not saying that it isn't natural, at all, because from what I've heard, the US team does get along well. I just think there's quite a lot of self-consciousness there.

 

[Katha]

Yeah, I think it's enforced perkiness. Not that I don't believe that they get along well, but they would be torn down if they weren't always super demonstrative and happy in front of the cameras. Look what's happening to Douglas, and she hasn't even done anything, she's polite, she did her piece for the team gold, she clapped for the others in their events, it was just somehow decided that she "didn't clap enough", or "didn't smile enough" or something and it's been endless trashing since then... As if it's so difficult to understand that perhaps she's a bit disappointed that she can't repeat her feats from 2012. So I'm not surprised that everyone is trying to be on at all times and that you have these endless public displays of camaraderie and cheerfulness, they'd get slaughtered if they dared to do anything else.

 

[elka_sk8]

There have always been complaints about there not being enough artistry in gymnastics. The Romanians weren't just criticized for being code whores. They were also criticized for not being expressive or artistic. Kim Zmeskal and Dominique Dawes were criticized for being too athletic and not artistic enough.



One of the results of training at the ranch is that the gymnasts get to know each much better than before, like with the 1996 team. Plus, if you don't really think you have a chance of beating someone or having someone beat you, as is the case with Biles, then it probably does ease tension.

The interview last night that Bob Costas did with Aly and Simone is about as authentic as I've seen:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/aly-raisman-simone-biles-future-olympic-plans-zac-efron

I also would think that the younger more inexperienced gymnasts genuinely do appreciate and guidance and info that "grandma" provides. And these gymnasts don't just say positive things about each other. The gymnasts will complain about how messy Aly is and Aly will complain that they won't let her sleep even when it's fairly late. It's not exactly huge stuff, but it's not just making each other out to be perfect with no conflicts.

They were hilarious!

 

[Xela M]

Yeah, I think it's enforced perkiness. Not that I don't believe that they get along well, but they would be torn down if they weren't always super demonstrative and happy in front of the cameras. Look what's happening to Douglas, and she hasn't even done anything, she's polite, she did her piece for the team gold, she clapped for the others in their events, it was just somehow decided that she "didn't clap enough", or "didn't smile enough" or something and it's been endless trashing since then... As if it's so difficult to understand that perhaps she's a bit disappointed that she can't repeat her feats from 2012. So I'm not surprised that everyone is trying to be on at all times and that you have these endless public displays of camaraderie and cheerfulness, they'd get slaughtered if they dared to do anything else.

I actually like Gabby after these Olympics. At least she's normal and human rather than some smiling wind-up doll (and since I'm always paying attention to the super-important things in life ) she grew up to be very pretty

 

[floskate]

Wow Romanian WAG really is where the is at!!

http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2016/08/17/on-romania-lessons-missed/

 

[VGThuy]

Wow Romanian WAG really is where the is at!!

http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2016/08/17/on-romania-lessons-missed/

I love how bitter she is about the fact that Larisa was rooting for her friend for beam finals. Larisa and Simone got to know each other really well while they were competing against one another for the past few years, and she's the only gymnast that came close to beating Simone, so of course Larissa would root for Simone. Plus, it doesn't hurt that it was against the gymnast who got your country's only spot.

Reading that summary is bananas. Catalina is almost thirty and publicly complaining about the supposed slights she's received from a 20 year-old. Maybe it would be healthier if she did move on from gymnastics. It's stunting her growth.

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

Dear me

Well, I understand being affected by, what is essentially, online bullying. That aint on.

I don't quite understand some parts of it, but why is there still anger over the selection? Isn't Larisa injured? I got the impression that they basically had few options but to send Ponor.

 

[jlai]

Does the blogger even know enough to reveal what's truly going on? Or is that person relying on gossip?

 

[Erin]

I don't quite understand some parts of it, but why is there still anger over the selection? Isn't Larisa injured? I got the impression that they basically had few options but to send Ponor.

Larisa is injured, but has been competing post-Romanian nationals. Still doing watered down routines and not at her best, but competing probably with the hope of proving she could sub in if something happened to Ponor. Ponor was probably a better shot at a beam or floor medal and she showed with her beam routine in qualifications that she was at least in contention for a beam medal even if she didn't deliver it. In the shape Larisa was in at the Chemnitz friendly on July 23, she wouldn't have challenged for any medals, but probably would have qualified for the all-around final and finished somewhere in the teens and maybe squeaked into the beam final if she happened to hit in qualifications.

Unrelated to this controversy but I've been meaning to post it for a while...it was pointed out on the gymcastic podcast following women's beam that Ponor's dominatrix leo was probably intended for floor finals because her floor routine music is 50 Shades of Grey I love it!

 

[Rob]

If FIG were in their right mind, Larisa would have had a spot as an AA medalist, and there would have been no need for attacking Catalina. Blame the FIG!

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

TSL spoke to Stella Umeh - remember her?

She has some good points re: the scoring system, choreo, TV coverage and Rio.

She thinks all UB routines look the same, misses the "artistry" and would bring back compulsories So she might echo how many of us feel.

http://www.theskatinglesson.com/tsl...-nbc-coverage-a-conversation-with-stella-umeh

Oh and if you don't know her, here's a prettty cool FX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBwQ5JHYxpM

 

[Tesla]

Oops! Wrong thread.

 

[gk_891]

TSL spoke to Stella Umeh - remember her?

She has some good points re: the scoring system, choreo, TV coverage and Rio.

She thinks all UB routines look the same, misses the "artistry" and would bring back compulsories So she might echo how many of us feel.

http://www.theskatinglesson.com/tsl...-nbc-coverage-a-conversation-with-stella-umeh

Oh and if you don't know her, here's a prettty cool FX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBwQ5JHYxpM

I always thought Umeh was underscored back when she competed. Her vaults had huge amplitude and her fx routines were a good mix of demonstrating good tumbling and dance abilities.