Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

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I am totally watching the Biles biopic movie just because it looks hilariously awful. There was a sneak peak clip the other day and the part they showed had a young Simone going into a gym and instantly being able to do a perfect front tuck. It was fantastic. The trailer also promises tropes such as an out of character mean Aimee Boorman, a bizarrely accented Martha Karolyi, Simone choosing between prom and the Olympics and other ridiculousness that I can't remember.

I feel like given all the terrible news in gymnastics lately, we could all use a good laugh, and the Simone movie couldn't be coming at a better time for that.
 
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skatfan said:
She really is having a hard time discussing the Nassar stuff - I wish she didn't have to promote this move now.
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I was kinda startled that Hoda Kotb started the interview with the Nassar stuff. I wonder if that caught Simone off guard and made it even more uncomfortable.
 
I would guess that Simone has enough pull that her agent could put the kibosh on questions about Nassar if she really wanted to refuse to talk about it. It may be a situation where she isn't comfortable talking about it but feels like it is important to do so regardless. Aly has frequently said in interviews that she is still not comfortable talking about it but that she does so anyway.

If I'm wrong and she is talking about it against her choice then she needs an agent that will do a better job of protecting her.
 
Let the speculation about the new NTC begin. It was no secret that Mihai wanted the job in 2016. Aly's got a pretty high profile right now, and if she supports him, it could be a pretty easy decision. But could/would he leave his position as Australia's national team coach?

Personally I'd love to see Aimee Boorman do it. But I don't know if she'd want to.
 
I hope they take their time. I'd love to see USA Gymnastics come up with safety guidelines and a code of conduct that should apply to every coach, including the coordinator, that would make health, safety and respect - before success - among the priorities.

I also hope USA Gymnastics rethinks those camps. There should always have an observer on site, someone completely out of the gymnastics community, to watch interactions between the coordinator, the coaches and the gymnasts and report any unhealthy conduct. Enough with everyone unofficially reporting to a single person who is ruling everything. The camps should be an opportunity the gymnasts feel proud to be invited to, not some crazy scary strict army like boot camp that breaks them and just leaves them exhausted. The goal should be that every gymnast should leave each camp having learned something. It should be used to bond with other gymnasts (as much as possible considering they are also competitors).

Once they have defined what they expect out of those camps, how many there should be and when and where they will take place, then they should look for the person who will be the best at meeting these goals - and someone who would agree to work within these new parameters. Unless they trust someone enough to become the coordinator and help set up such rules, I guess, but usually you define a position and look for someone to fill it, not the other way around.

I think Liukin made the right decision at this point. What's been said since he took over has been encouraging in comparison with Marta, but Larson and Ohashi's comments definitely need to be taken into consideration. With that being said, if Liukin could demonstrate that he's been able to learn from the past and go in a different direction, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to him getting back into the position. Kelli Hill has also resigned from the board as demanded, but I've never heard anything negative regarding her coaching style, in fact I've only ever heard really positive comments about her. I wouldn't be opposed to her playing a role or another in the future either.

I'd love to see Moceanu involved too.
 
It’s a pipe dream, but get the final 5 plus their personal coaches in a room to develop a shortlist. Or have them edit a list developed independently. There’s got to be a way to break from the past.
 
That explains a lot re: Ohashi. When she hit seniors in 2013, I remember thinking that I had never seen a more miserable gymnast. I mean, she made Gina Gogean look like Mary Lou in terms of perky!! It was nice to see her compete on her terms when she hit NCAA. I think Valeri has made the right decision and my first thought for a replacement was Aimee Boorman too.
 
McKenzie Wofford (former WOGA elite) weighs in:

"This is so amazing. God is so good. I’m so happy that little girls won’t have to go through what me and many others went through when being coached by him. Positive changes are happening. #timesup"
 
Choupette said:
I had also completely forgotten about Vanessa Atler.

Ex-USA gymnast Vanessa Atler says she developed an eating disorder under Valeri Liukin
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I’m not surprised about that. I think Valeri and his wife were also subjected to outdated and harsh attitudes about weight and what one had to do to maintain an “ideal” weight and passed that on when they started coaching. I know this sport has issues with eating disorders generally speaking and American coaches certainly are guilty in making their gymnasts adopt unhealthy attitudes towards food, but I do think the coaches coming from harsh Communist regimes with coaches yielding the power that they did over their gymnasts’ lives had a special kind of crazy when it came to food. The no water thing is something I heard the Karyolis did back in Romania in the 1970s.
 
VIETgrlTerifa said:
I’m not surprised about that. I think Valeri and his wife were also subjected to outdated and harsh attitudes about weight and what one had to do to maintain an “ideal” weight and passed that on when they started coaching.
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Yeah, that's the excuse given, but it seems that he kept those attitudes up much longer than he has admitted. The Ohashi journal entries were from 2010 and 2011, and I believe Wofford was coached by him as late as 2013. So if his attitude changed, it was relatively recent. And I'm not sure where the impetus for that would have come from at that point...certainly not from Martha Karolyi.
 
One can imagine what those Soviet-style upbringing was like and how those things die hard. We know people are shaped by their childhoods and it seems he went from gymnastics training to gymnastics coaching and simply passed on what he knew and never thought to deviate. I heard the things that Ohashi went through and what Vanessa described as happening in Round Lake (Russia) on the regular.

One thing we know about USAG is that they didn't really step in when they should have because they didn't want to disrupt anything that may have led to medals and wins. I wonder how knowledgeable any of them are about healthy diets and nutrition and fostering healthy attitudes about food and weight in sport. The stories I heard about the 1999 U.S. Worlds team and how USAG officials were overheard laughing and saying how that was the fattest team they ever sent and Donna Strauss of Parkettes telling the members of the World team to not finish their meals (with Kelli Hill interrupting and telling Elise Ray that she could finish her meal) make me wonder.
 
I am curious about Mihai Brestyan methods. I really have only seen two of his gymnasts, but they have been exceptionally muscular and achieved good results. It seems like he pushes his gymnasts hard, and just let's their bodies respond to the conditioning . . . but I don't really know. I just came to that conclusion because his gymnasts have not appeared to at all try to conform to the aesthetics of classic European gymnastics in terms of extension, lines, and balletic movement. They are athletes, through and through.
 
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Mihai also famously refused to let Aly start doing any significant skills in her comeback until she had been conditioning for a year to avoid injury.
 
Didn't Mihai come from the same Romanian sports system that the Karolyis came from? I'm thinking that it's more curious about where Mihai learned his coaching methods.
 
I live near Brestyan’s and have attended some club meets. At least at the club level, water, sports drinks and snacks are readily available. I don’t know if they tighten up at level 10/elite, though.
 
theredpepper said:
Mihai also famously refused to let Aly start doing any significant skills in her comeback until she had been conditioning for a year to avoid injury.
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I thought Raisman, during the Rio Olympics about said something about Mihai not looking at her for a while after she started training again, because he didn't think she was serious, but maybe that was hyperbole. :)
 
I heard that quote too but maybe his motive was to reduce pressure on her, not just to ignore her. His athletes have had long careers.
 
The IndyStar has an in-depth article about Liukin today.

*** USA Gymnastics coordinator Valeri Liukin's gym not immune to criticism for abuse :
https://www.indystar.com/story/news...sar-dr-nassar-rachael-denhollander/310129002/
In announcing Liukin’s promotion, former USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said: "He will provide a smooth transition from the program that has been created."


Liukin praised the Karolyi Ranch, saying he "grew up in that system." He saw little need for change. "There is no point in changing something that isn’t broken," he said. "There is nothing new for me. I believe in it."
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Neither Liukin’s lawyer nor USA Gymnastics answered directly when asked if Liukin resigned under pressure.

Yet Liukin's rise and quick departure from the top job could illustrate a shift from a medals-first culture that has left the Indianapolis-based organization reeling in the wake of IndyStar's investigation. Others disagree, saying that one resignation doesn't create culture change.
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I hope Valeri and the other WOGA coaches have taken or will take training about more modern nutritional methods and cross training opportunities for creating a healthy but somewhat streamlined physique and learn to eliminate insults from the vocabulary. There are still very good coaches there.

This is a good time for USA Gymnastics to require such training of accredited coaches in addition to training on child abuse awareness and reporting. The shaming method seems to have been the norm in dance (at least it was when I was dancing), gymnastics, and skating if you've read what Adam Rippon has to say, and there is a great opportunity for reshaping the future. I do hope that USA Gymnastics takes it's time and plans carefully.
 
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