Vacation and the Olympics

In about 15 hours and 42 minutes, I will be headed to Maine on vacation! I've been waiting for this vacation for awhile...it will be a much-needed break from what turned out to be a busy summer. My roommate and I are visiting some friends who live on a lake just North of Bangor. I hope to get a few open-water swims in, and we are taking our bikes, as well. So, the triathlon training will continue...just in a much cooler place. I'm taking my computer, so if I find internet access I'll be sure to post pictures and blog about the trip.

While we're there, I plan on watching the Olympics every night. I'm a huge sports fan, and I especially love the Summer Olympics because of gymnastics. Most of you who read this blog know that I was a gymnast for 12 years, until my body outgrew the sport and my mind was ready to move on to other things. I credit my not-so-successful but fun gymnastics career as creating a lot of the determination and drive that I find in my life today.

After some of the controversy that has sprung up about the sport in the past year or so (well, really it's the same controversy that springs up every 4 years or so around the Olympics), I want to comment on my experience with gymnastics and what I think is going on in the sport today.

A lot of the criticism circling the sport today involves the fact that gymnasts of the highest caliber are often not over the age of 18. In order to perform on a world-class level, a gymnast has to be tiny and strong. To be honest, with the skills that these girls/women perform, any extra weight on a gymnast can be dangerous. Many of the gymnasts you see on tv have not gone through puberty. Gymnasts on the Elite level (what you see on tv) often train 6-8 hours a day, are home-schooled, and sometimes travel far from home and their families to pursue an Olympic dream. This causes many outside the world of gymnastics to ask, "Are we putting too much pressure on these girls?". Stories of coaches having weigh-ins, calling the gymnasts fat, putting too much pressure on them, verbal abuse, etc., abound. Every now and then, a book will come out, or a TV show will do an expose on the world of gymnastics (most recently...HBO's Real Sports). There are also often rumors of eating disorders running rampant. So do I think these things happen? Do I think gymnastics should be outlawed for girls? Do I think we are exploiting young teenagers and putting uneccessary pressure on them? When I have kids will I allow my daughters to go into gymnastics?

Let me back up by stating that I was never remotely close to being an Olympic gymnast. I competed on Levels 9 and 8 (dropped back a level due to a catastrophic toe injury that kept me out for 4 months...another blog for another time) which are 2 and 3 levels below the Elite level. I had mostly female coaches, and I can't remember any of them ever saying anything to me about my weight. Actually, my friends called me the human garbage disposal because I ate anything and everything I could get my hands on. I was far from fat, though....but very muscular. If I could dig up a photo from those days I would...but I'm sure they are buried somewhere deep in the recesses of my parents' house in SC. I do remember one of my coaches who was a physiology student bringing in a scale one day to do a couple of studies. We all freaked out so much that our parents asked her not to bring it back! My experience with the sport was all positive...though I'm not sure how my coaches put up with my last year or so when I mostly sat around crying and refusing to do tricks that scared me. My parents supported me, but never pushed me. My coaches pushed me to the level that I wanted to be pushed. Any competitive drive I had was from within.

Now, do I think the horror stories about what go on in Elite gymnastics (weigh-ins, eating disorders, verbal abuse, ignoring injuries, etc) are true? I do. There are too many stories and corroborating evidence to deny that in some cases, these things happen. At the same time, I also know that no gymnast can really be pushed past the level that she wants to go. Many of the girls put up with the abuse because they believe it will make them champions. And often, it does. The question is, "Is it worth it?". I don't think we can answer that for them. Even though they are young, these athletes are still elite athletes and I believe they are aware of the sacrifices they are making. I agree that some of the coaches employ methods that should not be used. But the gymnasts in their gym choose to be there. There are other great coaches who aren't abusive. But, the gymnasts choose to stay where they are because they believe they will be great. US gymnasts are not in the position of those in the former communist bloc countries or China where they have no choice but to train with the National team.

I do think some changes need to be made in the politics of the sport. Currently, there is a "gymnastics mafia family" that controls the sport. If you get on their bad side, you can forget about your career as a World Team or Olympic gymnast. I understand that the intent was to make the US competitive on the world stage again, but there is too much power centralized around two coaches and their opinions.

Ultimately, I think the responsibility for protecting these gymnasts lies with their parents. It is a parent's job to not lose sight of the big picture (i.e. life after gymnastics) and make sure that their child is healthy and happy. Some girls can take the abuse and it simply makes them stronger. Others crack under the pressure. It is a parent's role to step in when it becomes too much. I know that parents can get caught up in the drama of the ride to the top, but I think as the adult, parents need to know when to stop. Parents also know their children better than the coaches, and might know what their child's limits are. I don't think a gymnast should ever leave home to train in another part of the country without a parent going with them. It's too dangerous in some cases not to.

In any case, I'll enjoy watching gymnastics, knowing the dedication and sacrifices that those girls have made, and hoping that if they have experienced any of the "dark side" of gymnastics, that it has been worth it for them.