OT Artistic Gymnastics

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Has anyone else been following Chellsie Memmel's comeback? Her videos are so great, especially seeing her in the gym with her kids.
I love it- I also love her outlook (pushing yourself at a healthy pace, learning to listen to/respect your body and what it can handle, handling injury). I can't believe how well she's come back, and then it all breaks my heart thinking about what the Karolyis did to that whole 2004-2016 set.

And yes, I did just watch Athlete A.
 
thoughts ?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gymnastics-coach-accused-emotional-abuse-194623937.html

..
while i find it hard to believe as many kids under her are lying like she claims, i do agree that usa gymnastics probably came down harder on her because of the missteps involving the nassar case. But that tends to happen a lot in a lot of different scenarios.

How in the world did any of this get published? The amount of victim blaming and deflection from her are forreal enraging.

"My kids never hid food like the other kids from other coaches" does not mean there wasn't abuse.

"This is how I was trained and I turned out fine" does not mean there wasn't abuse. (Also, you obvi didn't if you've been suspended for alleged abuse....)

"There was smiling and laughing. I took kids to restaurants" doesn't mean there wasn't abuse.

"I just care too much I guess." Hardcore GAG.

She blames the kids, the parents, and the culture for her situation but never indicates shes done an ounce of self-reflection on how she got there.

And idk who sounds worse, her or the parents who said there is no coddling in their house, only screaming. How do you pick them to support the story of her innocence? And then take the word of the young girls "testimony" while you point out that the parent is standing over her...

Absolutely wild. So many red flags in this.
 
How in the world did any of this get published? The amount of victim blaming and deflection from her are forreal enraging.

"My kids never hid food like the other kids from other coaches" does not mean there wasn't abuse.

"This is how I was trained and I turned out fine" does not mean there wasn't abuse. (Also, you obvi didn't if you've been suspended for alleged abuse....)

"There was smiling and laughing. I took kids to restaurants" doesn't mean there wasn't abuse.

"I just care too much I guess." Hardcore GAG.

She blames the kids, the parents, and the culture for her situation but never indicates shes done an ounce of self-reflection on how she got there.

And idk who sounds worse, her or the parents who said there is no coddling in their house, only screaming. How do you pick them to support the story of her innocence? And then take the word of the young girls "testimony" while you point out that the parent is standing over her...

Absolutely wild. So many red flags in this.
I refused to read it. I figured it would be gaslight central.
 
IMO, gymnastics and ballet have always been two of the worst for, what I'll call, non-apologetic training. You can go online and see detailed studies of gymnastic champions heights and weights <Measurements of Olympic Champions>. Unfortunately, these all around champions are getting smaller and lighter, and those numbers are going to play a part in Olympic training. If encouraging good habits doesn't work, I can see how some would justify finding the button that triggers a different behavior...even if it encourages eating disorders or the inability to say "no" when they don't feel safe. Parents are just as bad at justifying these tactics as long as they're kid is winning or getting attention. Once their kid is out of the environment, they speak out. A friend, a professional dancer for several years, blamed her ballet instructor for her hundreds of tiny scars on her arms from being told to "pinch yourself every time you want to eat something you shouldn't. If you're larger than a "0" no one will want you." She would pinch and literally tear off tiny areas of skin to avoid eating, but when her daughter turned 3, she enrolled her to be trained by the same woman. In her words, "She's the best technical instructor."
 
IMO, gymnastics and ballet have always been two of the worst for, what I'll call, non-apologetic training. You can go online and see detailed studies of gymnastic champions heights and weights <Measurements of Olympic Champions>. Unfortunately, these all around champions are getting smaller and lighter, and those numbers are going to play a part in Olympic training. If encouraging good habits doesn't work, I can see how some would justify finding the button that triggers a different behavior...even if it encourages eating disorders or the inability to say "no" when they don't feel safe. Parents are just as bad at justifying these tactics as long as they're kid is winning or getting attention. Once their kid is out of the environment, they speak out. A friend, a professional dancer for several years, blamed her ballet instructor for her hundreds of tiny scars on her arms from being told to "pinch yourself every time you want to eat something you shouldn't. If you're larger than a "0" no one will want you." She would pinch and literally tear off tiny areas of skin to avoid eating, but when her daughter turned 3, she enrolled her to be trained by the same woman. In her words, "She's the best technical instructor."
Unfortunately, in ballet and gymnastics(and sometimes cheerleading too), this culture is perpetuated because of a desire to see results in an athlete or a dancer. In the end, people want to win. How far they’re willing to go to see those gold medals and results? Beyond me in cases like these. But again, the victims can’t blamed. They’ve been trained to think that this is the only way to win.
 
The gymternet is feeling what cheer has been feeling the last decade... with this weekend’s Winter Cup EF routines all behind a paywall now instead of freely-available on USAG’s YouTube page like before.

This contract between USAG and aunt Flo is going to affect accessibility so much as a viewer, SIGH.

In other news, all the gymnasts looked VERY good this past weekend!! I’d like to think that the break helped gymnasts nurse injuries and gave the time they needed to build strength, endurance and, most importantly, confidence again.
 
I know Laurie Hernandez went pro but I would have really liked to see her compete in college gymnastics after Rio. I feel like she would do really good in collage and her skills now days would make a much more solid collage routine
 
I first started watching WAG in 1990 with Kim Zmeskal. But ever since Nassar, I've kind of been derailed from the actual sport and been more interested in law and culture with this sport and others. But, during this pandemic, I've been watching a ton of ncaa gymnastics. LIU is new, and fun to watch. Randy Lane seems like a positive coach. Been watching Cal a bit, too. They actually just beat UCLA. A few of them with masks, too!

But, for the first time in a while, I watched elite this weekend (still pretty confused about Tokyo, and who's supposed to qualify, but maybe everybody else is, too). I really like Jade and Riley. And it's cool to see them be good gym buddies, too.
 
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