Gymnastics

[BlackberryJam]

3 hours ago, healthnut said:

 

I do agree with a lot of you that I would rather see easier gymnastics done cleaner than harder gymnastics done poorly. 

This hasn’t been a good competition. Many of these athletes throw these skills on a regular basis and hit. As someone upthread mentioned, this equipment looked off. Not Sydney 2000 off, but just shaky. It can be anything from the tension in the high bar to the quality of the plastic mat covers that cause issues.

In the case of this meet though, I think it’s the lack of family support, the absence of crowds, and the overall isolation of the athletes. It’s just been …not good. 

Not to mention when one athlete goes down, it can often effect the ones that go after. It happened in women’s 3m springboard diving this Olympics. Watching a competitor fall, or step out of bounds, just gets in your head.

[Lady Whistleup]

I also cant help but think many of MyKayla's aggressive, angry tweets and retweets come from her lack of actual enjoyment of the sport. If you don't like what you do, but are pressured to do it anyway despite enormous pain, that tends to create an angry, resentful person. If you love what you do, then the experience of training, learning new skills, competing, and dealing with the harsh side of the sport is probably easier. But if you're only doing it because your whole family has triple mortgaged their future for your sake, and mom says you Cannot Quit, then it creates a very messed up person.

[BlackberryJam]

I’m not a Skinner fan, but I give her a tiny bit of a misery pass and don’t actively wish her ill. 

I don’t give an inch to Brody Malone. His success in cleaning his social media doesn’t mean he’s not a huge problem.

ETA: I think all of these women have reason to hate USAG with a white hot hatred, and I’m fine with that tweeting, but not tweeting that denigrates their fellow athletes.

Edited August 1, 2021 by BlackberryJam
Explained in post.

[kittykat]

I hope Jade can medal in FX.  I don't want her to be the only US woman who doesn't medal.

Hooray for Max Whitlock defending his pommels gold. And a beautiful performance by Nina Derwael. 

[HartofDixie]

Start list for Floor: https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/artistic-gymnastics/results-women-s-floor-exercise-fnl-000001-.htm

Stream for day 2 of event finals: https://stream.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics-event-finals-mens-rings-vault-womens-floor

 

[galaxygirl76]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

Not to mention when one athlete goes down, it can often effect the ones that go after. It happened in women’s 3m springboard diving this Olympics. Watching a competitor fall, or step out of bounds, just gets in your head.

I remember after the deathly luge accident in Vancouver, the Dutch four man bobsled team withdrew because they had a crash the previous year on the same track, and the guy who was steering the bob got scared. He said he wanted to go down but couldn't do it. He got a lot of shit for it and still does.

[emmawoodhouse]

I couldn't hang in there and watch last night (1am my time). McKayla's vaults had some flaws. I guess it was a sloppy competition.

[legaleagle53]

Jade's reaction after both of her vaults (but especially her first one) were just heartbreaking. I do hope she can come back from this -- I could see that she was devastated.

[Conotocarious]

Dear god I thought this was on at 8. 
 

hopefully someone puts it on YouTube soon. Sonofabitch!!!!

[AuntieDiane6]

1 hour ago, Conotocarious said:

Dear god I thought this was on at 8. 
 

hopefully someone puts it on YouTube soon. Sonofabitch!!!!

They'll re-run it overnight at 2 am EST and the entire competition is on nbcolympics.com!

 

[Raachel2008]

9 hours ago, filmfan2480 said:

I'm super glad Rebeca Andrade held on to Gold (what with Biles out and Jade not doing well), because - air execution aside - those were some POOR landings.  I was disappointed by that; yet ecstatic she won.

This gets us nowhere. We'll never know if Simone had been in (and in a good mental place) if she wouldn't have made a mistake - even the GOAT make mistakes. We don't know if any other day Rebeca would have been better, or if Jade would have been better. Maybe they would, maybe another athlete would have made the jump of ther life and taken the gold. This, IMO and please don't take it personally - sells Rebeca, MyKayla and Suni very short. Their medals weren't an accident, these three girls worked very hard and each of them overcame a lot to be there and perform the best they could at that moment.

I read somewhere (AP, I think) Rebeca saying that she wasn't thaaaat nervous nervous but that she was worried because she couldn't warm up before and she wanted to 'feel' the vault. It is utter stupid to not let them warm up, and I have to worder if that's why so many good athletes didn't perform that well? 

 

 

[AuntieDiane6]

Boy, I guess the men's events aren't getting any primetime love!

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by AuntieDiane6

[Chit Chat]

24 minutes ago, Raachel2008 said:

It is utter stupid to not let them warm up, and I have to wonder if that's why so many good athletes didn't perform that well? 

There was a bit of sloppiness with the vaults, which is unexpected at this level.  Maybe something did feel off to all of them.  I felt so bad for Jade.   I hate seeing their dreams go down the drain like that.  How heartbreaking.  

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

Boy, I guess the men's events aren't getting any primetime love!

 

They were on this afternoon before the women's finals.

Edited August 2, 2021 by legaleagle53

[Matryoshka]

Bridget & John were speculating that in addition to the no one-touch warm up, the very cold temperature in the arena might be having an affect on the athletes. A full crowd would have warmed it up some.

[NUguy514]

9 hours ago, Conotocarious said:

Remember how everyone was making mistakes until Shannon? That was a HARD compulsory! I liked comparing everyone doing the same routine.

That compulsory beam routine was B-A-N-A-N-A-S.  So incredibly hard.

9 hours ago, DawnDavenport said:

Yes. Every country struggled at some point, including the US until Miller. Also, a highlight is how Moceanu holds her left up after the cartwheel.

Moceanu's cartwheel in her compulsory beam routine was a thing of absolute beauty.

I've also felt like the equipment has just looked...off.  And I hadn't thought about the lack of warm bodies in the crowd contributing to a colder-than-normal competition and make certain things harder to do on the different apparatuses, but it makes sense.

[Frisky Wig]

5 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I also cant help but think many of MyKayla's aggressive, angry tweets and retweets come from her lack of actual enjoyment of the sport. If you don't like what you do, but are pressured to do it anyway despite enormous pain, that tends to create an angry, resentful person. If you love what you do, then the experience of training, learning new skills, competing, and dealing with the harsh side of the sport is probably easier. But if you're only doing it because your whole family has triple mortgaged their future for your sake, and mom says you Cannot Quit, then it creates a very messed up person.

That sounds awful. Do you have any links to articles about her family forcing her to stay in the sport, triple mortgaging their house, etc? 

[ShellsandCheese]

18 hours ago, Conotocarious said:

eta: GOOOO REBECA! I wanted her to win so bad!!!!

Same! So happy for Rebecca. I was also rooting for her in the all-around. Happy for Lee but I really wanted RA to win, because I'm more familiar with her and have liked her for a few years. That being said, I also agree with others that the event finals for bars and vault were a hot mess. It's so stupid that the athletes cannot warm up. So dumb. 

It's obvious that Bruno Grandi's tenure as head of FIG was just awful for the sport and sadly his predecessor isn't much better. 

Yes! Please bring back compulsories and get rid of this goofy scoring system. Ditto for figure skating. 

 

[Lady Whistleup]

Just now, Frisky Wig said:

That sounds awful. Do you have any links to articles about her family forcing her to stay in the sport, triple mortgaging their house, etc? 

In Golden she says she tried to quit, but her mom wouldn't let her. She actually did quit when she was a child, but her mom pushed her back after Carly Patterson won gold. Her mom justified it by saying that kids that age didn't know that they didn't want something. Her husband says that gymnastics is not "her passion." Her mom says her job was to "simply keep her going." The triple mortgage was actually something Shawn Johnson's parents did, but I do know MyKayla's mom refers again and again to the "sacrifices" the family has made as a reason MyKayla has to keep going. MyKayla also talks matter of factly about how she once saw a gymnast break her neck and die.

MyKayla also talks about how she's "scarred for life" going to the Karolyi Ranch, and at one point she re-enacts how Marta used to grab her face and yell at her. She sounds so scarred and unhappy, and at one point one wonders who she's even doing this for. 

Overall I'm honestly relieved she got to go to the Event Final and she got a silver in vault and maybe (???) a positive experience in Tokyo, because she just seemed like such an angry and unhappy young woman in Golden. 

[Cherpumple]

Speaking of terrible decisions, I really hate that they changed the rules to disallow ties. We could have had two gold medalists on the men's floor this time! And in the qualifying round, two men tied exactly (can't remember who)- not just with the same total score, but they had the exact same scores in both execution and difficulty, and yet the officials found a way to break the tie. It sucked! This is a rare enough occurrence to be fun and memorable when it happens, but more importantly, I think it's really unfair to the athletes; if the judges scored them the same they should get the same result, not be at the mercy of some mathematical wizardry so that the officials get to keep the ranking neat and orderly.

In contrast, in the high jump event today the two lead jumpers were asked if they wanted to have a tie breaking jump and instead they instantly agreed to share the gold. It was a great Olympic moment!

[pennben]

Biles is IN for the beam EF. Be safe & kick ass!!

[irisheyes]

I got up just in time to see Jade win!!  So happy for her!!!

[Jeddah]

Jade! I’m so happy for her! After vault yesterday and the long wait for the judges before her routine, I was so nervous. She nailed it though!

Okay, back to bed for me.

[pennben]

I chose soccer tonight/this morning , I did not choose wisely (thus far).  Congrats to Jade!

[Jaded]

15 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I've thought a lot of the equipment looked odd the whole competition.  Everything with a pole - uneven bars, parallel bars, high bar - looked like it was giving a lot more than it should.  Even the padding looks too soft, like they're trying to fight for a stuck landing when they've landed on a feather pillow. 

 

11 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

As someone upthread mentioned, this equipment looked off. Not Sydney 2000 off, but just shaky. It can be anything from the tension in the high bar to the quality of the plastic mat covers that cause issues.

 

6 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

I've also felt like the equipment has just looked...off.  And I hadn't thought about the lack of warm bodies in the crowd contributing to a colder-than-normal competition and make certain things harder to do on the different apparatuses, but it makes sense.

I'm glad the actual condition of the equipment was brought up by others. I've been thinking the same as each competition happened. I was waiting to see if anyone else had the same thoughts and was relieved to see the posts I quoted and the discussion.

I'm so happy for Jade.....💖

[Steph619]

Yes! I’m so happy for Jade. Congratulations to her on winning the gold! Yesterday was a tough day for Jade, but she overcame that result and did an amazing job today. 

I’m happy that both gymnasts in third place got the bronze medal. It’s terrible when they do tiebreakers and only one gets the medal. 

I’m also happy that Simone will compete on the balance beam tomorrow. I can’t wait to see how she does. I wish her all the best.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Steph619

[seasons]

So all 6 women gymnasts won some sort of medal, whether individual or team? That is great!!!🇺🇸🏅🤸💐💘🔥

[Conotocarious]

I deliberately slept through it because I’m getting so run down but yay! Good for Jade. Now every girl gets a medal!

I am sending Simone every vibe I can that beam us a good routine for her. God knows she deserves it after what has to have been a tremendously difficult week. 

[Snow Apple]

Suni is in the beams finals too, correct? Good luck to both. 

If Simone medals, I think she'll tie Shannon Miller for the most medals for U.S. Women's Olympic gymnastics. Although what happened to Simone is awful, I'm happy Shannon's record is sticking around.I

I'm also happy for Jade. Not just an individual medal, but gold!

Edited August 2, 2021 by Snow Apple

[Minneapple]

Congrats to Jade!

NBC is going to milk this Simone news in epic fashion. "The greatest gymnast overcomes her struggles to compete on beam for one last chance in the Olympics..." as dramatic music swells in the background. 

I can't do 4 a.m., it's just too early for me. I'm sure I'll be spoiled but watching Simone through my fingers with plenty of anxiety.

[Jeddah]

I really thought by going the individual route to qualify that Jade was giving up her chance at a gold medal.

At Trials or Nationals didn’t Nastia say that Japan uses a different brand of equipment than the ones most gyms use in the United States? Or did I imagine that in my sleep deprived from Olympic viewing state?

[Conotocarious]

7 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

Congrats to Jade!

NBC is going to milk this Simone news in epic fashion. "The greatest gymnast overcomes her struggles to compete on beam for one last chance in the Olympics..." as dramatic music swells in the background. 

I can't do 4 a.m., it's just too early for me. I'm sure I'll be spoiled but watching Simone through my fingers with plenty of anxiety.

I’m hoping the women’s beam doesn’t actually start at 4:00. I think one of the mens’ events will be first. If anyone knows the time balance beam is supposed to start please post it because I’m dreading setting this alarm but there is no way on planet earth I’m not watching it live.

[Steph619]

According to the NBC Sports app, the balance beam starts at 4:53 am eastern time. Simone will go third and Suni will go after her.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Steph619

[Jillibean]

I got a bit emotional watching the FX medal ceremony. I'm so happy for Jade--she really won my heart in these Olympics. Seeing Angelina and Mai give each other the bouquets was so sweet, and I was so happy for Vanessa to win an Olympic medal at age 30--and the first for Italy since the 1920s? Did I hear that correctly? It was also really sweet to see both the men and women's teams going crazy over Jade's routine and win. 

[scarynikki12]

Yay for Jade! I can't wait to watch tonight!

[Conotocarious]

19 minutes ago, Steph619 said:

According to the NBC Sports app, the balance beam starts at 4:53 am eastern time. Simone will go third and Suni will go after her.

Thanks for this! So it’ll be be closer to five than four which will be painful yet doable. 

[SweetSable]

19 hours ago, healthnut said:

I do agree with a lot of you that I would rather see easier gymnastics done cleaner than harder gymnastics done poorly. 

Completely agree.  I also feel that way about figure skating - I hate seeing the skaters get higher scores for crappy quads than for beautiful triples.  In both instances it takes away from the overall artistry of the programs.

 

[Lady Whistleup]

It's too bad NBC is allergic to still rings because that was an awesome event final! So many great routines!

[emma675]

Way to go, Jade! I'm so happy for her, especially after that vault disaster. What a true professional to bounce back like that.

I'm getting run down, y'all. I'm in Central time zone, so these 3:00 and 4:00 am starts are killing me. I don't think I'm going to be able to watch beam live because of that and the stress of watching Simone. I think it will be easier to watch the replay at night, knowing the results. 

[scarynikki12]

Twisties question: if Simone remains upright will they affect her in the same way as when she’s flipping in the air or does it just depend? I’m wondering if she’ll keep her wolf turn mount or not.

[Conotocarious]

1 minute ago, scarynikki12 said:

Twisties question: if Simone remains upright will they affect her in the same way as when she’s flipping in the air or does it just depend? I’m wondering if she’ll keep her wolf turn mount or not.

She did say on her IG stories its affecting twists but also a bit of her flipping. But mostly twists. I don’t think the wolf turn would be affected at all because its a turn with feet planted squared down. I mean, I guess if this was because of an inner ear infection it would affect turns but I don’t think it is.

[absnow54]

Just now, scarynikki12 said:

Twisties question: if Simone remains upright will they affect her in the same way as when she’s flipping in the air or does it just depend? I’m wondering if she’ll keep her wolf turn mount or not.

I don't think it would impact her, since she's got a foot on the beam. I've also heard speculation that she'll swap her dismount with some sort of pike instead, since it's only a single direction of rotation.

[scarynikki12]

Thank you! So she’ll probably keep her mount and likely change her dismount along.

[BlackberryJam]

3 hours ago, Minneapple said:

Congrats to Jade!

NBC is going to milk this Simone news in epic fashion. "The greatest gymnast overcomes her struggles to compete on beam for one last chance in the Olympics..." as dramatic music swells in the background. 

I can't do 4 a.m., it's just too early for me. I'm sure I'll be spoiled but watching Simone through my fingers with plenty of anxiety.

I wish these news outlets would understand that they are part of the problem. Do a three minute bit on Simone, sure, then shut up about her and make it about the gymnasts who are competing at that moment. And get rid of Simone-cam. Damn people. 

ETA: What high-waisted, hellish, mustard pants of Satan was Nastia wearing? Those things need burned and then the earth salted to prevent them ever from returning. Click at your own risk. I think they may have actually had a side zip so the front was flat, but seamed. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSCKwpbFjjA/

I  looked it up. They are side-zip. *shudder* Side-zip + high-waist on a body like Nastia's means what looks like a foot long of unbroken "tumeric" yellow from waist to crotch. 

https://www.safiyaa.com/collections/trousers/products/halluana-turmeric-trousers

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by BlackberryJam
Barf pants. So barfy, those pants. I'm barfing in tumeric.

[kittykat]

Well I really hope she does well.  No pressure from this camp if it doesn't go well. Congratulations to Jade!  So happy all the ladies of Team USA snagged a medal

ETA nice to see Larissa Iordache on the start list for beam.  I really miss seeing a Romanian team.

Edited August 2, 2021 by kittykat

[choclatechip45]

3 hours ago, Jeddah said:

I really thought by going the individual route to qualify that Jade was giving up her chance at a gold medal.

At Trials or Nationals didn’t Nastia say that Japan uses a different brand of equipment than the ones most gyms use in the United States? Or did I imagine that in my sleep deprived from Olympic viewing state?

Yes. I remember hearing it effected Kayla Dicello on bars. Since they were using Japan equipment at trials. 

I'm so happy for Jade! 

[Conotocarious]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mykayla-skinner-gives-insight-behind-054852106.html

 

Mykayla talks a bit about Simone’s decision to compete beam here. She mentions that Simone is comfortable with the dismount but doesn’t say which it is.

[Frisky Wig]

58 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I wish these news outlets would understand that they are part of the problem. Do a three minute bit on Simone, sure, then shut up about her and make it about the gymnasts who are competing at that moment. And get rid of Simone-cam. Damn people. 

ETA: What high-waisted, hellish, mustard pants of Satan was Nastia wearing? Those things need burned and then the earth salted to prevent them ever from returning. Click at your own risk. I think they may have actually had a side zip so the front was flat, but seamed. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSCKwpbFjjA/

I  looked it up. They are side-zip. *shudder* Side-zip + high-waist on a body like Nastia's means what looks like a foot long of unbroken "tumeric" yellow from waist to crotch. 

https://www.safiyaa.com/collections/trousers/products/halluana-turmeric-trousers

 

Multiple things to comment on here. 
 

You're completely 100% right about the role the media has to play. When NBC was interviewing Laurie and Aly and others over the last week, I was wishing one of them would say “I think an important thing the media can do is stay out of Simone’s face, and yes that includes you, NBC!” 
 

Regarding Nastia’s pants, your comments are hilarious! I give her SO much credit for actually wearing something professional and not a red carpet gown so I feel I can’t hate on her outfit too much because it’s a step in the right direction, IMO. $626 for those pants is WAY WAY to much money! And such a random number! I can imagine the Safiyaa people arguing about it:

”our turmeric pants need a price point. Anyone?”

”hmmm…$625.”

”what? No! $630, minimum!”

“$625!”

”look at the stitching, Eugene! The side zipper! $630!”

”SIX TWENTY FIVE!”

”ok, ok, you two need to compromise. $626?”

”ugh, fine!”

”fine, whatever!”

[choclatechip45]

NBC is part of the problem, but so was Simone's team. She was wearing the GOAT leotard which I have no problem with, but maybe in hindsight that wasn't the greatest idea. It's not a popular opinion, but I think her team completely mismanaged her. 

[Conotocarious]

It appears from twitter Simone has been training a double pike dismount from beam.