Gymnastics

[Minneapple]

9 hours ago, Frisky Wig said:

YES! This is the first time since 1992 that we've had a full team of rhythmic gymnasts (2 individuals and group) qualify for the Olympics! I'm very excited and I hope NBC doesn't disappoint me and other fans and actually shows the competitions at a decent hour, not at 3 AM for 30 minutes like they did in 2008! Trampoline too, since it gets even less TV coverage and more hate from the public than rhythmic does. 

They're streaming everything live on the nbcolympics.com website or the NBC Sports app if you have a cable login.

[qtpye]

I feel sorry for Tokyo for having to deal with this mess.

No matter what their decision...people will be upset and some hearts could be broken.

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Games could still be cancelled.

A walk down memory lane: Remember 4 years ago when we were worried about Zika? 

I wish they would be. There already at 71 and its only going to go up.

Edited July 21, 2021 by andromeda331

[Frisky Wig]

2 hours ago, Minneapple said:

They're streaming everything live on the nbcolympics.com website or the NBC Sports app if you have a cable login.

Good to know for people with cable, thanks. 😀 I don’t have cable (can’t afford the, what is it, $60/month?) but hopefully there will be plenty of other options. 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Frisky Wig
I realized this sounds snarky and sarcastic and didn’t mean that. It legit is good info for cable-viewers!

[filmfan2480]

Just watched the USA Mens Podium Training online.

General thoughts:

Our men look to be in good spirits, but some podium training jitters here and there.

Yul Muldauer looked best, to me.  Calm on all the events, lots of stuck landings.

Brody Malone looks outwardly confident, but maybe a bit nervous inside -- lacking in some of the Int'l experience of his compatriots.  Struggled a little on PB.  Didn't have a lot of stuck landings.

Sam Mikulak really seemed to struggle on FX with his hardest pass (ending in the double front).  But overall, he looked more solid than not.

Shane Wiskus looked pretty good; struggling a bit on Vault (he is a great vaulter who did awesome at Trials, but struggled at Nationals with that event, as well).

To my eyes, it looks like the Floor (FX) does not look as springly as the team might've hoped?  I saw lots of under-rotations on FX, so, the athletes may have to adjust to that quickly.

And Vault seemed iffy to me, as well.  Lots of under-rotations and unsure take-offs/landings.  

So there are some ironing out of the kinks that will likely occur between now and a few days with Qualifications start.

But yeah, on the whole, the team looks ecstatic to be there and ready to go.

Edited July 21, 2021 by filmfan2480

[emma675]

It looks like the Olympic threads have finally opened up, so we can move our discussions into there, woo hoo! The thread for Gymnastics can be found here. 

 

[HartofDixie]

https://people.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-simone-biles-custom-goat-twitter-emoji

[DawnDavenport]

11 hours ago, filmfan2480 said:

And Vault seemed iffy to me, as well.  Lots of under-rotations and unsure take-offs/landings.  

 

I've heard that lots of countries and athletes are having trouble with the vaulting table so sounds like not just the US Men.  I've heard some say it should be referred to as the Death Vault.

I wonder if this might affect Biles doing the Yurchenko double pike if that's the case? I know she's said she will not be attempting in the event finals since they don't get one-touch warm-ups.

Edited July 22, 2021 by DawnDavenport

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, DawnDavenport said:

I've heard that lots of countries and athletes are having trouble with the vaulting table so sounds like not just the US Men.  I've heard some say it should be referred to as the Death Vault.

Wasn't there an issue in Sydney where it turned out the table was not at the correct height?

[Jeddah]

19 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Wasn't there an issue in Sydney where it turned out the table was not at the correct height?

It was two inches two short in the women’s AA. There were some falls that could have caused very serious injuries. After that they switched from the vaulting horse to a vaulting table. Gymnastics at the 2000 Games was just a giant mess.

[andromeda331]

40 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

It was two inches two short in the women’s AA. There were some falls that could have caused very serious injuries. After that they switched from the vaulting horse to a vaulting table. Gymnastics at the 2000 Games was just a giant mess.

Vaultgate! I'm still ticked off they didn't start the vault over once they figured the problem. 

[DawnDavenport]

4 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Wasn't there an issue in Sydney where it turned out the table was not at the correct height?

Yes and it was with the old vaulting horse, which was already dangerous since the margin of error was so narrow compared to the new vaulting table. 

It was somehow set too low for the first two rotations.  I remember American Elise Ray almost broke her neck during warm-ups and several other gymnasts had some near miss injuries as well. There are several videos floating around showing the various mishaps. It affected the taller gymnasts like Ray and Khorkina the most.

Overall, the equipment during those Olympics was deemed subpar. The floor was very slippery and too hard so lots of low landings and gymnasts (men and women) going out of bounds since they had to go so much harder to complete tumbling passes. I know at least the Americans said that the training floor and competition floor was not the same.

I also remember during the parallel bars finals that one of the Chinese men was knocked off balance on his dismount because one of the fixed mats came loose when he landed.

Edited July 22, 2021 by DawnDavenport

[Conotocarious]

15 hours ago, DawnDavenport said:

I've heard that lots of countries and athletes are having trouble with the vaulting table so sounds like not just the US Men.  I've heard some say it should be referred to as the Death Vault.

I wonder if this might affect Biles doing the Yurchenko double pike if that's the case? I know she's said she will not be attempting in the event finals since they don't get one-touch warm-ups.

Not only is she doing it but she’s over rotating it. Simone is Simone. The GOAT is not cowed by weird vaulting table issues.

[Minneapple]

11 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Vaultgate! I'm still ticked off they didn't start the vault over once they figured the problem. 

I think they offered to let the gymnasts redo their vaults. Not sure about which ones did, but Khorkina was in a state and refused.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Minneapple

[Jeddah]

18 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

I think they offered to let the gymnasts redo their vaults. Not sure about which ones did, but Khorkina was in a state and refused.

It had already messed with everyone’s heads. It definitely affected how they all did on the other rotations. Redoing her vault wouldn’t have given Khorkina a medal. It was too late at that point. And if ever there was a time for Khorkina to be “in a state” it’s when her Olympics dreams were crushed and she could have gotten injured because of the complete incompetence of the people in charge. 
 

11 hours ago, DawnDavenport said:

I remember American Elise Ray almost broke her neck during warm-ups and several other gymnasts had some near miss injuries as well.

 

It’s even worse than I remembered. The fact that she landed on her back and walked away without an injury is a miracle.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Jeddah

[DawnDavenport]

2 hours ago, Minneapple said:

I think they offered to let the gymnasts redo their vaults. Not sure about which ones did, but Khorkina was in a state and refused.

This site has a note of who was affected by the vault height and those that elected to repeat after the AA was finished: https://www.gymn-forum.net/Results/Olympics/2000_Sydney/2000_women_aa.html

I wish Khorkina would have won AA so we didn't have to endure anymore of her "diva" antics and unsportsmanlike behavior after 2000. She definitely would have retired.

[ombelico]

For those looking for a deep dive into the Sydney vault debacle, here's a new podcast devoted to it:

https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a37102221/blind-landing-podcast-biggest-gymnastics-mistake-olympic-history/

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

Good to know for people with cable, thanks. 😀 I don’t have cable (can’t afford the, what is it, $60/month?) but hopefully there will be plenty of other options. 

NBC is showing gymnastics on its antenna TV channel.  You also can see all the replays on nbcolympics.com  ON THE WEB.  You don't need cable.  Or you can sign up for your one week free trial and watch all you want and then cancel.  

[Conotocarious]

7 hours ago, ombelico said:

For those looking for a deep dive into the Sydney vault debacle, here's a new podcast devoted to it:

https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a37102221/blind-landing-podcast-biggest-gymnastics-mistake-olympic-history/

This was a great podcast. I then watched the competition on YouTube. What an absolute cluster that was.

[Jeddah]

1 hour ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

You also can see all the replays on nbcolympics.com  ON THE WEB.  You don't need cable.

This isn’t true for me. The website wants me to login in with my TVs provider, which I don’t have since I don’t have cable. I can watch the prime time stuff on regular NBC, but I don’t think nbcolympics will give me anything other than a free 30 minutes.

[Chaser]

Do you have SlingTV or Hulu? You can log in with those types of streaming services as well. 

[Jeddah]

32 minutes ago, Chaser said:

Do you have SlingTV or Hulu? You can log in with those types of streaming services as well. 

It said I could watch with Hulu if I upgrade to Hulu Live for $64.99 a month. I am not going to do that.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Chaser said:

Do you have SlingTV or Hulu? You can log in with those types of streaming services as well. 

Thank you for posting this. I signed up for Sling to watch some of the Olympic coverage and it never occurred to me I could use that to get the live streams. 

SlingTV is only $10 for the first month making it a really good deal for cord cutters. 

[HartofDixie]

17 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

NBC is showing gymnastics on its antenna TV channel.  You also can see all the replays on nbcolympics.com  ON THE WEB.  You don't need cable.  Or you can sign up for your one week free trial and watch all you want and then cancel.  

Last night I watched on my iPad and after 30 minutes I had to select my cable provider but didn’t need to log in.

https://stream.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics-womens-qualification-subdivision-3-apparatus-feed

[peachmangosteen]

After 30 minutes they asked me to select my cable provider but my cable provider was not listed lol. But I guess if you don't even need to sign in, I could have just chosen any of them?

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

After 30 minutes they asked me to select my cable provider but my cable provider was not listed lol. But I guess if you don't even need to sign in, I could have just chosen any of them?

It’s always made me sign in. There should be an option to search the full list of providers. 

[peachmangosteen]

11 minutes ago, Dani said:

There should be an option to search the full list of providers. 

I didn't see it. 

I swear, either I'm an idiot or they make this shit very hard to navigate lol.

[Jeddah]

6 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I didn't see it. 

I swear, either I'm an idiot or they make this shit very hard to navigate lol.

You’re not the only one! I literally said, “Am I just stupid?” out loud when trying to figure this out.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I didn't see it. 

I swear, either I'm an idiot or they make this shit very hard to navigate lol.

It’s very hard to navigate. I don’t know if it looks the same on every browser but here’s where the full list shows up for me. 

[peachmangosteen]

I might have just missed it lol. Thank you for the screen cap @Dani.

Do you know if there’s any way to sign in without just watching something for a half hour?

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I might have just missed it lol. Thank you for the screen cap @Dani.

Do you know if there’s any way to sign in without just watching something for a half hour?

You can. There should be a login button next to the countdown clock. 

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

After 30 minutes they asked me to select my cable provider but my cable provider was not listed lol. But I guess if you don't even need to sign in, I could have just chosen any of them?

Probably not.  When you select your cable provider, it's probably being verified against the IP address you're trying to access the app from.  If the IP address is associated with your cable provider (assuming they provide your cable and internet), then the login stage is skipped.

If not, you might need to log into your cable.  So if you don't have Comcast/Xfinity but try to use Comcast, you will probably be asked to sign in.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Irlandesa

[peachmangosteen]

Finally got it lol. Thanks for all the help!

[Jeddah]

I just broke down and got Peacock.

[Frisky Wig]

The 2021 Olympics forum needs a thread called “How to watch all of this” where we can discuss this stuff! 😂 

[Conotocarious]

One thing about the Peacock app. I watched part of the women’s broadcast before switching away to an all-apparatus cam because they weren’t showing all the USA routines. I had to click on the Sports link and not the Olympics link to get to the feed for the women’s gymnastics. I thought it was odd and confusing as I would think it would have been under Olympics.

[peachmangosteen]

Oh, don't get me started on Peacock. I have no earthly idea how to navigate that and haven't been able to find anything on there. I guess they're only showing stuff live and not putting it up to view afterwards, which is annoying.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Oh, don't get me started on Peacock. I have no earthly idea how to navigate that and haven't been able to find anything on there. I guess they're only showing stuff live and not putting it up to view afterwards, which is annoying.

They are putting them up afterwards but with a very annoying delay. The replay of the WAG qualifying was available at 3am this morning. MAG team final will be available on Wednesday. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Guest

[Frost]

I hope Simone Biles feels able to make her own decision about competing in the individual all-around and the individual event finals.  I can just imagine some people having a fit if she dropped out of competing for the US team, but still went out for individual medals.  She needs to be able to control her own decisions.  

I can't imagine anything worse than attempting her incredibly difficult routines if she's having focus problems.  That would be so dangerous.  

[Morrigan2575]

22 minutes ago, Frost said:

can just imagine some people having a fit if she dropped out of competing for the US team, but still went out for individual medals.  She needs to be able to control her own decisions.  

I'm not going to throw a fit but, I also don't think she should be competing for personal medals after dropping out on the team event.  If her mental health is at stake how is that magically better in days/weeks? 

Since only 3 from the US are allowed to compete for individual medals I think her spot should go to the next to qualify after her. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Morrigan2575

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm not going to throw a fit but, I also don't think she should be competing for personal medals after dropping out on the team event.  If her mental health is at stake how is that magically better in days/weeks? 

Mental health is constantly in flux. People aren’t magically better in days or weeks but they’re also, usually, not in crisis 24/7. If Simone is able to compete in a few days in doesn’t mean she is magically okay. It just means she is doing better in that moment. 

[abovethetitle]

New here, looking for a place to let out my gymnastics feelings.

Regarding US men's gymnastics, the big factor is funding. Allan Bower, an alternate for the Olympic team this year, wasn't chosen to receive funding. They only have enough money for funding for 9 people and the team (including the specialist and the alternates) is 10 people, so they expected him to pay to train for the Games on his own dime. There was a GFM started to fund him. The biggest issue the US men have had for the better part of a decade is start value, but they're afraid to substantially upgrade because making a big mistake can get them removed from the National Team with such little money to go around. Alec Yoder who has the individual spot and made PH finals, is not even on the National Team! They also didn't fund Paul Juda, whose second place finish at the Pan Am Games allowed the US to get their individual slot in the first place. So...thanks for nothing, Paul? By their own disastrous making, USAG is now bleeding money so it's going to be very difficult to get the men's team to be more competitive without incentivizing it. They really did the best they absolutely could up until the final rotation and even then they were in a distant fourth place. The women are more well funded since that's where the stars are but of course the problems there are far more profound.

[Quickbeam]

10 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm not going to throw a fit but, I also don't think she should be competing for personal medals after dropping out on the team event.  If her mental health is at stake how is that magically better in days/weeks? 

Since only 3 from the US are allowed to compete for individual medals I think her spot should go to the next to qualify after her. 

I keep thinking how vilified a man would be if he did this. I mean, the rest of the team had to do routines and events they weren’t planning on. It just felt off to me. 

[Crs97]

To me it’s no different than if Simone had sprained her ankle, had to withdraw from the team round, and will be evaluated daily to see when/if it is healed enough to continue.

I am so glad we are becoming better informed about mental health these days.

[Wiendish Fitch]

On 7/16/2021 at 11:53 AM, irisheyes said:

These girls were failed by SO MANY PEOPLE.  

By TOO MANY PEOPLE. Their parents, their coaches, USAG, society in general.

 

Re: Simone Biles

Kerri Strug has lent her support of Biles on social media. I think that's lovely; Strug could have easily gotten on her soapbox and blustered about how she carried on with a broken ankle, but she chose empathy and understanding instead. Good for her.

For those who are grumbling about how the more compassionate approach won't create as many champions, I say: it's not our victory, it's their's. I hate the idea of someone destroying their physical and mental well-being just so I can vicariously live through them for a day or two, then forget about them just as quickly.

For God's sake, I'm old enough to remember the 1996 Olympics, and I remember that while we rightly cheered on Strug for vaulting on a broken ankle (though, in hindsight, it is utterly fucked up that she felt she had to), just as quickly people were mocking her squeaky voice, frumpy haircut, and the fact that Bela Karolyi had to carry her around (um, she was injured, assholes).

Edited July 28, 2021 by Wiendish Fitch

[Jenniferbug]

9 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

For God's sake, I'm old enough to remember the 1996 Olympics, and I remember that while we rightly cheered on Strug for vaulting on a broken ankle (though, in hindsight, it is utterly fucked up that she felt she had to), just as quickly people were mocking her squeaky voice, frumpy haircut, and the fact that Bela Karolyi had to carry her around (um, she was injured, assholes).

Exactly. The Strug vault in the 96 Olympics is one of those moments that as a child watching at the time felt very uplifting and exciting because she competed and won the medal and how moving it was to see her coach carry her to the podium, etc. 

But watching it as an adult and a mother? It is utterly fucked up that that child felt she had no choice but to go out on a broken ankle because anything less than sticking the landing was a failure and failure was not an option. So many adults had to fail her for years for her to get to that mentality. And kudos to her for somehow pulling it off, but she never should have had to. 

If gymnastics can begin to change that and Simone gets that ball rolling, good for her and all of them will be better for it. 

[Jeddah]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

To me it’s no different than if Simone had sprained her ankle, had to withdraw from the team round, and will be evaluated daily to see when/if it is healed enough to continue.

I am so glad we are becoming better informed about mental health these days.

To me, it’s totally different. It was terrifying for her to get lost in the air. That is not like a sprained ankle. This is Simone. If it had been a sprained ankle, she would have competed. It was much, much more than a sprained ankle. It’s only been 2 days. I don’t think she should have even considered risking it, and I’m relieved she isn’t doing it.

I hope Suni and Jade have the meet of their lives!

[Crs97]

2 hours ago, Jeddah said:

It was terrifying for her to get lost in the air. That is not like a sprained ankle.

I should have been more clear that I wasn’t equating the injuries, but instead was critiquing those who claim Simone should no longer be allowed to compete because she withdrew from the team event.   This isn’t a “she bailed on the team and shouldn’t be allowed back” situation.  What is happening to her is much worse, and I am grateful she knew herself well enough to stop.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Crs97

[Wiendish Fitch]

4 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

 

But watching it as an adult and a mother? It is utterly fucked up that that child felt she had no choice but to go out on a broken ankle because anything less than sticking the landing was a failure and failure was not an option. So many adults had to fail her for years for her to get to that mentality. And kudos to her for somehow pulling it off, but she never should have had to. 

Wanna know the worst part? Strug's second vault attempt wasn't even necessary.

According to Dominique Moceanu (and it's impossible for me not to believe her), in spite of the fact that she messed up her two vault attempts and Strug messed up her first one... the gold medal for the U.S. team was in the bag. Strug could have absolutely refused to do it, and the gold would have been theirs anyway.

Ah, but that wouldn't have been as good a story. I'm fairly certain that the Karolyis fed the media that bullshit about how everything was resting on Strug's shoulders, and the media devoured it.

It also sucks because it downplays and overshadows the efforts and victories of the other team members. Shannon Miller did one of the most gorgeous beam routines I've ever seen, and Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes were astonishing on bars, but apparently that didn't matter to anyone.

Here's a YouTube video of the Magnificent Seven in action.

 

[Conotocarious]

30 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Wanna know the worst part? Strug's second vault attempt wasn't even necessary.

According to Dominique Moceanu (and it's impossible for me not to believe her), in spite of the fact that she messed up her two vault attempts and Strug messed up her first one... the gold medal for the U.S. team was in the bag. Strug could have absolutely refused to do it, and the gold would have been theirs anyway.

Ah, but that wouldn't have been as good a story. I'm fairly certain that the Karolyis fed the media that bullshit about how everything was resting on Strug's shoulders, and the media devoured it.

It also sucks because it downplays and overshadows the efforts and victories of the other team members. Shannon Miller did one of the most gorgeous beam routines I've ever seen, and Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes were astonishing on bars, but apparently that didn't matter to anyone.

Here's a YouTube video of the Magnificent Seven in action.

 

To add on to this, Moceanu, who fell on vault twice in a row, was then ignored by her coaches and left to feel alone and miserable (except for her teammates whose tried to cheer her up) about winning AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL.  She didn’t feel that she deserved to win the medal in the same way as her teammates did even though she posted some of the highest scores on the other three events. It was like that was all erased and only her failure on vault mattered. Her own parents (her dad was an abusive jackass) upon seeing her for the first time were like “What happened on vault?”

SHE WAS FOURTEEN.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Conotocarious