I love the Olympics!

Like many people, I've lost a lot of sleep since the Olympics began. Watching Michael Phelps and the other swimmers was exhilerating. Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh have been amazing. I even enjoyed some synchronized diving. My favorite part, nonetheless, is the gymnastics. I competed for many years with River City Gymnastics and coached some in high school and in college. I miss being around the sport, so I'm excited about any chance that I have to watch it on t.v. One of the highlights of the competition was watching Bela Karolyi watch the gymnasts. His enthusiasm is contagious, and you don't have to wonder why he is one of the greatest gymnastics coaches ever. I was privileged to meet him back when I was a gymnast. Here's a picture of 10-year-old me, sporting some lovely bangs, and Bela. Meeting him was incredibly exciting. You can also see an old picture of me on the vault (now replaced by the vaulting table).






While the Olympics delivered some amazing gymnastics, present also was plenty of controversy.




Controversy #1: The Age of Chinese Gymnasts
Our country at least has some integrity when it comes to the ages of our Olympic athletes. Look at the Chinese team next to the American team, and the age difference is obvious. It really stinks that we're penalized for following the rules. I think that there should not be a minimum age requirement and that each country should simly send their best gymnasts. First, it's impossible to enforce. No one can definitively prove that the Chinese gymnasts are underage because the Chinese government can forge any government document required to prove their ages. Second, female gymnasts hit their prime at about ages14 to 16, and the age requirement essentially denies many of them the opportunity to compete in the Olympics. The more hours a person spends in the gym, the greater the likelihood that she will experience a career-ending injury. By the time many elite gymnasts are 18, they're burnt out and can't endure the rigorous training it takes to be an Olympic champion. Thus, many fabulous 14 year old gymnasts will miss out on the Olympics. Third, the rule doesn't offer any real protection for younger gymnasts. Any Olympic hopeful is enduring the same level of elite gymnastics training whether she is 14 or 18, so the rule does not "protect" anyone. This former gymnast thinks the ridiculous age requirement should just be eliminated.




Controversy #2: Scoring
There has always been and there always will be controversy about gymnastics scores. It's a subjective sport. For example, I thought that in the event finals, Nastia Liukin's floor routine should have scored higher than Shawn Johnson's. But their routines were so good and the scores so close, that I can't complain about the result. Judges rarely get it completely right, but some very obvious judging errors stir up more controversy. The most obvious judging error of this competition involved a Chinese gymnast on the vault. When watching the vault in real time, I saw a major form break and a fall--two serious errors. The judges, however, missed the first obvious error and only deducted for the second error. Olympic caliber judges should not miss something like that. If I saw it in real time, they should too. It's a shame that their error essentially cost Alicia Sacramone a bronze medal.



Despite the controversies, this Olympic gymnastics competition did not disappoint. Our American gymnasts represented our country well. They competed with integrity and delivered some stellar routines. They dealt with some setbacks and still dominated in the all-around competition. Congratulations to the USA gymnasts!