WAG Maroney video

[chalkbowl]

I was under the impression that, for awhile at least, Andrea Karolyi was in charge of the food and is a nutritionist. For the life of me I can't remember where I read that though and I'm not sure if it applies any longer.

ETA found this: http://www.bayloralumniassociation.com/baylor_line/past_issues/spr08top_chef.asp

 

[bogwoppit]

I was under the impression that, for awhile at least, Andrea Karolyi was in charge of the food and is a nutritionist. For the life of me I can't remember where I read that though and I'm not sure if it applies any longer.

I had understood that too, but when I read that it was alongside comments that it was surprising how poor the food was considering her qualifications. Be interesting to get the inside scoop.

The whole paper plate thing always bothers me.

 

[Mama Duck]

I was under the impression that, for awhile at least, Andrea Karolyi was in charge of the food and is a nutritionist. For the life of me I can't remember where I read that though and I'm not sure if it applies any longer.

ETA found this: http://www.bayloralumniassociation.com/baylor_line/past_issues/spr08top_chef.asp

This is what I heard too and I feel pretty sure that this is still the case.

 

[bookworm]

When my daughter went to the camps, the food was awful...and she isn't picky at all...like Mama duck said , she thought it all tasted boiled as well ( well she actually called it " rubbery liked when it's just cooked in water")...you'd think they'd grill some stuff! She generally ate the salad stuff.

The taste of the food wasn't a huge issue for her because she said "well with Marta's staff watching what you eat, you aren't going to take much anyway"...

Marta ( and staff) knows zero about nutrition... It should I say don't want to know.... One of my daughter's friends was on an international assignment to Brazil and on the plane ride down, they were served ( by the airline) a chicken wrap with lettuce.. Marta only " let' them eat the chicken and lettuce, period...and upon arrival in Brazil, after this long flight with minimal body fuel, they were taken directly to practice!

 

[munchkin3]

Chicken nuggets and French fries go on paper plates.......nicely cooked veggies, and chicken go on a plate with a knife and fork. Eating food should be with pride.

 

[bogwoppit]

Chicken nuggets and French fries go on paper plates.......nicely cooked veggies, and chicken go on a plate with a knife and fork. Eating food should be with pride.

My feelings exactly. Good food well served to be appealing and nutritious.

 

[txgymfan]

USA swimming has done a great job with promoting healthy eating and using social media effectively. I think USAG could learn from them.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Well this could be why Simone Biles is the athlete she is. Perhaps other coaches out there should take a listen? Just a thought. I am

Correction: publicly announced their retirement within days of each other

Generally your gymnasts with the personality to do well in Elite are likely to be the ones who will try to deal/endure with the negativity. They are so driven and goal orientated individuals they are often perfectionists who aim to please, what you end up with is gymnasts who appear to be emotionless robots at times. I think sometimes a gymnasts success is more despite the coaches influence outside of their technical knowledge.

I think that is why I enjoy Simone, it appears that she has personality and it is not being crushed, I do wonder if she would have got to her current place in another gym?

For some reason this bothers me that Simone is being held out there as one who is having a different experience. She very well could be, but I have been following this sport for a very long time, and there have been very many girls who have given the impression of happy and healthy in a nuturing environment, and it eventually comes out that the opposite was true for these kids. When the heck are we going to get the Karolyis out of our National program? The2012 girls appeared to be a very happy well adjusted group with supportive coaches. They appeared to be friends, good teammates, and more mature and together than the "robots" of the early 90s. To hear what is still going on is so sad to me. I naively thought it was better. We still send our best gymnasts down to that stupid ranch in order to be starved and have all sort of mind games placed on them. No athlete should ever train 30 days in a row without a rest. It is absolute craziness and everyone stands by and let's it go on. An exhausted and under fed athlete is way more likely to get injured. When will the madness stop?

 

[chalkbowl]

No athlete should ever train 30 days in a row without a rest. It is absolute craziness and everyone stands by and let's it go on. An exhausted and under fed athlete is way more likely to get injured. When will the madness stop?

I know that John Geddert has spoken up about the athletes, specifically Jordyn Wieber, needing more time off. These are the two blogs posts I can quickly find that mention the matter a bit:

http://thegymnasticscoach.com/blog/2012/07/25/olympic-games-post-2/
http://thegymnasticscoach.com/blog/2012/07/29/olympic-games-blog-post-4/

 

[munchkin3]

They all must awake from the fog and brainwashing of elite gymnastics.
Once they wake up, and they reflect on their un balanced experience, then stuff comes out. I don't think they are always upset or damaged.........(maybe some require some therapy)
You MUST wonder when Simone comes out smiling and she's having a total 'blast' and the difficulty she is doing is soooo FUN!
No one in their right mind is having FUN learning elite gymnastics. Period. She will have her moments of reflection years from now, and she won't only talk about what's FUN....

The mindset is completely different, the goals are different and the satisfaction is different. And that's is OK. You can't have both. The psychology is carefully crafted to create children that can withstand incredible pressure, fear and pain.

I can't speak about the ranch or anything since I haven't a clue but what I do know, what my daughter is doing is NOT elite gymnastics since she is not elite material.....at all......and I still get pissed when the coach says something really rotten to her. Will it damage her irreparably, probably not.........coach still thinks I am 'babying' her and ruining her gymnastics jutzpah! Lol I think he forgets that 99.5% of his students are NOT elite track.
I have never in my life been jealous of those prodigies, or REALLY talented kids that are on the elite path (I have seen 3 from littles to elite track).....it is a decision that would break my heart to make because as a parent, I would have to be an active participant in making my kid drink the cool aid. You have to.

 

[CMA25]

The mindset is completely different, the goals are different and the satisfaction is different. And that's is OK. You can't have both. The psychology is carefully crafted to create children that can withstand incredible pressure, fear and pain.

I have never in my life been jealous of those prodigies, or REALLY talented kids that are on the elite path (I have seen 3 from littles to elite track).....it is a decision that would break my heart to make because as a parent, I would have to be an active participant in making my kid drink the cool aid. You have to.

This is so true! You must remember these elite girls start down this path at a very young age, and many parents are oblivious to the realities of elite training. Once you realize what is all about, it is hard to turn back.

 

[gymnndance]

I would love to see a "how it really is"-video about ranch and elite gymnastics.

PS: How cute is Shawn???

 

[gymnndance]

another one... not saying the Karolyis are bad or anything. I am sure they put in all they can and want the best for USAG. But I do not even want to think how much pressure they put on the girls behind closed doors. And constantly talking about weights ON TOP of all the gymnastics-related pressure might shape them irreparably for their lives concerning food.
I know so many young girls struggling with eating disorders and I think this is really bad. A broken bone will heal but a mind focused on calorie intake won't heal in 6 weeks.

 

[Aero]

You MUST wonder when Simone comes out smiling and she's having a total 'blast' and the difficulty she is doing is soooo FUN!
No one in their right mind is having FUN learning elite gymnastics. Period. She will have her moments of reflection years from now, and she won't only talk about what's FUN....

This is simply not true. There are athletes all around the world who enjoy training and competing elite gymnastics. Is it hard? Duh. Does it take unreal amounts of perseverance and dedication? Oh yes. Are there days where they just want to break down and cry and give it all up? Absolutely. But the days where they perform well during practice, and finally get to showcase the results of their hard work at competitions, those are the days where they have fun. Simone's smile is real, and so are the smiles of other gymnasts around the world.

That being said, other countries' elite programs currently do not measure up to the USA's, so perhaps we are too serious compared to other countries? Maybe other countries value the emotional stability of their athletes slightly more than us. I certainly don't know, but I do believe that many of these gymnasts do what they do because they enjoy it, and it is fun to them. It certainly isn't always fun, but that is just the reality of elite sports.

 

[duyetanh]

That being said, other countries' elite programs currently do not measure up to the USA's, so perhaps we are too serious compared to other countries? Maybe other countries value the emotional stability of their athletes slightly more than us. I certainly don't know, but I do believe that many of these gymnasts do what they do because they enjoy it, and it is fun to them. It certainly isn't always fun, but that is just the reality of elite sports.

True, that. And having lived overseas while doing competitive sports, I can say I did see a sharp contrast in my sport at least. But I do not know about gymnastics.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

That being said, other countries' elite programs currently do not measure up to the USA's, so perhaps we are too serious compared to other countries? Maybe other countries value the emotional stability of their athletes slightly more than us. I certainly don't know, but I do believe that many of these gymnasts do what they do because they enjoy it, and it is fun to them. It certainly isn't always fun, but that is just the reality of elite sports.

Sadly it's not just USA. Finland has never had a female gymnast in the Olympics or Worlds finals, we are far from there, but it seems like they are (or at least were) treating the gymnasts the same way. I personally know two gymnasts who have represented Finland in Worlds and they both tell the same story. They were weighted at camps and their eating was closely monitored, injuries were ignored and the pressure was super high, camps were very serious and the girls just cried and wanted to go home. Happily they both are now saying that things are going to the right direction, especially at the camps.

 

[notthatmom]

I would love to see a "how it really is"-video about ranch and elite gymnastics.

PS: How cute is Shawn???

Yeah, sounds like the food is crap. None of them are just going to come out and say it. If it was awesome they would say things like "oh the food here is amazing! It's awesome to go into the cafeteria after a full day of training and sit down for such a great meal!"
But no, they were all basically like "Well, I mean...they feed us."

 

[purpleleomom]

I loved this interview. I have been so down lately, and her openness and resilience really helped lift my spirits. I'm just glad my dd is not by any means elite material. What a life.

 

[notthatmom]

I loved this interview. I have been so down lately, and her openness and resilience really helped lift my spirits. I'm just glad my dd is not by any means elite material. What a life.

We have a mom at our gym who brings her daughter in once a week for tumbling (daughter is a cheerleader for a nearby Christian school) and she FREAKED out one day because her daughter was the only person who showed up for class that day and she essentially had a private lesson. She was like "oh no! This is too intense! I think it's going to be too much for her with a one on one session!" She then proceeded to ask all the other parents there how many hours a week their kids trained. The other moms (me included) kept saying "do you realize how much private lessons cost us? This is a GOOD thing! Consider yourself lucky you're getting a private at no additional cost" etc. etc.
it was so weird. But I wonder if she gets that sort of connotation based on the intensity of the sport? Which is what non-gym parents might take away from interviews like McKayla's.

Who knows, maybe this mom is just a crazy person, but yeah...it was definitely a strange outside perspective to witness.

 

[twocurlygirlz]

I think the best wrap up question from the interviewer would have been "So, now that you have gone thru and told us of all of these honest horror stories, if you had the opportunity to not have gone through any one of these negative things but also then not have been selected for the Olympic Team would you have changed something?"

I think unequivocally she would have said NO- I would not have sacrificed an Olympic opportunity even after knowing how hard, abusive and relentless my path was. That is the real reality- and everyone who runs USAG knows that- and that my friends that will always be why the chicken is boiled at the ranch......