Who is on your USA women's team now?

[Muddlethru]

I've seen many gymnasts dismissing their coaches (ie., Douglas, Biles, Maroney etc.,) It certainly does not look good but I think when gymnasts know they've made a mistake, hearing again from the coach right after may account for them being dismissive. I've seen many in the international scene actually push their coaches aside when they even try to hug them. Gymnasts are so hard on themselves. I don't excuse the behavior but can understand a momentary lapse in judgment or reaction. Having said, that, the vibe I am getting from Gaby is not as such. I would not put her on my dream team but how can Martha not put the former Olympic champ on the US team?

 

[Seeker]

When my 10 year old dd noticed how Gabby walked away from her coach while getting corrections it says something. Young gymnasts are watching and looking up to these athletes.

My 12 yr old noticed that interaction too. Not a good role model.

 

[Seeker]

Less of a pout, more like a temper tantrum

You seriously think Simone saying her legs felt dead and expressing disappointment was a temper tantrum?

 

[BachFlyer]

Serenity28 I'm 100% with you, I think people are holding her to a standard that they wouldn't hold the vast majority of other athletes to. As one example, has anyone ever seen some of our Olympic sprinters before their race, or after a disappointing one? Talk about intense, but no one will criticize them! I personally think that people are continuing to judge her every facial expression because they simply just don't like her family, when to me, she just seems like an introvert under a lot of pressure. Speaking as an introvert myself, not everyone has a bubbly personality, and that is hard to fake especially in this situation.

Also, I interpreted Kittia's reaction to her walking away as understanding that Gabby is intense and hard on herself, and "ok I'll leave it alone" - the bottom line is that you don't know what either one of them were thinking, and if Kittia didn't want to coach her because she is supposedly "disrespectful", she wouldn't be coaching her. There are a ton of people on this board that have experienced the wierd culture of this sport which unusually favors the coaches with a basically "no-questions-asked compliance" policy from both gymnasts and parents. I think maybe sometimes we need to remember that these girls are human.

I'm just getting tired of people viewing her with such disdain. Do you all really think she isn't aware of it? She is certainly old enough to know that people and the media are bashing her left and right - she got the same criticisms in 2012 but all the fame was new so she might not have realized how nasty people were being. Most of which was because of decisions made by her family that at that point she very likely had little control over - and so what, she wouldn't be the first gymnast who's parents were running the show...what about Dominique Moceanu? Her father was atrocious, and everyone had sympathy for her - the difference being that she was a cute little 14 year old who didn't grow up in the Twitter era. Frankly she's a better person than me, because I'd have told everyone where they could go by now. She's still 4th in the US, even on a bad day, so I will be thrilled to see her in Rio just to spite the haters. Give the girl a break.

 

[curlygirls]

Less of a pout, more like a temper tantrum

I didn't get that vibe from it at all.

 

[curlygirls]

I don't excuse disrespect, but I also think that there is a huge difference between a 10 or 12 year old's relationship with her coach and a 18-20 year old young woman's relationship with her coach.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I can't believe they all keep their composure as much as they do - they have a bad performance and you know they just want to cry and scream and then there's a TV camera sticking in their face and the coach who works w/ them day in and day out standing there disappointed. It's got to be awful. I wish they would just not film/show that stuff on TV when they have a bad performance - but I guess you got to show the bad with the good, and they do it in all sports :/.

 

[bogwoppit]

I think it would be great if they just showed the routines, putting cameras in their faces constantly is really quite awful. They are all pretty young and it just feels voyeuristic.

It really should be about the performance and nothing else.

 

[LindyHopper]

Wondering why she isn't smiling?

It's not so much that she isn't smiling... it' that it seems to be a dramatic change from London.

It's beyond "intensity" or "Resting B!tch Face"... She really looks like she is ill or that she is there under duress. It has me worried for her. I'm wondering what is wrong.

 

[BachFlyer]

Funny, I'm listening to an NPR program right now talking about thr concept of "choking" in high performance athletes. This sports psychologist expert is talking about how much harder it is to perform under pressure, and how a poor performance can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. That even the best players are not immune. How the expectations plus extreme competition can cause people to respond with a intensity and subsequent failure on the court that doesn't reflect their off court mindset. Not new news to me, but very timely for this conversation! Gymnastics is a head game as we all know, And I would venture to say that Gabby might be operating under conditions of pressure that are increased even BECAUSE she is the reigning gold medalist and knows full well she can't repeat (barring Simone losing a limb)...can you even imagine what's going on in her mind? And all while getting the vibe That many people are basically rooting for her to fail?

I also agree about the cameras in their faces...how hard!

 

[Mrs. Puma]

I can't believe they all keep their composure as much as they do - they have a bad performance and you know they just want to cry and scream and then there's a TV camera sticking in their face and the coach who works w/ them day in and day out standing there disappointed. It's got to be awful. I wish they would just not film/show that stuff on TV when they have a bad performance - but I guess you got to show the bad with the good, and they do it in all sports :/.

I was so proud of poor Mykayla for holding it together after that trainwreck of a beam routine. She must have been in physical pain on top of being upset/frazzled/disappointed with her performance and she still held those tears back, smiled, cheered on teammates. That is just as impressive to me as the amazing skills these girls can do. That is what I want my kid to strive for-grace and class in bad situations.

 

[flippingtogether]

Funny, I'm listening to an NPR program right now talking about thr concept of "choking" in high performance athletes. This sports psychologist expert is talking about how much harder it is to perform under pressure, and how a poor performance can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. That even the best players are not immune. How the expectations plus extreme competition can cause people to respond with a intensity and subsequent failure on the court that doesn't reflect their off court mindset. Not new news to me, but very timely for this conversation! Gymnastics is a head game as we all know, And I would venture to say that Gabby might be operating under conditions of pressure that are increased even BECAUSE she is the reigning gold medalist and knows full well she can't repeat (barring Simone losing a limb)...can you even imagine what's going on in her mind? And all while getting the vibe That many people are basically rooting for her to fail?

I also agree about the cameras in their faces...how hard!

Fascinating and so true... Have you caught the name of psychologist??

 

[Mrs. Puma]

I think it would be great if they just showed the routines, putting cameras in their faces constantly is really quite awful. They are all pretty young and it just feels voyeuristic.

It really should be about the performance and nothing else.

It was kind of creeping me out when they zoomed in on Maggie's knee and then scanned up to her face. I know most normal people are just looking at her scar, but it's a teenager in a leotard....Maybe I'm just paranoid, but the creepers are out there! Blaaaahhh

 

[bogwoppit]

Funny, I'm listening to an NPR program right now talking about thr concept of "choking" in high performance athletes. This sports psychologist expert is talking about how much harder it is to perform under pressure, and how a poor performance can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. That even the best players are not immune. How the expectations plus extreme competition can cause people to respond with a intensity and subsequent failure on the court that doesn't reflect their off court mindset. Not new news to me, but very timely for this conversation! Gymnastics is a head game as we all know, And I would venture to say that Gabby might be operating under conditions of pressure that are increased even BECAUSE she is the reigning gold medalist and knows full well she can't repeat (barring Simone losing a limb)...can you even imagine what's going on in her mind? And all while getting the vibe That many people are basically rooting for her to fail?

I also agree about the cameras in their faces...how hard!

Totally. The mental aspect of elite gymnastics is often brushed over, even all blocks being labelled vestibular etc. The pressure on these girls, really children, is incredible.

 

[ladybird]

It was kind of creeping me out when they zoomed in on Maggie's knee and then scanned up to her face. I know most normal people are just looking at her scar, but it's a teenager in a leotard....Maybe I'm just paranoid, but the creepers are out there! Blaaaahhh

Yup, same. I didn't like that at all and then they spent what seemed like a whole two minutes on a close up of her face. Enough already, let her be!

 

[Serenity28]

After her beam set on day 2, she was walking along with Coach Amy behind her, clearly unhappy with herself saying "OMG that was the worst routine all week, my legs were weak, why does that happen! etc etc". Clearly totally peeved. She did not say anything to her coach that was rude, but she clearly was walking back to her seat and was not happy at all and her coach knew it. Coach Amy was not saying anything at all.

Actually when she said her legs were weak jet coach said that it was okay and Simone said yes it is in my interpretation a disrespectful way to speak to an adult. Also as her coach was speaking they weren't side by side her coach was talking to her and Simone walked away from her probably not trying to hear what her coach was saying. That being said, everyone has their moments. It's easy to be happy and smiling when things go your way, but when it doesn't..........

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

Interesting comments regarding Gabby. I find that the vast majority of the public are huge Gabby fans and love her no matter what. I was just at P&G's and the Gabby love is in full swing! Her fan base is huge and I don't think she has much to worry about with the few of us who are not fans. Marta loves her, she'll be on the team without question.

 

[curlygirls]

Actually when she said her legs were weak jet coach said that it was okay and Simone said yes it is in my interpretation a disrespectful way to speak to an adult. Also as her coach was speaking they weren't side by side her coach was talking to her and Simone walked away from her probably not trying to hear what her coach was saying. That being said, everyone has their moments. It's easy to be happy and smiling when things go your way, but when it doesn't..........

Clearly, everyone will have their own opinions. When her coach said "it's ok", that was a platitude. I think a young adult (remember Simone is also an adult) can express that they are not looking for platitudes without it being considered disrespectful.

 

[bogwoppit]

Actually when she said her legs were weak jet coach said that it was okay and Simone said yes it is in my interpretation a disrespectful way to speak to an adult. Also as her coach was speaking they weren't side by side her coach was talking to her and Simone walked away from her probably not trying to hear what her coach was saying. That being said, everyone has their moments. It's easy to be happy and smiling when things go your way, but when it doesn't..........

Hopefully they archive the whole meet so it can be watched again. I felt they were walking from the beam back to their spot/seats and Simone was ahead of Coach Amy. I did not feel Simone was walking away from her coach, but they were walking to somewhere and clearly walking past a camera crew! I tried to find it on youtube, but it is nowhere to be found at this point.

I imagine both Gabby and Simone have different relationships with their coaches than say Ragan does. They are both adults, both locks on the O team and both seem to be in control of their careers. I am sure things get very interesting in the gym at times trying to coach young adults.

 

[Gymmom826]

Ok, here is the team I think could come away with the most medals and the highest team score. Biles, Raisman and Hernandez all do AA in qualifying, then Locklear(or Kocian, it's going to be close) does UB/BB and Skinner does VT/FX. This team could easily lead to two finalists on every event. Here would be the team final lineup:
VT - Raisman,Skinner,Biles
UB - Biles,Hernandez,Locklear
BB - Hernandez,Raisman,Biles
FX - Hernandez,Raisman,Biles

At this point I still think Douglas likely has that 5th spot over Skinner, but looking less like a lock. Whose on your team?

Biles, Hernandez, Raisman, Douglas and Smith Locklear (if need a bar specialist)