Gymnastics' jolly ranchers
U.S. training camp at Karolyi's Texas ranch was met with scorn, but now his wife's in charge, everyone's happy, and results are indisputable.
that is a little sugar-coating. what about all the talk about the over-use injuries, too much training camps, etc.
...hype for the nationals, makes sense, "puff piece"?
[quote]WAVERLY, Texas -- About 20 gymnasts arrive at a secluded ranch where they are enthusiastically greeted by three dogs as well as a bearhug from Bela Karolyi.
The girls and their coaches are then guided toward a metal building filled with chalk dust and vaults, tumbling mats and the welcoming presence of Karolyi's wife, Martha.
Everyone is smiling, exchanging cheek kisses and information until practice starts. Then Bela disappears.[/quote]
kisses and smiles, formality?!
[quote]Martha speaks in a whisper, but she is clearly in charge.[/quote]
good that she isn't yelling. the reporters are there, does that make
a difference? maybe not in this respect, but maybe.
Kelli Hill and others wanted a woman in charge:
[quote]Coaches around the country say the national training center is a key reason why the U.S. won a team silver medal in Athens three years ago and produced Olympic all-around champion Carly Patterson.
But when the center was started six months before the 2000 Olympics it was fraught with problems. One U.S. coach called it "Communism come to America."
After a dismal sixth-place team performance at the 1999 world championships, and in a panic about the upcoming Olympics in Sydney, USA Gymnastics officials decreed that every elite female gymnast and her coach attend training camps at Karolyi's ranch.
The reaction of individual coaches was immediately negative. They resented taking time away from their own gyms, they resented spending weekends sleeping in bunk beds away from Internet access and cellphone reception, and they didn't like feeling that they were neglecting their other gymnasts. But most of all they chafed under Bela Karolyi's dictates.
By the time the 2000 Olympic team was chosen, the tensions were obvious. And the Olympic tally was awful. After being the stars of the 1996 Atlanta Games and winning a first-ever team gold medal, the U.S. women left Athens with no medals and plenty of acrimony.
Several of the gymnasts described their Olympic experience as "awful" and "depressing," and when coaches gathered a month later to map out a plan, Hill said, "We were ready to vote for anything but Bela."
Except Bela didn't speak at the meeting. Martha did. She offered the ranch as a central meeting place. She spoke passionately about the need for all national team candidates to train together and learn from each other. She said that Bela would not be in charge, she would be in charge.
"We were, frankly, exhausted," said Mary Lee Tracy, who coached 1996 Olympian Amanda Borden and 2000 Olympian Alyssa Beckerman. "And the only consensus we had was that we wanted a woman in charge of the national program. Martha was a woman. Pretty much that was all she needed."[/quote]
treat gymnasts like a person:
[quote]"It was uneasy at first," said Steve Rybacki, who coached Jamie Dantzscher, who was outspoken in her unhappiness with her Olympic experience.
"It just wasn't fair," Dantzscher had said after the 2000 team competition. "Everything I've done to get here and it didn't matter. Bela didn't know how to treat me as a person."[/quote]
more "diplomacy" with Martha?
system working for them:
[quote]The gymnasts seem to agree. "We learn from each other," defending national champion Liukin said. "It's kind of nice to see what everybody else is doing. Plus, Martha can pick out the little things you need to work on."
Martha is the international expert who interprets what judges are expecting in the way of start values and routine difficulty. She will gently suggest that a girl work more on pointing her toes or nudge another into being more physical.
Besides the 2004 successes, the system has also produced a world championships team gold medal in 2003 and silvers in 2005 and 2006, plus 12 individual world championships medals since 2003.
"And we have so many girls to pick from right now," Hill said. "I have to say, and I can't believe I'm saying it, but this system works."[/quote]
is the real thing though that Martha is filling in what some of the coaches can't?
[quote]The gymnasts seem to agree. "We learn from each other," defending national champion Liukin said. "It's kind of nice to see what everybody else is doing. Plus, Martha can pick out the little things you need to work on."[/quote]
-this part - 'seem' and 'kind of', not definitive, enthusiastic words, but ya it's nice to look at your competition, but maybe different optional formats too
