Gymnastics has always been one of my favorite sports. I like the way the athletes bodies move. They are all so flexible and interesting to look at. I wanted to be just like those athletes, or at least let my children be like them. This was my dream. Growing up in the city of Washington, DC in 1976, I used to sit on my parents’ bedroom floor, watching TV. I decided to turn the channel one day to the Olympics. I noticed that there were these girls, who were doing some amazing flips. I’d never seen anything like it before. I knew nothing about the balance beams, vaults, and the floor exercises. It was like I jumped into a whole new world. Watching Nadia Comaneci scoring 10s at the Olympics while doing those stunning flips and dance routines that mesmerized me. There was also Olga Korbut, Teodora Ungureanu, Nellie Kim, and Cathy Rigby. These are all my favorite gymnasts and they were simply amazing to look at. Nadia Comaneci was astonishing at the Summer Olympics (76’) in Montreal, Canada. Her floor exercise routines were really awe-inspiring. I remember seeing Nadia do her cartwheels,...
In fourth grade I took gymnastics. I really like it, and had a lot of
Gabby caught on to gymnastics pretty quick and was enthusiastic about it. Ever since Gabrielle was young, she wanted to compete in the Olympics and so she worked hard to be the best. And so her journey began to become the next best gymnast. She left for Iowa to be trained by Laing Chow, and followed her dream of being an Olympic gold medalist. The reason I chose Gabrielle Douglas was because of her hard work and dedication to gymnastics.
When I was about six or seven years old, I started cheerleading because my older sister, Tiffany, was a cheerleader (and what little girl doesn’t want to be just like their older sister?). Thanks to Tiffany, and, of course, my mom for signing me up and getting me where I need to be, I found a love and passion for something I would cherish for the rest of my life.
Have you ever just thought and engaged on curiosity on how it feels like to stand and balance on hands of people? Being thrown high in the air with just trusting three people to catch you? Lifting people together while exhibiting strength and trusting that the stunt won’t completely fall? Lastly, having the guts to cheer, shout and to put on that cheerful smile despite all the pain and sacrifices you made just to complete the routine? These people are extraordinary athletes. These athletes just don’t perform difficult stunts but they also uniquely combine the factor of performing and getting the crowd’s attention through their routine. They are called Cheerleaders. Most of the people who aren’t familiar of the content of the sport would think that Cheerleading is just for the purpose of performing and cheering for their own team or school, but to Cheerleaders, it’s more than just those conditions. It’s just something more special than that. It’s a vision and of course, pure passion.
Since the age of two, I have been dancing. I have been involved in lyrical and classical ballet, contemporary, pointe, hiphop, jazz and tap. When I turned 6 I also took up gymnastics. Through middle school I danced, and did gymanstics as well as softball and soccer. I loved these sports but when high school hit, I had to pick one and I chose cheerleading. I chose this sport because it was not only a extraordinary team athletically but they were extremely involved with the community. We had fundraisers for less fortunate children multiple times and even got to interact with them every winter. The leadership role on the cheer team taught me so much, we lead the entire student body to have school spirit and respect at the football games every friday night. My senior year I decided to switch back to dance and tried out for my high school dance team, and made it! It has been such a blessing to me by showing me even more leadership and how to serve others at our school and in the community.
For years gymnastics has been a sport that many children participate in. But as the years have gone by it has turned into something other than a place for kids to grow and learn. Its overwhelming commitment has continued to replace kids’ childhoods with stress, mental and physical pain and eating disorders. Many results have come from this change in the gymnastics society. Gymnasts have come to a point where they have been told and directed to understand that winning is the only important factor in gymnastics. “ It’s about the elite child athlete and the American obsession with winning that has produced a training environment wherein results are bought in at any cost, no matter how devastating. It’s about how cultural fixation on beauty and weight on youth has shaped the sport and driven the athletes into a sphere beyond the quest for physical performance.” (Ryan 5)
Fraser, Allen. “What a great gymnastics movie should be.” The New Yorker. conde Nast, n.d. May. 17 Feb. 2014
Media is known for taking an issue and exaggerating the truth and putting out the bias of their own political ideology. In sports media the same could be said about how the sports analyst have their bias about teams, players and coaches. This bias directly hurts the image and reputation of people who may not want the attention or made a mistake that was blown out of proportion. Also sports media tend to cover many rumors that may not always be true, but even if the rumor isn’t true at the end, it tends to affect the viewer’s perspective anyway. Sports media outlets such as ESPN and recently Fox Sports 1 hurt or enhance the images of players, coaches, owners, and teams by covering and reporting rumors that are sometimes untrue and they also broadcast sportscasters' biased opinions ultimately causing the public to change their opinions of sports figures.
“Gymnastics taught me everything- life lessons, responsibility and discipline and respect.” -Shawn Johnson (Former Olympic gymnast). In my interview with Franchesca Hutton-Lau I found this quote to prove very true to her. Franchesca Hutton-Lau, often called Frankee by her friends and teammates, has been a gymnast ever since she was five years old.
Finish, Finish, Go, and Go you just set the new world record. Every four years lots of people gather around a pool cheering for Olympians. It is a very noisy place. A lot of Olympians that are part of the summer Olympics are very athletic, they swim all year around. The swimming Olympic history and background is very interesting. They have done so many new things over that past couple of years. They come out with new rules every year to make things more fair and challenging. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for. I was swimming the 200 meter fly I was at a really good time when I had 50 meter sprint left at the end all I could think about was I’m going to set the new world record. Olympic swimming is a very fun sport it is very athletic. Every year in the summer time every one always sits around a TV watching this it is very famous in America. Swimmers from all around the world come and here and compete. There is a lot of competition there I have found out a lot about the history of swimming. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for.
The sheer energy of a gymnast alone can be felt by audiences of all ages, but what the spectators lack the ability to feel is the pounding of the bodies that bear the impact of the athletes in action. Gymnastics consists of a mixture of acrobatic performances of four different events for females, and six different events for males (Gianoulis 1). Gymnastics is demanding in a multitude of ways, including: physically, emotionally and mentally. It requires countless hours of dedication. The concerns of most gymnasts are moving up to the next level, or getting a more advanced skill, while the concerns of the doctors, coaches, and parents revolve mostly around the athlete’s health, which is put at stake for the adored yet dangerous sport. Injuries are common among both male and female gymnast alike, but due to the fact a female gymnast’s career peaks at the same time of major growth and development, a female gymnast’s body as a whole is more likely to undergo lifelong changes or affects (Gianoulis 2). Among the injuries of the mind blowing athletes, the most common ones affect the ankles, feet, lower back, wrist, and hands of individuals (Prevention and Treatment 1). From sprains, to the breaks, the intriguing sport of gymnastics is physically demanding on a gymnast’s body.
Football is a very physically demanding sport. According to Taylor (1969), “Professional football is basically a physical assault by one team upon another in desperate fight for land.” (pg. 23) The body is used as weapon to prevent an opposing player from crossing into another's territory. The body must be strong and well equipped to endure the stresses of physical contact. The body is very susceptible to injury when engaging in football. It is important for those who participate in football train their bodies effectively. The same can be said for ballet. It is a physically demanding activity as well but the body is used as a form of expression. According to Huwyler M.D. (2002), “ For the dancer, his body in his means of expression, the instrument is his heart. Ballet is meant to be graceful and elegant, it does not appear to be a physically demanding sport as football is. Looks are deceiving, According to Kennedy M.D and Hodgkins M.D. (2008), “The grace and art of the ballet performance belie the great physical strain of the body as a whole. (Preface) Ballet places a great deal of strain on the body; it is important that those who participate in ballet receive adequate and effective training.
Recognizing dance excellence in the competition world. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2013, from Federation of Dance Competition website: http://www.fdcdance.org/
I am forever grateful for the lessons I learnt, the people I met, the experience I gained and I now know what true love is. Gymnastics has made me into the person I am today. When something scares me I know how to conquer my fears, I know how to set goals, to deal with disappointment and I will always keep the leotards and tracksuits as memorabilia of a very special time in my life. I am not a quitter, I have left a