It’s been a real week, to put it mildly. And one with minimal gymnastics excitement into which to escape.
I did see this Instagram post from International Gymnast showing Angelina Melnikova of Russia, who I wrote about two weeks ago, training at the Paris World Challenge Cup. She looks terrific, and I’m excited to see what she brings to the competition, politics notwithstanding.
Melnikova’s story was one of strong political feelings about whether Russian athletes should be allowed to compete internationally under the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) umbrella.
Gymnastics culture often shies away from politics, but the story of the Russian athletes is a rare example of international affairs bleeding into the sport — a sport that, to be fair, was once largely defined on the world stage by the Cold War. When the United States began winning on a larger scale, it was seen as a major political victory over the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries. The war in Ukraine has brought back some of that tension, but it seems like some of Russia’s former influence in the sport has played a role in letting its athletes compete, even under a neutral flag.
But where once this sport divided West against East, the U.S. is now divided against itself, and we see the tenor of our political conflict reflected in even the smallest of disagreements. Has gymnastics become less artistic? Are the leotards too revealing? Should athletes be able to make money in college? These topics blow up into flame wars on Facebook and get parsed into smithereens on Reddit.
More civility online would be nice, but I think we might be beyond that point. And besides, I’m writing a column for an online publication that I’d like people to discuss among themselves, so I really can’t talk.
Thursday was the 24th anniversary of 9/11. Most of the prominent athletes in our sport right now were not yet born in 2001; few were beyond preschool.
Four years ago, George W. Bush, who was president on 9/11, gave a speech on the anniversary at the site of the doomed Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. He said: “A malign force seems at work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument, and every argument into a clash of cultures. So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment. That leaves us worried about our nation and our future together.”
I never thought I’d quote Bush in a gymnastics newsletter, but there you have it. I hope even in our niche community we can find a way to keep our small disagreements small and, when faced with the bigger ones as we have been this week, to treat one another with the respect we deserve. The sport has often been politicized beyond our control, and this is our opportunity to keep our gymternet kind, even in our disagreements.
Other gym news
College Gym News looks at six NCAA programs on the rise, does a Data Deep Dive into gymnasts who compete all-around consistently and provides a judge’s point of view on shoot-overs.
The Gymternet brings us the results from the All-Japan Senior Championships, the Brazilian national championships and the Chinese Worlds trials.
Jordan Chiles’ family and Stephen Nedoroscik’s family competed against each other on Celebrity Family Feud Thursday night. You can watch the episode here if you have a Hulu subscription.
Tyler Turner committed to Florida.
Ally Damelio committed to Auburn.
Reese Esponda, Sage Bradford, Lia Reddick and Zoe Cadrin — who all went on an official visit together to LSU this week — all committed to become Tigers.
Ellie Black turned 30.
GymCastic has introduced a new interactive game: Headstand!
Five at The IX: Nola Matthews on GymCastic
Nola Matthews, who is headed to UCLA after she tries this fall to make the U.S. worlds squad, gave a great interview to GymCastic this week. Check it out here, beginning at the 13:00 mark:
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer |