There is a poisonous idea within women's gymnastics (and track and field) that if your athletes don't have severe eating disorders and train with broken bones they don't "want it" enough.
As a side note, it's interesting who was asked to be a knowledgable source on how American gymnastics got so good pre-Rio. (This is before any allegations were published widely).
But to the point: the idea that suffering leads to greatness is very popular (and I participate in many sports cultures that herald that) but it's not... true.
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According to the book "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes," Fong pushed Gomez to perform that vault, and argued after her death that it was imperative to teach the Yurchenko to younger gymnasts in order to beat the Russians. chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-19…
Gymternet correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that first transition (high to low) is a Bhardwaj, named for the great Mohini Bhardwaj who competed at the elite level, then went to UCLA, then came back to elite (which is rare!)
Okay quick explainer! "Elite" gymnastics is a specific category as defined by a few things (here's a chart) usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Eli…
The only comparison to be made is "hey these are two great athletes"
Again: Kerri never competed again, she was carried off the platform by a sexual predator, and Bela Karolyi made her vault a second time by saying, "you better do it" (when mathematically her second vault wasn't necessary for the US to win gold).
I don't think people truly understand what the Karolyis did and permitted a rapist to do. This is testimony from Aly Raisman and former trainer Melanie Seaman: washingtonpost.com/sports/olympic…