It is time to admit we may be in a toxic relationship.
With Gymnastics.
Olympic Trials starts tonight, June 24. I was reading the news this morning and in my gymnastics feed, 9 out of 10 of the articles were negative. Instead of focusing on the amazing achievements of these athletes and coaches people were sharing articles, blogs and tweets pointing out negative things.
Gymnastics is a far from perfect sport, administered by a far from perfect organization, competed by far from perfect individuals. I fully believe in setting a VERY high bar and then striving to achieve that mark. Whether it is a physical or technical goal in the gym or setting a high bar with regards to athlete safety. We should continue to seek to set the gold standard.
Inevitably we will fall short in some aspects. Instead of looking at how far we missed the mark, I focus on how far we have come. We will always have to make adjustments and corrections. One of the most popular lectures I give is “Failure, A Prerequisite to Success” . There are so many lessons to be learned through failing. FAILURE IS AN OPTION, if we learn from it.
I had a conference call last night and I learned about all the behind the scenes hoops the federations, gymnasts, coaches and administrators have to jump through to just be allowed into Japan. There are 15 stops you must make INSIDE the airport to test. This will take a few hours. Any problem with any tests, you get deported or quarantined. Athletes and coaches must download an app on their phone which tracks their location. You must enter in where you PLAN on being and when you will be there. If you are not there, you risk being sent home.
The USA isn’t just sending a reserve gymnast to Tokyo. They are sending an entire reserve TEAM incase the entire team needs to be replaced because of covid exposure.
The venues will be only at 50% capacity and spectators can clap, but not cheer.
We are NOT in a normal year. I firmly believe that the administration, coaches, gymnasts and organizers are doing everything possible. There will be mistakes, but not because they weren’t trying.
Set that bar high. Encourage everyone in every position to strive to set that gold standard. When we miss, focus on how far we have come and what changes need to be made. We are all in this together.
GO TEAM USA!
Tony
