Old timers wonder why the sport they love is evolving into the era of the specialist.
It’s completely driven by the rules as decided — haphazardly — by a few men on the F.I.G. Technical Committee who are virtually incommunicado.
Here’s how, for example, the American Men are looking at their own AA performance at Olympic Trials:
Raj – more photos from Olympic Trials – Gymnast.com
“I’m not even concerned with the all-around,” said Raj Bhavsar, who is in third place after last night’s first day of competition. “I don’t think it means as much as hitting your strong events.
“Hitting my strong events is what I did today. I didn’t have any big mistakes. Hopefully, if I have a mistake on Saturday [the final night of competition for the men], it will not be on one of the events that they need me for and I rock on the events that I can contribute to the team. I think that’s what matters the most.”
Bhavsar speaks from experience. In 2004, he finished fourth in the overall competition but was not named to the team that traveled to Athens for the Olympics.
Sitting next to him in the mixed zone was Sean Townsend, who finished third in the trials in 2004 and didn’t get a trip to Athens.
Even the athletes, except for the top 1 or 2, do not care much about their overall score. The score that is invariably reported in headlines by the often befuddled media.
With a specialist such as Penn State’s Kevin Tan having a routine on the rings that is more than half a point better any other American, Tan could be a strategic placement in the quest for a team medal at the Olympics.
“When you’ve got a guy like Kevin Tan who puts up ridiculous ring scores, you can’t count that out,” Spring said. “The word being thrown around is that he is one of the shoo-ins, but he doesn’t do floor.
“We’re not going to go into the preliminaries two short on the floor, so if Kevin is on the team, we can’t have anyone else on the team who doesn’t do floor.”
As a result, Justin Spring competed Floor at Olympic Trials, even though he is rehabilitating from knee surgery.
Because of Kevin Tan.
The sport is much more confusing now than in the past.
details – U.S. men’s gymnastics team likely to be ruled by specialists – Philadelphia Daily News
UPDATE: Steve McCain of Gymnast.com points out that Raj after day 1 IS one of the best AA gymnasts. He can LOCK a spot on the team on day 2 by finishing top 2 AA combined and top 3 on 3 apparatus. That’s his best shot, actually.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 