tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
Good news.
The House passed legislation on Monday to force athletic organizations to swiftly report sexual abuse and establish preventative policies following the sentencing of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
Lawmakers of both parties overwhelmingly supported the bill in the 406-3 vote. It now heads to the Senate …
Recall that Steve Penny, Mary Lou Retton and others from U.S.A. Gymnastics met with Feinstein in early 2017 to tell her that gymnastics was “a happy, safe place“.
The 2004 Olympic Rhythmic champion had many challenges. But looking back, she wouldn’t change a thing.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
#BetterLateThanNever
USOC recommends all past USAG Board members resign.
Actually … USOC gives USA Gymnastics board six days to resign or federation will be decertified
The board also must “substantively discuss” at each of its meetings how the federation is progressing in implementing 70 recommendations made by former federal prosecutor Deborah Daniels, whose review of USA Gymnastics found a “complete cultural change” was needed. It must then report its progress to the USOC.
The USA Gymnastics board was quick to accept all of Daniels’ recommendations, but it has been slow to implement them.
Chief Executive Officer
United States Olympic Committee
Scott Blackmun:
To Team USA:
The athlete testimony that just concluded in the Nassar hearings framed the tragedy through the eyes of the victims and survivors, and was worse than our own worst fears. It was powerful because of the strength of the victims, survivors and parents, who so eloquently and forcefully told their stories and so rightfully demanded justice. The USOC should have been there to hear it in person, and I am deeply sorry that did not happen.
The purpose of this message is to tell all of Nassar’s victims and survivors, directly, how incredibly sorry we are. We have said it in other contexts, but we have not been direct enough with you. We are sorry for the pain caused by this terrible man, and sorry that you weren’t afforded a safe opportunity to pursue your sports dreams. The Olympic family is among those that have failed you.
I know this apology is not enough. We have been working on taking steps at the USOC and mandating changes among National Governing Bodies to ensure this does not happen again. Our next steps will be these:
1. We Must Change the Culture of the Sport.
2. We Must Change the Governance Structure of the NGB.
3. We Must Know Who Knew What and When.
4. We Must Support Safe Sport Victims and Survivors.
Elena Zamolodchikova was the 2000 Olympic Champion on Floor and Vault.
It was a difficult time as her father had died just months before.
Sydney was a very difficult competition where everything went wrong from the start. We were hurt and upset – we lost the team gold, made tons of mistakes. We came there for the team gold, the silver became such a tragedy for us that it was very hard to compete afterward. …
Today she’s an international judge, a coach at her old club and now head of the anti-doping at the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation.
Read the interview on gymnovosti.
Great news. A deescalation in tensions on the peninsula.
Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were named Canada’s flag-bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
White’s winning run Saturday included two of the toughest tricks on the halfpipe — the Double McTwist 1260 that he patented and the frontside double cork 1440. …
If North Korea participates in the Winter Olympics, it will be a truce. And — perhaps — the beginning of improved communication / cooperation.
Number of North Korean athletes, issues over flags and anthems to be discussed
Heart this cartoon on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/joehoffecker/status/951817117468422144
I’ve not heard of any athlete refusing to go for reasons of personal safety.
The U.S. Olympic Committee is committed to compete though a few American politicians have discussed boycott.
Athletes may have illnesses or conditions that require them to take particular medications.
If the medication an athlete is required to take to treat an illness or condition happens to fall under the Prohibited List, a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) may give that athlete the authorization to take the needed medicine. …
A few examples:
This list evolves over time “based on the evolution of medical best practice“.
Athlete medical records should be private. But in 2016 Russian hackers broke into the WAG database and revealed that athletes including Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Simone Biles had received TUEs.
Russian boxer Mikhail Aloyan, who won a silver medal in Rio, had one, as well.
Simone had received an exemption for her attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
There are those who feel that some TUEs are another form of cheating. If you agree, lobby to have those medications taken off the list.
For now, TUEs are legal.
Everyone I know agrees that Răducan, 2000 Olympic Champion, should not have been stripped of the gold medal for testing positive for pseudoephedrine, a banned substance at the time. Some medications should be allowed.
___ In a separate issue …
The International Olympic Committee finally took meaningful action against what it acknowledged had been “systematic” cheating by the nation at London 2012 and Sochi 2014, outlawing its flag, uniform and anthem from Pyeongchang 2018. …
Russian deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko, who was sports minister at the time of the scandal, was also handed a lifetime Olympic ban …
Better late than never.
It’s false equivalency to claim that what Simone did is the same as a nationally organized, top down deliberate system of cheating.
I’m very unhappy for the clean Russian athletes, including all of the Artistic gymnasts. But I support the IOC sanction. Otherwise Putin’s team would continue deliberate cheating as vigorously as possible.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 