Category: safety

ROC (Russian Olympic Committee)

Due to state-backed doping, approved by Putin (I assume), “Russia” will not be competing in Tokyo.

I am happy the athletes were not banned outright as, of course, many did not dope.

… a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling from December which barred Russia’s name, flag, anthem and other national symbols in a package of sanctions over what it deemed Russia’s failure to turn over accurate data from the Moscow drug-testing laboratory.

The team in Tokyo will be officially known not as “Russia,” but as “ROC”, for Russian Olympic Committee. …

Russian athletes had similar limits on their uniforms and symbols at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang …

Russia’s flag banned but national colors on Olympic uniforms

perfectionism is on the rise

Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill’s meta-analysis of rates of perfectionism from 1989 to 2016, the first study to compare perfectionism across generations, found significant increases among more recent undergraduates in the US, UK and Canada.

In other words, the average college student last year was much more likely to have perfectionistic tendencies than a student in the 1990s or early 2000s. …

The Dangerous Downsides of Perfectionism

Perfectionistic tendencies have been linked to clinical issues: depression and anxiety (even in children), self-harm, social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, binge eating, anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, hoarding, dyspepsia, chronic headaches, and, most damning of all, even early mortality and suicide.

Social media has likely compounded some of those problems.

SO — coaches should not encourage kids to be perfect.

Thanks Steve.

Kayla Williams – Sports Law

The 2009 World Vault Champion and Alabama great is now in law school.

She has made use of Tulane’s extensive network of sports law alumni to network, and she joined the Sports Law Society and the Black Law Student Association.

She is sharpening her legal writing skills, she said, and is looking at working as a law clerk for the Athlete Ombuds of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

“There are so many ways to impact athletics and I definitely want to give back to the sport that has given me so much,” she said. “Long-lasting impact. That’s what I’d like to do for my sport.”

She is a World Champion gymnast. Now this Tulane Law student plans to advocate for women in sports. 
Kayla Williams

“Body Image” by Sydney Staier

Maryland athletes, including gymnasts, read Sydney’s important poem.

A good body is one that gets the job done.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

Sydney wrote that for herself. But when team dietitian, Paula Karamihas, saw it — she recommended it be shared.

Read the poem here.

Dutch coaches for Tokyo

Head Coach: Bram van Bokhoven
Assistant: José van der Veen
Assistant: Aimee Boorman

Bram van Bokhoven is the Men’s National Coach, who accepted the WAG position on an interim basis.

Wevers, Kooistra, Zijp, Kiens and other personal coaches will continue to train the national team members. Some will coach on the floor at Europeans in Switzerland, as well.

If they needed to bring in a neutral, positive coach — Aimee Boorman is a good choice. It sends a message.

Should PanAms be cancelled?

Recall that PanAms were moved from USA to Brazil.

The President of the Pan American Gymnastics Union (PAGU), Naomi Valenzo, confirmed to Gymnastics Now Monday morning that the artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline Senior Pan American Championships (commonly referred to as Pan Ams) will no longer take place in the United States.

Instead, Brazil has agreed to host the events in June …

Gymnastics Now

This meet is critical in that 4 additional Olympic spots are decided from the AA. Two for men, two for women.

BUT the pandemic is worse than ever in Brazil. Over 4,000 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours for the first time. Only 8% of the population has had the first dose of any vaccine. Their President is a COVID denier who opposes any lockdown measures.

How can Brazil be safe for international travel by June?

Is there enough time on the calendar to move it again? If so, where? Canada — for example — wouldn’t allow the international travel.

I feel PanAms will soon be cancelled. And that’s a shame for those gymnasts who’ve trained the past year for one last shot at Olympic qualification.

Cordelia linked to the FIG policy:

Greek gymnasts abused

Nearly two dozen Greek gymnasts alleged they suffered decades of abuse and neglect “bordering on torture” at the hands of their coaches, in a letter published on Wednesday.

The letter was sent this week to Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis by 22 female and male athletes, revealed by Greek daily EfSyn.

It alleged “harsh and abusive” practices dating back to 1985 included forced fasting, psychological and physical punishment and sexual harassment. …

Greece in recent months has been rocked by a wave of allegations of sexual abuse in the fields of arts, sport and education.

More than three years after the #MeToo movement surfaced in the United States, the code of silence in Greece was broken in December by a two-time Olympic sailing medallist, Sofia Bekatorou. …

Greek gymnasts allege decades of abuse by coaches

Evan Manivong – 14.75 vault

STICK. Then pulls out his vaccination card!

More than a million people have watched this vault.

“Go get vaccinated everyone.”

Click PLAY or watch Evan on CNN.

Click PLAY or watch an ABC interview on Twitter.

Jordyn Wieber to U.S. Olympic Reform Panel

The 16-member Commission will be responsible for conducting a study on matters related to the state of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement in the United States. …

There is a deadline of the end of July for it to deliver its recommendations and detailed report, but it seems certain that deadline will be extended.