Category: safety

Shawn Johnson went to regular school

Shawn on Freakonomics:

… My coach was Chinese, born and raised Chinese. When he was three years old, living in China, he was taken away from his family and actually put into their Olympic system. And raised to be an Olympic gymnast in China. And he kind of had this career within the gymnastics world in China that I would say almost traumatized him. He lost his childhood. He kind of lost his family in this trend. This crazy career.

So when he was 21 years old he actually left China, came to the United States, opened a gym in West Des Moines, Iowa, of all places. And had this dream, this American dream, to raise an Olympian or Olympians that were also children and how to balance in life and were fun loving and had a true childhood.

And I was really really blessed to fall under his guidance and his coaching because he let me go to school. I mean not even let me. He kind of demanded that we go to a full day of school. He encouraged us to go to school dances, to go to Dairy Queen after practice. He incentivized us by letting us sleep over at the gym and have popcorn and ice cream. And he just was this fun loving guy.

And I think because he let us have fun as children, but yet pushed us and challenged us at the same time, it challenged us and encouraged us to go farther in the sport. And I feel the intensity of elite athletics, you weed out a lot of people just because you burn them out so quickly. So no, I don’t think the intensity is necessary. I think you need intense training but in small doses, not the 80 hours a week people think. …

(via Steve Arkell)

Simone Biles: speaking out empowered me

So … the criminal doctor is in prison for hundreds of years.

What’s changed?

Will more girls and young women be willing to call out sexual assault and harassment? Are women more empowered in 2018?

I hope so.

Simone’s on prime time BBC TV news in the U.K.

But at the same time the President of the United States has been accused by at least nineteen women since the 1980s. He’s paid women hush money too.

Though initially calling testimony under oath by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford “very credible”, Trump later ridiculed her.

Young women who watched that harsh attack might be less willing to come forward. ☹️

rates of false accusation of sexual assault are very low

For rape, for example, it’s about 2% – 10%.

My guess is that it’s closer to 2%.

The best book I’ve read on the subject is Krakauer’s Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. What happens to women who report is usually horrific. ☹️

Lisa Mitzel to TOPS Camp

Lisa Mitzel won 4 consecutive NCAA Championships with University of Utah.  And went on to coach at Stanford.

Today she’s a psychologist and author of:

“Focused and On Fire: The Athlete’s Guide to Mental Training & Kicking Butt”

“Focused and Inspired: Keeping Our Athletes Safe in a Win-at-All-Costs Word”

T.V. exposé on dangerous Trampoline Parks

CBC Marketplace is an award-winning Canadian television series, broadcast on CBC Television since 1972. The series is a consumer advocacy newsmagazine …

Marketplace visited 12 trampoline parks across the country to see what was being done to mitigate risks to minors in this unregulated industry. Many children were witnessed breaking the parks’ “rules” without employee intervention.

Staff at Energyplex Family Recreation Centre, for example, watched as multiple children belly-flopped into the same foam pit where Chelsea broke her back doing the same stunt. No one intervened.

At other parks, Marketplace documented flips, stunts and double-bouncing — all considered risky behaviour by health authorities. Children were observed jumping head first into foam pits, and at times, areas of the parks had no supervising staff to enforce safety rules.

At one park, a baby crawling across a tumble track collapsed after being bounced by an older child. At another, a mother held her crying toddler after he did a somersault and landed on his neck. …

Hidden camera reveals trampoline parks ignoring dangerous behaviour

Trampoline Parks are TOO dangerous

Kathy Johnson on USAG

The captain of the 1984 Olympic team has been outspoken for decades on what changes are needed in Gymnastics USA.

… They need someone who is an expert in child safety.

Who is that? Well, it’s not some gymnastics person they’ve just put into a position of overseeing safety. …

INSIDE PERSPECTIVE: KATHY JOHNSON-CLARKE | IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS FOR THE NEXT ERA OF USA GYMNASTICS

Jordan McNair died practicing football

On May 29, 2018, University of Maryland lineman Jordan McNair ran the last sprint of his life. After a series of 110 yd runs, during which he became disoriented and had trouble standing, McNair collapsed and died of heat stroke. He had a body temperature of 106 degrees in the hospital. He was only 19.

What happened? Why did it happen? Should this have ever happened? Were any individuals negligent and responsible for this tragedy? These seem to be questions that should have been asked by the administration of Maryland, yet were they? Because it was not until an August 10 report by ESPN that the university started holding coaches and staff accountable. …

Changing the Game

Aside from very frequent brain trauma, American football has always had many deaths on the field of play.

One study counted at least 49 deaths related to football in 1931. It’s always been an extremely dangerous sport. 1965 had a similar number.

Bottom line – American football is still too dangerous. 

Thanks @GymCastic

boycotting Qatar

Though I’m planning to attend Worlds in person, many are staying home in protest.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, and prevailing cultural mores view homosexuality and cross-dressing negatively. The Qatari government does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil partnerships, nor does it allow people in Qatar to campaign for LGBT rights. …

Get your couch potato gear from GymCastic.

Though Qatar is one of the more progressive Arab nations, they are still deplorably backwards on human rights.

They do dumb things too. For example Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Bin al-Thani just gifted a $400 million dollar plane to Turkey’s dictator Erdogan.

This is part of the ongoing spat between billionaire dictators in the region.

Democracy is a terrible political system, as we’ve seen. But it’s far better than totalitarian rule as in Qatar.

Still, I’m hopeful that Worlds and the upcoming World Cup further modernize this tiny nation. One bit of good news – Qatar will allow both the flag and national anthem of Israel.  (This has not been the case in the past.)

Katelyn Ohashi on Player’s Tribune

On GymCastic Miss Val mentioned Katelyn’s documentary. The poster girl who was once beat Simone Biles … then quit elite … only to comeback as a viral media superstar in College Gymnastics.

Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.