Category: safety

Injuries before Worlds 2023

There are injuries before every major competition.

But Worlds 2023 — the Olympic qualifier — is the very worst time for contenders to be hurt.

British Gymnastics banned / expelled list

The published information is:

·         The name of the member

·         The primary role of the member within the sport (i.e. coach, judge, gymnast, etc)

·         The date the sanction was applied

·         The sanction (see below for a glossary of terms)

·         The category of the sanction (see below)

British Gymnastics is being criticized for not doing more. But I’m willing to give them credit for this first step in making the sport safer and more ethical.

See the list here.

report on Tom Farden

Farden will stay on with Utah. But has been warned and will be monitored moving forward.

This is not to say that the complainants were wrong. I fully respect the courage they showed sharing negative experiences. But the report deemed that Farden’s conduct did not exceed the threshold to recommend dismissal.

Chellsie Memmel likes Air Floors

Personally, my favourite are the shortest, thinnest, and cheapest as those transfer most directly to the performance in competition.

Here’s what Chellsie thinks …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

sex differences and sport

We are unique in having men and women do such different apparatus in a sport commonly called Artistic Gymnastics.

There are pros and cons, of course.

There are distinct differences between men and women. It’s not always logical to have women do exactly the same sport, same rules, same equipment as men.

For one thing, women are far more likely to suffer ACL injury than men.

It makes sense to change rules and put women at lower risk of ligament tears, if possible. Different landing mats, for example.

Simone’s Yurchenko Double Pike is as good or better than any male. BUT — on average — women are more flexible, less strong than men.

…Scientific questions of relative performance lead to those of player safety, and ultimately to philosophy: what do varying opinions about changing women’s game reveal about the purpose of sport in society? …

Economist – Women are not the same as men. Should the rules and kit of their sports be?

Economist has a good podcast on the topic.

The GymCastic interview with Steve Butcher touches on some of the same points.

Canadian SafeSport Program

SafeSport Gym Education is a collection of gymnastics organisations from across the country who worked hard to create documentary style videos to share what safe sport means from real people.

Completely unscripted from real athletes, real coaches and real parents.  This is a collection of moments, feelings and stories to educate us all. …

Link to SafeSport Gym Education Website

Click PLAY or watch ONE VIDEO on YouTube. Includes Felix Dolci, Ellie Black, and others.

Elena Mukhina 1979 Floor

Elena Mukhina was the 1978 World Championships AA champion. An amazing talent for her time.

Did Elena compete the first 1 1/2 twist step-out?

Recall the tragedy when she broke her neck two weeks before the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics, leaving her permanently quadriplegic. That was on a now-banned rollout skill on Floor. Her coach Mikhail Klimenko was blamed by Elena.

She died likely of complications from quadriplegia on 22 December 2006 (aged 46). Klimenko died of cancer age-65.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

FIG Safe Sport Symposium Oct 3-4, 2023

In conjunction with Artistic Worlds, FIG is running a Safe Sport symposium in Antwerp, Belgium.

It’s FREE. You can attend LIVE or online.

Register online.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

RUS not competing Asian Games

This makes it even more difficult to believe Russian athletes will end up competing the Paris Olympics.

The 19th Asian Games — confusingly called 2022 Asian Games — are scheduled to be held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.