Gymnastics Coaching.com

A KCRA Sacramento interview hit the blogs yesterday.

The C Score linked to the original article where famed Romanian gymnast Emilia Eberle (now Trudi Kollar) speaks damning charges against her former coaches.

It’s on the Romanian newspaper site Cotidianul.

In the article, Trudi talks about wanting twice to commit suicide due to the intense training program. About physical beatings. And — mostly — about the “starvation” imposed on the girls while training under the Karolyis.

Dominique Moceanu convinced her it was time to “break the silence”.

I was surprised to see that Bela had already responded to these allegations. In Romanian.

… From Google Translate:

Some of the girls who have trained at the end of 70 years you blame the harsh treatments. Emilia Eberle still has nightmares …

Bela – Indeed, for many girls of yore, the memories are twisted. I can not comment on what each believes. Eventually, the memories are personal. Some of the girls have negative memories, others may consider that the time was the most beautiful of their lives.

…

Girls talk about starvation, food restrictions …

Bela – Gymnastics is a sport where the diet is important. I believe the girls were part of a balanced menu, I did so to secure their calories required for work performance. To see that the food was good and useful. Sure, some may have been frustrating that they had access to chocolate.

How would you describe your attitude towards them?

Bela – We had a paternalism, I tried to be a father before coach, to guide the steps in life. In those days, coach-athlete relationship was much closer than today. I am sorry to know that these girls see things this way, I think he would deserve to have a better opinion about that period. I personally I do not find any fault, but even they did not consider that the guilty feelings.

You chat with Emilia ever after withdrawing them?

Bela – We saw only once in the United States, but time does not permit us to be sitting talking. I try to talk to Trudi, maybe I will improve those memories.

Coach trenchant avoid responding to allegations of his former students.

Here’s the original article in Romanian translated to English: The story gymnast Emilia Eberle: Glory torture

The C Score:

The big question is whether the American media will pick this up. Karolyi is a darling of the American media.

It took months for the Chinese Olympic gymnastics age falsification scandal to make it from blogs to the New York Times.

Will this story make it to the mainstream media?

I believe it will.

There are rules. And the “real rules”.

William2004 on the College Gymnastics Board started a discussion:

Does anyone else think that there are some unwritten truths and rules in NCAA gymnastics? …

1. Juding is easier in the beginning of the season than at the end.

2. At NCAA nationals, how a team or individual did at their Regional meet affects their score at nationals.

3. Where you are in the lineup really does make a difference. especially in NCAAs.

4. If there are two gymnasts with identical start values, and both have the same deductions, the routine with the higher difficulty will score higher.

5. An NCAA gymnast gets minimal, if any deduction, for her physical shape and size; unlike elites where having “the skinny gymnast look” is critical.

6. There is home team advantage in the scoring.

7. Scores creep up higher at the end of the meet especially the floor and vault scores.

8. …

9. 9.8 seems to be the top score for many gymnasts

10. A perfect 10 is nearly impossible at nationals, and is rarer than ever in regular meets.
…

Unwritten truths and rules in NCAA gymnastics

A good example of #5 is the Floor Exercise routine of Courtney McCool from Georgia.

Sports Illustrated

She’s certainly not the “skinny gymnast” yet dominated that apparatus last season, winning Championship, without even a double somersault.

I really admire NCAA judges for that. (Her winning Floor routine is liked below.)

Courtney McCool is injured right now, unfortunately.

… a stress fracture in the navicular bone of her left foot. She will be on crutches for the next eight weeks and will wear a walking boot.

Past and Present Gymnastics posted a A Brief History of Vaulting.

Of the many famous gymnasts mentioned, the one that jumps out at me was Nellie Kim at the 1976 Olympics.

Click PLAY or watch the Tsuk 1/1 (Kasamatsu) on YouTube.

She finished with a score of 19.8, 0.35 ahead of the field including Nadia Comaneci.

Nadia only competed a then fantastic Pike Tsukahara.

more great vault history – A Brief History of Vaulting

I’m always impressed with world class gymnasts who reach the top without wearing hand grips.

Koko Tsurimi of Japan, winner of the Uneven Bars event of the Apparatus Final in action during the 4th Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships at Aspire in Doha, Qatar, Monday, 17 Nov. 2008.

(AP photo/Udayan Nag) – ESPN

… Japan added three more gold medals Tuesday to its haul at the 4th Senior Asian Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Japanese Olympian Koko Tsurumi picked up a fourth gold on floor exercise to go with her team, all-around and uneven bars gold medals in Doha.

details and results on International Gymnast – Asian Championships Conclude

The Gymblog broke a very important story to the blogosphere.

For decades we’ve heard rumours of physical abuse in the gyms of Bela and Marta Karolyi.

Even in the USA.

But this is new. Geza Pozar is the choreographer who worked with them for 30yrs. If anyone knows where the bodies are buried, it’s Geza.

… Trudi Kollar, known to the world as Emelia Eberle, was a 12-year-old when she was summoned to join Romania’s national team in 1976. She earned 13 individual medals in international competition, including an Olympic silver medal.

In Romania, Kollar trained under legendary coach Karolyi and wife Martha for six years. She lived full time at the Karolyis’ gymnastic center in a small town in Transylvania — isolated, bars on the windows, very little food and terrified.

“In one word, I can say it was brutal,” she said.

Kollar said mistakes in training or competition brought physical pain — frequent beatings from Bela Karolyi.

…

Pozar said Kollar’s story is absolutely true.

“I saw all the activities that went on. Of course I saw the beating and the abuse, you know, as Trudi told you,” Pozar said.

Pozar said Bela Karolyi was large and powerful, and that Kollar was a frequent target.

“Trudi was the most abused, I mean physically. And when he hit her on the back, you can see that big hand, you know, landing on her back. That is something you would never forget,” Pozar said.

Pozar is now a gymnastics coach and runs his own gymnasium in Sacramento, where Kollar has worked for 15 years. He’s hadn’t previous spoken out about the Karolyis. …

Olympic Gymnast Claims Karolyi Beat Her – Stories Of Abuse Supported By Eyewitnesses – KCRA Sacramento

Bela must respond to these charges. He’s first to point his finger at others.

larger original – Geza Pozar – Olympic Gymnastics Academy

This story just gets worse and worse.

Jade Barbosa is a mess.

… some rather alarming news has reached us concerning the anti-inflammatory drug with which Jade claims the Federation overdosed her during the Olympics and the preceding months, Prexige. …

Flamengo Talk – Triple Full

That drug has since been banned in Brazil.

That’s easy.

Philippe Rizzo. Australia’s first-ever world gymnastics apparatus champion.

… The greatest female gymnast?

A much tougher question.

It’s been debated on Gymblog. (Read the comments.)

And discussed on the two great blogs from the Down Under:

Australian Gymnastics Blog – Simply the Best (Bwarmp. Bwarmp. BWARMP. Bwarmp…)

The Couch Gymnast – Australians All Let us Rejoice….!

Most would agree, Dasha Joura is #1.

Personally I was inspired by the wonderful Joanna Hughes at the 1991 World Championships. In fact, because of that inspiration I travelled to Australia in 1993 to research what they were doing RIGHT in that free nation to develop such wonderful athletes. (Read my report from that trip.)

Whatever Happened to … Joanna Hughes

Fan favourite Russian gymnast Anna Pavlova sustained one of the worst possible injuries for a gymnast: Anterior cruciate ligament damage. She injured herself this weekend at the DTB Cup during her dismount (a 2.5 twist) on the balance beam.

Details on The C Score (video).

How sad.

Anna Pavlova Online

Timely is an article posted on Sports Girls Play:

… there is growing research and awareness on female athletes and knee injuries. Some link the number of knee injuries in female athletes to genetics and the difference in bone structure to their counterparts. Others indicate the pressure to start training at a younger age as the cause. Either way, many of the injuries can be prevented through proper training and awareness. …

Female Athletes and Knee Injuries

That post has links to a half dozen excellent articles on knee injury prevention for the female athlete.

Much on my mind is how to avoid this injury at my gym. One of our girls this season sustained a partial tear. (It seems to be healing rapidly.)

From He Kexin = 14.

The Captain of the Olympic gold medal Chinese Gymnastics Team dominated the last competition, winning all three events she trains.

Click PLAY or watch her winning Beam from the DTB Cup on Gymnastike.

Not nearly the prettiest routine you’ve ever seen. But still impressive for the 20-year-old.

I was surprised with this interview:

… Cheng Fei said here on Friday that she has not yet decided whether to participate in the London Olympics in 2012.

“I will continue to train, but I am not sure how long I will be in the gymnasium,” Cheng told Xinhua after she took first places at qualifying round of vault, balance beam and floor exercise at Stuttgart World Cup. …

People’s Daily Online

UPDATE: Her Dad recently started coaching at his daughter’s old club.