…well now, being Sunday over here in merry England, Meself and Mrs. D were out and about having the crack. Every place we went to there was wide screens SCREAMING about the Olympics.
To make a long story short..We were watching these young girls on the bar.and then on the other bars..and then on the floor.
Some serious gymnastics and acrobatics involved but the girls involved are sooooo young and have probably spent most of their childhood training for a Big Gold Medal.
Weird..
Slan,
D.
It is, but it has always been thus.
Nadia Comaneci was 14 at the '76 Games.
Now they have to be 16 I think(?) and the big stink has been over whether some of the Chinese gymnasts are, in fact, really 16.
This is just the way it is with girl bodies. All three of my daughters (thanks to their mesomorphic dad, not me) blew away the competition and aggravated several boys by winning their respective 5th grade pull-up contests in elementary school p.e. class. At that age they were all able to do roughly 11 legitimate pull-ups. Now, definitely not. The whole center of gravity thing completely changes with puberty.
ah, I’d wondered what had changed…
dubhbot!
You know, though, I remember adult women competing in gymnastics in the 70s. Cathy Rigby wasn’t a pre-adolescent. I think it was Olga Korbut who started the “little girls” trend.
I’d rather see adult women competing, even if they can’t do all the stuff the little girls can. Better to re-work the events to showcase what women can do then to turn little girls into gymnastics machines.
Redwolf
Right now, it’s the Chinese girl gymnasts.
16 years old. right. Try 10 and 12 for the first two floor routines.
Deng Linlin. Look at that child’s face and expressions. She is 10 if she is lucky. You would have to carbon-date her in front of my face to prove otherwise.
And that little He Kexin who just slipped off the unevens? Not 16.
I think the whole thing is aimed at men like me.
I was at my daughter’s tonight and we were watching the gymnastics. Just as we were saying “How old are those little Chinese girls?” the commentator said that they had to be 16. No way those kids are 16.
Then, they were showing how the Chinese start them at THREE!!! They pick the most flexible girls at three years old and go from there.
I also heard them telling that the Chinese team leader (who does look 20) begged her parents to be allowed to quit gymnastics and come home last year. Obviously she wasn’t allowed to quit.
I was really surprised that the Hungarian team seems to have lost the stronghold they have had in this for a long time.
I am always amazed at how people can survive the learning/training process to become as accomplished as they do in this sport. (Just how many times do they fly off those uneven parallel bars before they can hang on? )
I had a close friend and colleague who was one of very few physicists I’ve ever know who went to college on athletic scholarships. She went to a Division I school on a gymnastics scholarship. I asked if she was really good. She said, Nah, she was just lucky enough that she could still DO gymnastics at the age of 18. Most of her competition had burned out or had career-ending injuries by then. She was on a first-name basis with the local orthopedist, chiropractor, and PTs.
I can understand the 16 rule, but as China has shown, there are ways around it.
I don’t know if this is still the case, but China used to take promising athletes AWAY from their parents when they were very young children. The children could visit their parents from time to time, but the parents had no say as to whether the children would be trained, or when they could quit.
Redwolf
And here’s a “yay” moment! Remember Oksana Bauil (sp?), who competed for what was called the “unified” team (former Soviet Union) in Barcelona? Well she’s competing in her fifth Olympics this year, for Germany, at the age of 33! She just qualified in the vault!
Yay!
Redwolf
I think that’s a different Oksana–Oksana Chusovitina. Oksana Baiul was a figure skater and currently lives in the U.S. (I just looked her up because this seemed unlikely to me.)
I watched hardly any of the coverage yesterday, yet managed to see the two swimming thrillers right before retiring last night (Adlington, US men’s win). Awesome…
You’re right…for some reason they showed a picture of Baiul during the profile, so I assumed it was the same person competing under a married name.
Redwolf
I’ve watched the Olympics my whole life. I much preferred when amateurs were the norm from most countries. I also would greatly apprciate if American TV would maybe once interview a Non-USA person and gush over someone else already. There are other stories to be told. I think they could ignore Michael Phelps for one interview.
I agree with all of the above. I don’t watch the Olympics to see nothing but American professional athletes…I can see those any day! I love the profiles of other athletes, and I love the medal ceremonies no matter who wins.
Redwolf
I personally find it weird that Bob Costas is still trying to look boyish. I mean, what is he, like 60 or something???
Between the patter and the homer stuff, I can barely stand to watch it. Period.Just like every recent time, they decide that I want to watch only the US or backgrounders while some of the best non-American athletes in the world are competing.
It sucks and I hate it. I assume some of you satelliters are getting straight feeds??
I saw my first Irish olympian yesterday, a boxer named Joyce. Just to reinforce the stereotype of the Fightin’ Irish.
Has anybody seen any other Irish athletes?
Mike
A boy named “Joyce” is pretty much guarranteed to grow up into a man that can fight.
The Games aren’t really our thing..
We have far more important issues.
Not to mention the lack of World class athletes..
..and Footballers..Soccer as it is called.
Slan,
D. 
I wish they would have the judo finals on TV.