A
Genre: Nonfiction
As I write this review, the US Women’s Olympic team in gymnastics was just selected, and this is the sport I love more than all others (yes, more than polo). I watch it whenever I can, and I yell as loud as anyone at the absurd crapfire that is NBC’s coverage (SHUT UP AL TRAUTWIG NEVER SPEAK AGAIN) (EVER).
Now, those of us who watched gymnastic before 2006, or know our gymnastics history, know about the ideal of the Perfect Ten. Before 2006, gymnastics routines were scored out of a 10, and it wasn’t until The Queen of All, Nadia Comaneci burst onto the scene at the 1976 Olympics did anyone actually SCORE a 10.
Thirty years later, gymnastics now has an open-ended scoring system that seems really complicated to non-devotees. This book begins with Nadia’s first 10 and traces the events that led to the implementation of the current scoring method. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the men’s competition in 2004, but a lot of things led up to that, including a ridiculous number of perfect 10s awarded in Seoul in 1988, and a lot of asking, “what’s a 9.975 even MEAN?” in 1992).
Then we get a history of USA Gymnastics, from their ascendancy in the 1990s, to the disastrous 2000 Olympics. Short history: the 2000 Olympic team came in 4th in the team competition, and won no individual medals. The 2000 team was then retroactively awarded the bronze medal in 2010 at the US National Championships after it was discovered that the Chinese team had had an underage gymnast, and 2010 was the first time that team had come together and really talked about how awful the experience was for them.
From there, the US adjusted their system and became the powerhouse we are today. The past 3 All Around Olympic gold medalists are Americans (and it’s likely to be four, as long as 3 time World Champion Simone Biles continues to be Simone Biles). The US has won the team gold medal the past 3 World Championships in a row, and a US woman has won the all around in seven of the past nine Worlds. We’re pretty good at this.
Meyers traces this dominance to several things: the collapse of the Soviet Union brought a LOT of their coaching talent to the US, there are a lot of people who give gymnastics a try, there are a lot of people around the country on the lookout for exceptional talent, and the Karolyis have been the mainstays of the national program (for better and for worse). And the open-ended scoring system is something that American gymnasts have taken considerable advantage of. They walk into any competition with the potential of scoring multiple points more than any other country’s team, and this is a sport where things can and have been decided by fractions of a point.
There’s also a discussion on NCAA gymnastics, which is not something I know much about. NCAA gymnastics still uses the 10 scoring system, and it’s very team oriented. That chapter was fascinating to me, and media sources like NPR are covering the performances that go viral, such as Sophina DeJesus’ tumbling routine from UCLA’s meet against Utah.
Meyers is a gym fan (she writes the Unorthodox Gymnastics blog, and has written on gymnastics for Deadspin, The Guardian, The Atlantic… she knows what she’s talking about. She isn’t afraid to say that yeah, there are dark sides to the sport: injuries, abusive coaching methods, and difficulties with re-entry after retirement are all things she at least touches on. Some of her interviewees say “Oh, it wasn’t that bad in the mid-90s” and then in the next breath go, “It’s much better now.” But she clearly loves this sort, and she wants people who aren’t a part of the Gymternet, who don’t obsessively follow the sport, to understand what happened to the Perfect 10 and more importantly WHY. She talks with just about everyone but Martha and Bela Karolyi (not for lack of trying) and got all sorts of stories, from how Simone Biles developed into the powerhouse she is, to the guy that conceived of the current scoring system. She interviews multiple former Olympians, too – Kim Zmeskel-Burdette, 1991 World Champion and current coach to Olympic alternate Regan Smith is a particularly interesting case.
I think that this book will deepen the experience of anyone who will be watching the Olympics next month, even those of us who know lots of things. Meyers did a great interview with the Gymcastic podcast about the book (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The creator and producer, Jessica O’Beirne, has been described as “wildly enthusiastic” and that’s the most accurate thing), and she’s a regular contributor there.
There are many places for people who want to know more than the vaguely insulting crumbs NBC will toss you, and places where the athletes selected for the women’s Olympic team has been hotly debated for the past year. There are so many blogs and discussion points about the dissatisfaction with NBC’s coverage that NPR even did a story on it. I’m vaguely hopeful that things might change, but that would involve getting rid of Al Trautwig as the “I don’t know nuthing about gymnastics” guy (But ALBERT you’ve been covering gymnastics for MULTIPLE OLYMPIC CYCLES YOU KNOW SOME SHIT BY NOW and also stop being gross about the young women who work their asses off. Having you say, when someone gets injured before a big event, “that’s like getting a tear in your wedding dress” is just… shut the fuck up, Al) (I hate him SO MUCH). The Gymternet is primarily women who decided they were going to make their own coverage, and discuss the real issues- that sounds familiar to me.
My point is, if you’re a casual fan, if you’re a rabid fan, if you just want to know more, this book has something for you.
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Thanks!
This is interesting. I usually only watch gymnastics at the Olympics, but I am a figure skating fan, & the discussion of scoring is similar to what happened to figure skating going from a perfect 6.0 score to the current system, although the impetus for change in skating came from a judging scandal. Might have to pick this up.
OH MY GOD AL TRAUTWIG. I can’t stand the man. Dude used to comment on the Tour de France (maybe still does, I noped out of that race when the scope of the doping became public) with similar vacuity, though without the gratuitous sexism. It just made me SO MAD that someone who clearly knows nothing and cares less would get so much money and airtime.
No major network would use a commentator who knew nothing (and apparently didn’t care to learn anything) about football, baseball, etc., to be a commentator for that sport, but somehow in sports that are dominated by or primarily enjoyed by women that is ok. NBC does realize this is 2016, right? Sigh.
Can I recommend a rather dark novel that focuses on the parental role in gymnastics: Megan Abbott’s YOU WILL KNOW ME. Like I said, it’s pretty dark (parents will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing, to nurture their daughter’s gift), so you might want to wait until after the Olympics to read it, but it’s clear Abbott admires the training and perseverance that go into becoming a world-class gymnast.
Ooooh. I’m so tempted to get hold of this – even though I’m a UK person. I’m so excited about the Olympic gymnastics – even if I’m devastated by the death of our (legendary) British commentator and coach Mitch Fenner last month.
I remember reading a YA novel about gymastics when I was a teen where someone DIED after falling and hitting their head during a difficult beam routine and it scarred me I tell you.
And *waves* Hi laurel – I’m a skating fan too!
My sister and I used to ahve a pact that if we have girl children we’ll send them to gymnastics and figure skating classes when they’re little to see if they like it and are good at it, because by the time they’re old enough to want to do it themselves it’s too late to be properly good!
I was very keen about gymnastics when I was young–Cathy Rigby and the wonderful Roxanne Pierce were my American heroes. I was also mesmerized by the bubbly Olga Korbut, whose contributions to gymnastics at the Munich Games possibly did more to revolutionize gymnastics than even Nadia’s did. These days, my interest is only casual, but I still somewhat follow the news and will catch YouTube highlights of some of the more notable routines for both the men and women. I’m definitely interested in this book, so it’s on my wishlist waiting for it to come out in paperback.
Ditto Lauren’s comments about the parallels between scoring in figure skating and gymnastics. I too, am an Olympic gymnastics fan, going all the way back to the days of Cathy Rigby, Olga Korbut and Nadiya, of course. I’ll try to give this a read before the Olympics! Thanks.
I took gymnastics for a very short period of time, mostly inspired by the lead up to and competition at the 1996 Olympics. How I wished I was Kerri Strug!!! Gymnastics is probably the biggest thing I look forward to in the summer Olympics, along with swimming and the equestrian events.
I wasn’t able to watch as much as I would have liked for the past two summer Olympics, so hearing Al Trautwig commentating the U.S. trials was a bit jarring, since (to me) he’s one of the voices of the NY Rangers hockey team! Much more comfortable and knowledgeable there, and I do wish they’d find someone else for the gymnastics job – just not Bob Costas or that guy who does the Triple Crown every year.