The Olympics is supposed to be fun. The creed is Higher, faster, stronger. You work your whole life to make it to this one event held every four years. Blood, sweat and tears depending on the sport but for the first time in a long time I feel pretty annoyed heading into these Olympics.
There is way to much dealing behind the scenes going on and it is taking away my love of this sport. Politics has always been part of picking the Gymnastics teams in a free society. Just ask Kim Kelly but this year the new code is pretty much forcing federations to screw people over. If the federations aren’t doing the fixing then the IOC is.
Examples.
:Verona Van de Leur. The best gymnast the Dutch have ever had has decided to retire. Two months before the Olympics she is so fed up with the way her federation is handling the decision making that she has quit the sport all together. She saw the writing on the wall as they say and knew she was not going to get that spot for the Olympics and she retired. Way to treat your former champ Netherlands.
:Wild Card Selection. The tripartite Commission is supposed to be the conscious of fair play. They get to pick one deserving female and male competitor to compete at the Olympics that for one reason or other didn’t qualify on their own.
: Elsa Garcia. Elsa was winning events left and right before the 2007 Worlds but as luck would have it she was injured at the 07 Worlds and had a bad competition finishing — not qualifying for the Olympics. Now looking at this situation clearly even I can admit she didn’t perform up to par so she didn’t earn her spot but explain to me why there isn’t something in place for situations such as this. A former Champion at major international events gets injured before the qualifying and doesn’t get to go the Olympics because of it? Doesn’t seem fair.
: Aljaz Pegan . At the last three World Championships he has won one gold and two silver medals but guess what? He won’t be at the Olympics. Apparently he didn’t deserve the Wild Card spot either.
: David Sender. The 2008 National Champion recently injured his foot so USA-Gymnastics might be off the hook in this situation but it is pretty well known around the Gymnastics community that David is not someone Miles Avery wants on the Olympic team. David is an AA gymnast but doesn’t stand out on any one event which makes him pretty much useless in the 6-3-3 format. That being said is leaving your National AA champion at home morally fair?
: Jamie Natalie. Finishing fifth at the 2000 Olympic Trails he was passed over for the Olympic team even though the 6-3-3 format was not in place then.
: Kristina and Nansy from Canada.
4 Comments
June 21, 2008 at 6:15 am
Elsa and Aljaz didn’t deserve wildcard spots because giving extra chances to stars that fail to qualify is not what wildcards are for. They are mean to insure geographic diversity at the games or something like that. Your Elsas and your Aljazes can apply all they want but they will only get a wildcard spot if the athletes that the wildcards are meant for are deemed not good enough. The Olympics has minimum standards. Set when Eddie the Eagle almost drowned in the pool. ( I think that was Eddie the Eagle.) For 2008 US got a second trampoline spot because none of the wildcard athletes could meet the minimum standards for trampoline.
June 21, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Jamie was 4th, not 5th. Both Morgan and John R. had scored less than him.
I think the solution is to stop being so “national” about Olympics and let the best gymnast come.
June 21, 2008 at 7:14 pm
TCO,
The results I read said 5th but thanks for the updates. I should have known better then to trust the media for facts.lol
Shergym,
I disagree. Makes no sense to leave home a medalist from worlds only the year before. Elsa should have and would have been at the Olympics if she wasn’t hurt
June 21, 2008 at 9:52 pm
By the time the Olympics roll around her medal is from two years before. Qualifying to the Olympics is not about what happened at any other meet besides the qualifying meet. 2006 Worlds is not the meet that matters.