Last week, we talked about the Multi-Olympian. I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of comments it received. I appreciate everyone’s opinion.

I have the utmost respect for gymnasts who competed under the original Code. They are the ones who have given us what the sport is today as far as skills and a standard for today’s gymnasts to be held to. However, there is no doubt that the current Code makes it very hard for gymnasts to make it to more than one Olympics.

The comparison to the harshness of the new Code to the original Code is just the fact of the matter. For the time (let’s use 1996 as an example), the gymnastics being performed was the most difficult in the world. One and a half layout Yurchenkos and full twisting double backs were the name of the game. Was it harsh on their bodies? Yes. Were they talented athletes? Absolutely. But when compared to the current Code and what gymnast’s today go through, there is no doubt that the sport is as harsh as it has ever been.

On floor, from 2006-2008, the Code required a minimum of four tumbling passes and a maximum of five. During the last era of the original Code, 2001-2005, it was a minimum of three and a maximum of four. Now, the 2009-2012 Code has gone back to a maximum of four. This may seem easier and in some ways it is. But it makes gymnasts have to perform much more difficulty in just four passes rather than five to be competitive. This is the harsh yet true reality of the sport.

It was also addressed that gymnasts who have not made an Olympics yet keep training and do make the next Olympics were ignored in last week’s blog. This was not my intention.

Gymnasts such as Alicia Sacramone and Chellsie Memmel, who both missed out on going to the 2004 Olympics, continued to train and both made the team in 2008. They are both making comebacks and the goal is London 2012. There is no doubt that they deserve the utmost respect for their efforts and contributions to U.S gymnastics.

However, many gymnasts who have made an Olympics feel that mentally and physically, they couldn’t do it a second time. Kristen Maloney, a member of the 2000 bronze medal U.S Olympic team, said in an interview with CNN that her body couldn’t take another Olympics. For gymnasts who don’t compete at the Olympics, it can be a good break for their bodies and minds. For gymnasts to continue year after year and make it to several Olympics with no break is almost unheard of. It is not that gymnasts who continue on to an Olympics after missing the previous one don’t have the same level of commitment, it is just a very different road that is taken.  

I appreciate the gymnastics of yesterday and today. I see the beauty in both. I see the sacrifice in both. And words cannot express the respect that I have for gymnasts across any era. Your comments truly speak to the love we all have for the sport. At the end of the day, our passion for the sport is the most important thing. 

The CNN interview with Kristen Maloney.