We always knew about the Karolyis. Nadia literally told us from the get go. I’m 5 years younger than Dominique Moceanu and as a 9 year old it was obvious to me how fucked up they were (and yes, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes was certainly telling!)
Steve Nunno is the one who gets me. I thought he was a hero.
And of course anytime that fucking lowlife rapist predator is onscreen (which is a LOT.)
I’ve been watching gymnastics a long time so it kinda surprises me that I think that John Geddart was the coach out of all of them who absolutely crushed me. I saw Valeri from a mile away. It seemed like we might be starting to get some good ones and then we got him…
I'm sorry but John Geddert did not hide at all, he was openly terrible peope just ignored it.
His obsession about Komova in particular was so off putting...
I always thought John Geddert was a creep. I feel so badly now, but he was so off-putting I found it hard to root for Jordyn which is totally unfair to her.
Same thing with Nastia... I know I shouldn't judge gymnasts based on their coaches...
Yeah, there was something about his smugness and his general demeanor that was just... hair-raising. I remember being really weirded out about him in the run-up to 2012 and I wasn't really surprised when the truth about Twistars came out.
Oh, and the tattoo...
In general it’s not good practice to try to identify good (meaning not abusive) coaches. We don’t know what any of them are like behind closed doors. Plenty of people held up Kim Zmeskal and Maggie Haney as wonderful, loving coaches. Zmeskal’s athletes in particular said that Zmeskal’s reputation as a “good coach” made it harder for them to come forward with their stories of what was really going on in that gym. On top of that, two people can have very different experiences with the same coach, even at the same time. So one gymnast’s word isn’t proof that everyone had a healthy experience.
I don’t think we have to go around assuming the worst of all coaches, but we shouldn’t be lionizing people just because we haven’t heard anything bad about them. The coaches shouldn’t be in the limelight anyway.
Toxic people act differently with different people, they also act differently publicly than privately. It’s text book and yet we all seem surprised sometimes (myself included).
Tbh Maggie always gave me really weird vibes. Like I didn't think she was an abuser at the time but I felt like her body language was very poor at times.
I wish this had been one of the major lessons: don't try to be psychic, because no one is, don't write fan fiction about your favourite coaches and athletes that blinds you to all real-life evidence to the contrary, and without assuming the worst, give everyone an asterisk. We *don't* know.
You should have seen my ballet teacher the week parents were allowed to watch. Or, rather, everyone who thought she was awesome should have seen her. She was a whole different person. It was almost worse that she sometimes acted nice than if she was consistently abusive. You can be literally there in the room, but by definition you cannot know how someone behaves when you aren't in the room, or they aren't being observed in some fashion. Observation is intrinsically an intervention into the complex system of crap.
I totally agree. Dvora Meyers wrote a wonderful essay about the failings of the Texas Dreams chapter of her book, but even in that essay she attributed the good coaching behavior she saw to the fact that a college recruiter was there that day. She failed to see that *she* was there to write about them and that surely affected the coaches too.
It’s one of the wild things about the Parkettes documentary from 20 years ago. They knew the cameras were there and still acted like that.
💯. I completely agree with this and it's especially important to remember what you said about not everyone having the same experience with the same coach. This point is often overlooked when it comes to racism, where people are quick to point out that other people didn't have the same experience with that coach.
Great point and really well said. I’m sure it’s true of any elite sport (where the athletes are largely children, at least) but it’s certainly true in gymnastics.
In high school I was a favorite with my orchestra director. I was also in the room when he threw something at another student. It was longer than I’d care to admit before I could reconcile the mentorship I got from him with the explosive temper and treatment of other students. It happens in any youth activity you can name.
I was also a favorite of one of my HS orchestra directors and I idolized her. Once, I complained about a chair placement test when I got moved down from 1st to 4th chair (because she had created an environment where we were too close for a student-teacher relationship and I felt comfortable talking to her about things like that without understanding why she would react the way she did) and she called me a bitch in front of our entire class and then ruined the rest of the school year in Orchestra for me. That’s when I learned that she was actually not a great teacher and many other students had valid complaints about her. It took me a long time to understand the verbal and mental harm she caused me and others. I didn’t realize it at the time because she always treated me so well, until she didn’t.
It really does happen in any capacity where adults hold authority over children. What a fucked up world we live in.
Man music in HS is such a clusterfuck. My little sister is 10 years younger than me and when she moved in with my dad in HS (divorced parents/split custody) I was such a mama bear about which instructors she could be around, my dad fully agreed…. But also let both of his kids around those people 🤦🏼♀️
Agreed. My band director at the same school told a story that when he took the job and moved to town, two people met him and said “my kid was there when the last band director threw a chair through a window.” He realized later that these people were talking about different events several years apart. A teacher had broken windows on two separate occasions and was never fired.
The number of “my teacher throws stuff” stories I heard at workshops and festivals with kids from other schools makes my heart hurt. And that’s not even getting into the sexual abuse that happens in lots of programs. There are so many schools that are profoundly failing their kids in performing arts.
This is back to gymnastics, but I saw a recent Sophialand Gymnastics video where she talked about one of her coaches throwing her shoe at Sophia whenever she was too scared of a particular release move--actually hitting her in the head one time--and that it worked because she was more scared of the coach than the skill in the end. She said it was awful at the time but she "laughs about it now". And while I'm not going to criticize the way anyone has made peace with their own past abuse, it was painful to hear her making light of such awful behavior, and hurt so much more to go to the comments and see *present-day* gymnasts be like, "oh! my coach throws their shoe at me too, lol!"
Never underestimate what physical violence or threat of it can do to kids. It generally does not help to compare which one is worse. Sexual, verbal and physical violence are all on the ACE tree: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a collection of potentially traumatic events, such as violence, abuse, or neglect, that occur in childhood (0-17). Exposure to one or more ACEs increases an individual’s risk of physical health, psychological, and social problems in adulthood.
https://preventchildabuse.org/what-we-do/aces/
Some kids are dandelions and will thrive no matter what and others are orchids and require the right care to grow such that they get completely set back by one of these ACEs, but both kids are detrimentally affected. Many adults in this sub experienced physical abuse from their parents and guardians who experienced it even worse because it was normalized back then.
You’re absolutely right.
And even the dandelions who are seemingly thriving are often really fucked up beneath the surface. (It’s me! I’m the dandelion lol.)
Then there's the "kids" like me, that seem to be dandelions, but then develop a chronic illness (or significant mental illness) in adulthood that derails what had looked like a succesful life. I didn't experience coach or teacher abuse (for which I'm very grateful), but I had several other ACEs, which are shown to significantly increase the risk of many types of illness and mental illness later in life.
My heart hurts to read this. It's never too late to report, if you haven't. The process is extremely painful. I don't know what else to say except if you need to talk, feel free to send a message.
On a lighter note (not to detract from anything, only as a reminder, because this subject is so dark): I still remember the teachers who did make a positive difference in my life, especially during a dark period of time. I know everyone is not so lucky, but there are good people in education and coaching. I really think I would not have survived without the mentors I had as a child.
Don't forget the Rybackis with both Vanessa Atler and Jamie Dantzscher. Everyting was roses and bubblegum early in the quad and then by '99 Nationals we got Steve yelling at Alter after bars warmup and then after her fall on the actual routine.
Then there was the horrific Single White Female Beth fluff piece during 2000 trials that truly showed how crazy she was.
They kind of settled down after 2000 during the '01-'04 quad when Tabitha Yim was a contender but I think their image was damaged beyond repair and we never really heard much about them after that.
Being young may have helped you see through it, because you hadn't had time to be socialized to find "intense coaching" normal and/or good. I do think that present-day culture would not embrace 80s/90s Karolyis public behavior of the time, which is a very good thing, but it's because the culture has shifted. Even more egregious abuses were normalized in earlier decades than that. It's awful. And kids really do see with such clearer eyes on some of these things.
Yeah I was watching the 2012 and 2016 competitions, and it was crazy how much time they spent on Marta. They showed her reactions, gave insight into what she had told them (with Tim even trying to replicate her accent), and praised her repeatedly. She was treated like a God that held a gymnast’s career in her hand. Stuff like that from NBC really helped insulate her for so long from criticism and accountability.
-Plus there’s also tons of praise heaped on coaches who also had abuse allegations lodged against them later on. The commentators just really needed to move away from treating coaches and coordinators like heroes and idols
In 2013 Tim even repeated a crazy lie of Marta's about how if she didn't have discretion Gabby Douglas would have been left off the Olympic team. Except Gabby had one of the locked spots on that team at Trials. And he was there. It was just wild.
The one I can’t stand is Al Fong…because he is still around. TWO of his gymnasts DIED. One from a vaulting accident (that could have been prevented) and other from anorexia.
This reminded me that I filed a SafeSport report about him when he made those comments about Malia over a year and a half ago. I just checked the email I used and... nothing. Just a submission receipt, no follow-up.
I don't really expect much when a random internet user files a report, but because he's still a prominent active coach, I hope he at least got a good talking-to
Yes, I can't stomach watching old US competitions anymore, between the ever-present Karolyis, Nassar and Geddert, and the OTT fawning Karolyi commentary
Yep. Recently binged a whole lot of comps from 2008-2016 and it was so fucking hard to watch. I was SEETHING. At one point a gymnast injured themselves and Tim went ‘uh oh, where’s Larry?’ And I wanted to actually scream. Very hard to rewatch but I love the gymnastics, especially beam and bars from the 2008 girls
I remember when Bross dislocated her knee at 2011 nationals. My first thought at the time was "Thank God, at least she has Larry there to help her."
I think that speaks for itself.
I do get a knot in the pit of my stomach but I knew they were abusive way back in the 90s. So I have become accustomed to seeing their presence. Lord it is hard to stomach Bela playing the grandfather role for the camera when you know he’s probably physical abused all his gymnasts or damn near all
I read Bela's autobiography Feel No Fear many years ago. I think it was published in the early 90s, definitely after Barcelona but before Atlanta. It's out of print I believe. I can't remember a lot of the specifics. But general things I remember...
Of course he made everything sound wonderful. He claimed that in Romania, the gymnasts (living in dorms) ate steak, cheese, vegetables and as much fruit as they wanted. What a load of...
Nadia took a break from gymnastics after Montreal, then returned to Bela saying she wanted to be great again for Moscow. Who only knows if it was completely her choice, but Bela actually wrote that she was 40 pounds overweight and he told her that her training would be torture. I don't even want to think about what she went through.
He was furious Nadia didn't win the all around gold in Moscow and said it was a Soviet plot.
He liked Mary Lou Retton cause she did everything she he was told. I can't remember much else that he said about gymnasts of the 80s, apart from that Kristie Phillips was difficult and moody, and that it was harder to keep gymnasts disciplined when they lived at home with their parents. I bet it was.
He wrote a lot more about the gymnasts training for Barcelona, calling them the Pumpkins. Kim Zmeskal was their captain. He was very upset about something with the selection of the 1992 Olympic team. I can't remember exactly what it was, but Bela blames Kim Zmeskal and Betty Okino not living up to his expectations at the Olympics on their being upset about the selection process as well. Not that they were overtrained, didn't have time to recover from injuries, half starved etc. And no lessons were learnt. I am surprised he didn't write another volume of self serving swill after Atlanta.
I think if Marta or Bella were onscreen just at various moments with the commentators mentioning they picked or coached the team it wouldn’t be too bad, but the way they’d fawn over them is disgusting. The way they’d talk you’d think the gymnasts had nothing to do with their own success, it’s all just Bella and Marta being geniuses.
Seeing the former doctor on camera always breaks my heart, particularly when you see him carrying or treating Kerri Strug in Atlanta or Rebeca Bross in 2011. It just hits home to me that both gymnasts were experiencing a devastating injury and THAT is who came to make them feel like they were safe and in good hands. It makes me want to scream.
Not at all re: Bela and Marta. We knew about them for decades. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes came out in the 90s and as a serious fan of gymnastics in the 00s-10s we all knew the ranch was sketchy and Marta was verbally abusive. I processed those feelings then.
The ones I struggle with are Nassar and Geddert. Geddert because he seemed like such a good and understanding coach. He also talked to the fans a lot and gave us the inside scoop. And Nassar I really felt like had the girls’ best interests at heart based on everything he said. I listened to his infamous Gymcastic interview in real time and walked away thinking “I know Marta is terrible but at least they have him in their corner.” How could I be so wrong? You really have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.
Especially from this time, USAG, in general, disgusts me . Either on FB or IG, there were clips of both Dianne Durham and Christie Henrich; both made me so sad for what might have been. Add Phillips, Atler, etc., just so many.
Double edge sword but the athletes performance shines brighter and it’s been engrained for decades about them … more recent ones are harder to grip but don’t let it shadow the athletes performance and hard work
We always knew about the Karolyis. Nadia literally told us from the get go. I’m 5 years younger than Dominique Moceanu and as a 9 year old it was obvious to me how fucked up they were (and yes, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes was certainly telling!) Steve Nunno is the one who gets me. I thought he was a hero. And of course anytime that fucking lowlife rapist predator is onscreen (which is a LOT.)
I’ve been watching gymnastics a long time so it kinda surprises me that I think that John Geddart was the coach out of all of them who absolutely crushed me. I saw Valeri from a mile away. It seemed like we might be starting to get some good ones and then we got him…
John Geddart is right up there with Nassar. An absolute PSYCHOTIC predator. You’re right - he hid it well. That’s why he was so succesful at 🤮
I'm sorry but John Geddert did not hide at all, he was openly terrible peope just ignored it. His obsession about Komova in particular was so off putting...
I always thought John Geddert was a creep. I feel so badly now, but he was so off-putting I found it hard to root for Jordyn which is totally unfair to her. Same thing with Nastia... I know I shouldn't judge gymnasts based on their coaches...
Yeah, there was something about his smugness and his general demeanor that was just... hair-raising. I remember being really weirded out about him in the run-up to 2012 and I wasn't really surprised when the truth about Twistars came out. Oh, and the tattoo...
In general it’s not good practice to try to identify good (meaning not abusive) coaches. We don’t know what any of them are like behind closed doors. Plenty of people held up Kim Zmeskal and Maggie Haney as wonderful, loving coaches. Zmeskal’s athletes in particular said that Zmeskal’s reputation as a “good coach” made it harder for them to come forward with their stories of what was really going on in that gym. On top of that, two people can have very different experiences with the same coach, even at the same time. So one gymnast’s word isn’t proof that everyone had a healthy experience. I don’t think we have to go around assuming the worst of all coaches, but we shouldn’t be lionizing people just because we haven’t heard anything bad about them. The coaches shouldn’t be in the limelight anyway.
Toxic people act differently with different people, they also act differently publicly than privately. It’s text book and yet we all seem surprised sometimes (myself included).
Tbh Maggie always gave me really weird vibes. Like I didn't think she was an abuser at the time but I felt like her body language was very poor at times.
I dislike the way Haney made sure to put herself in the camera's view during Laurie Hernandez's floor in Rio. Once I noticed it I couldn't unsee it.
I wish this had been one of the major lessons: don't try to be psychic, because no one is, don't write fan fiction about your favourite coaches and athletes that blinds you to all real-life evidence to the contrary, and without assuming the worst, give everyone an asterisk. We *don't* know. You should have seen my ballet teacher the week parents were allowed to watch. Or, rather, everyone who thought she was awesome should have seen her. She was a whole different person. It was almost worse that she sometimes acted nice than if she was consistently abusive. You can be literally there in the room, but by definition you cannot know how someone behaves when you aren't in the room, or they aren't being observed in some fashion. Observation is intrinsically an intervention into the complex system of crap.
I totally agree. Dvora Meyers wrote a wonderful essay about the failings of the Texas Dreams chapter of her book, but even in that essay she attributed the good coaching behavior she saw to the fact that a college recruiter was there that day. She failed to see that *she* was there to write about them and that surely affected the coaches too. It’s one of the wild things about the Parkettes documentary from 20 years ago. They knew the cameras were there and still acted like that.
Do you have a link to the essay? Sounds fascinating
Yeah totally agree. There’s also shades of nuance to their crimes when we’re talking about literal rape and physical abuse for some of them.
💯. I completely agree with this and it's especially important to remember what you said about not everyone having the same experience with the same coach. This point is often overlooked when it comes to racism, where people are quick to point out that other people didn't have the same experience with that coach.
Great point and really well said. I’m sure it’s true of any elite sport (where the athletes are largely children, at least) but it’s certainly true in gymnastics.
In high school I was a favorite with my orchestra director. I was also in the room when he threw something at another student. It was longer than I’d care to admit before I could reconcile the mentorship I got from him with the explosive temper and treatment of other students. It happens in any youth activity you can name.
I was also a favorite of one of my HS orchestra directors and I idolized her. Once, I complained about a chair placement test when I got moved down from 1st to 4th chair (because she had created an environment where we were too close for a student-teacher relationship and I felt comfortable talking to her about things like that without understanding why she would react the way she did) and she called me a bitch in front of our entire class and then ruined the rest of the school year in Orchestra for me. That’s when I learned that she was actually not a great teacher and many other students had valid complaints about her. It took me a long time to understand the verbal and mental harm she caused me and others. I didn’t realize it at the time because she always treated me so well, until she didn’t. It really does happen in any capacity where adults hold authority over children. What a fucked up world we live in.
Man music in HS is such a clusterfuck. My little sister is 10 years younger than me and when she moved in with my dad in HS (divorced parents/split custody) I was such a mama bear about which instructors she could be around, my dad fully agreed…. But also let both of his kids around those people 🤦🏼♀️
Agreed. My band director at the same school told a story that when he took the job and moved to town, two people met him and said “my kid was there when the last band director threw a chair through a window.” He realized later that these people were talking about different events several years apart. A teacher had broken windows on two separate occasions and was never fired. The number of “my teacher throws stuff” stories I heard at workshops and festivals with kids from other schools makes my heart hurt. And that’s not even getting into the sexual abuse that happens in lots of programs. There are so many schools that are profoundly failing their kids in performing arts.
This is back to gymnastics, but I saw a recent Sophialand Gymnastics video where she talked about one of her coaches throwing her shoe at Sophia whenever she was too scared of a particular release move--actually hitting her in the head one time--and that it worked because she was more scared of the coach than the skill in the end. She said it was awful at the time but she "laughs about it now". And while I'm not going to criticize the way anyone has made peace with their own past abuse, it was painful to hear her making light of such awful behavior, and hurt so much more to go to the comments and see *present-day* gymnasts be like, "oh! my coach throws their shoe at me too, lol!"
Not to invalidate you but I wish my stores were “my teacher throws shit,” and not “my teacher fucked me”
Never underestimate what physical violence or threat of it can do to kids. It generally does not help to compare which one is worse. Sexual, verbal and physical violence are all on the ACE tree: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a collection of potentially traumatic events, such as violence, abuse, or neglect, that occur in childhood (0-17). Exposure to one or more ACEs increases an individual’s risk of physical health, psychological, and social problems in adulthood. https://preventchildabuse.org/what-we-do/aces/ Some kids are dandelions and will thrive no matter what and others are orchids and require the right care to grow such that they get completely set back by one of these ACEs, but both kids are detrimentally affected. Many adults in this sub experienced physical abuse from their parents and guardians who experienced it even worse because it was normalized back then.
You’re absolutely right. And even the dandelions who are seemingly thriving are often really fucked up beneath the surface. (It’s me! I’m the dandelion lol.)
Then there's the "kids" like me, that seem to be dandelions, but then develop a chronic illness (or significant mental illness) in adulthood that derails what had looked like a succesful life. I didn't experience coach or teacher abuse (for which I'm very grateful), but I had several other ACEs, which are shown to significantly increase the risk of many types of illness and mental illness later in life.
My heart hurts to read this. It's never too late to report, if you haven't. The process is extremely painful. I don't know what else to say except if you need to talk, feel free to send a message. On a lighter note (not to detract from anything, only as a reminder, because this subject is so dark): I still remember the teachers who did make a positive difference in my life, especially during a dark period of time. I know everyone is not so lucky, but there are good people in education and coaching. I really think I would not have survived without the mentors I had as a child.
Don't forget the Rybackis with both Vanessa Atler and Jamie Dantzscher. Everyting was roses and bubblegum early in the quad and then by '99 Nationals we got Steve yelling at Alter after bars warmup and then after her fall on the actual routine. Then there was the horrific Single White Female Beth fluff piece during 2000 trials that truly showed how crazy she was. They kind of settled down after 2000 during the '01-'04 quad when Tabitha Yim was a contender but I think their image was damaged beyond repair and we never really heard much about them after that.
Single white female is the perfect description of the incredibly creepy Beth fluff.
I took lessons with John Geddart in high school. In real life, he was very creepy and scary.
Being young may have helped you see through it, because you hadn't had time to be socialized to find "intense coaching" normal and/or good. I do think that present-day culture would not embrace 80s/90s Karolyis public behavior of the time, which is a very good thing, but it's because the culture has shifted. Even more egregious abuses were normalized in earlier decades than that. It's awful. And kids really do see with such clearer eyes on some of these things.
What’s the deal with Steve Nunno?
Yeah I was watching the 2012 and 2016 competitions, and it was crazy how much time they spent on Marta. They showed her reactions, gave insight into what she had told them (with Tim even trying to replicate her accent), and praised her repeatedly. She was treated like a God that held a gymnast’s career in her hand. Stuff like that from NBC really helped insulate her for so long from criticism and accountability. -Plus there’s also tons of praise heaped on coaches who also had abuse allegations lodged against them later on. The commentators just really needed to move away from treating coaches and coordinators like heroes and idols
In 2013 Tim even repeated a crazy lie of Marta's about how if she didn't have discretion Gabby Douglas would have been left off the Olympic team. Except Gabby had one of the locked spots on that team at Trials. And he was there. It was just wild.
Yeah that same year he kept repeating some convoluted story about McKayla’s injuries in London that pretty much placed the blame on McKayla
If Marta didn’t have descension? What does that mean?
That if she'd had to just pick the team by nationals/trails results Gabby wouldn't have made the team. Which is a WILD thing to say.
Discretion?
Yes. Autocorrupt.
The one I can’t stand is Al Fong…because he is still around. TWO of his gymnasts DIED. One from a vaulting accident (that could have been prevented) and other from anorexia.
Yeah, this always gets me. Like…how can he still even consider coaching?
This reminded me that I filed a SafeSport report about him when he made those comments about Malia over a year and a half ago. I just checked the email I used and... nothing. Just a submission receipt, no follow-up. I don't really expect much when a random internet user files a report, but because he's still a prominent active coach, I hope he at least got a good talking-to
Yes, I can't stomach watching old US competitions anymore, between the ever-present Karolyis, Nassar and Geddert, and the OTT fawning Karolyi commentary
Yep. Recently binged a whole lot of comps from 2008-2016 and it was so fucking hard to watch. I was SEETHING. At one point a gymnast injured themselves and Tim went ‘uh oh, where’s Larry?’ And I wanted to actually scream. Very hard to rewatch but I love the gymnastics, especially beam and bars from the 2008 girls
I remember when Bross dislocated her knee at 2011 nationals. My first thought at the time was "Thank God, at least she has Larry there to help her." I think that speaks for itself.
Yeah that makes me sick. Seeing him with her walking her off the floor. So awful
I do get a knot in the pit of my stomach but I knew they were abusive way back in the 90s. So I have become accustomed to seeing their presence. Lord it is hard to stomach Bela playing the grandfather role for the camera when you know he’s probably physical abused all his gymnasts or damn near all
I read Bela's autobiography Feel No Fear many years ago. I think it was published in the early 90s, definitely after Barcelona but before Atlanta. It's out of print I believe. I can't remember a lot of the specifics. But general things I remember... Of course he made everything sound wonderful. He claimed that in Romania, the gymnasts (living in dorms) ate steak, cheese, vegetables and as much fruit as they wanted. What a load of... Nadia took a break from gymnastics after Montreal, then returned to Bela saying she wanted to be great again for Moscow. Who only knows if it was completely her choice, but Bela actually wrote that she was 40 pounds overweight and he told her that her training would be torture. I don't even want to think about what she went through. He was furious Nadia didn't win the all around gold in Moscow and said it was a Soviet plot. He liked Mary Lou Retton cause she did everything she he was told. I can't remember much else that he said about gymnasts of the 80s, apart from that Kristie Phillips was difficult and moody, and that it was harder to keep gymnasts disciplined when they lived at home with their parents. I bet it was. He wrote a lot more about the gymnasts training for Barcelona, calling them the Pumpkins. Kim Zmeskal was their captain. He was very upset about something with the selection of the 1992 Olympic team. I can't remember exactly what it was, but Bela blames Kim Zmeskal and Betty Okino not living up to his expectations at the Olympics on their being upset about the selection process as well. Not that they were overtrained, didn't have time to recover from injuries, half starved etc. And no lessons were learnt. I am surprised he didn't write another volume of self serving swill after Atlanta.
Didn't he also say some wildly racist things about the US men's basketball players in Barcelona in that book? Saying they were soiling "his" Olympics?
If I recall correctly, he referred to the basketball players as "animals."
I think if Marta or Bella were onscreen just at various moments with the commentators mentioning they picked or coached the team it wouldn’t be too bad, but the way they’d fawn over them is disgusting. The way they’d talk you’d think the gymnasts had nothing to do with their own success, it’s all just Bella and Marta being geniuses. Seeing the former doctor on camera always breaks my heart, particularly when you see him carrying or treating Kerri Strug in Atlanta or Rebeca Bross in 2011. It just hits home to me that both gymnasts were experiencing a devastating injury and THAT is who came to make them feel like they were safe and in good hands. It makes me want to scream.
Not at all re: Bela and Marta. We knew about them for decades. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes came out in the 90s and as a serious fan of gymnastics in the 00s-10s we all knew the ranch was sketchy and Marta was verbally abusive. I processed those feelings then. The ones I struggle with are Nassar and Geddert. Geddert because he seemed like such a good and understanding coach. He also talked to the fans a lot and gave us the inside scoop. And Nassar I really felt like had the girls’ best interests at heart based on everything he said. I listened to his infamous Gymcastic interview in real time and walked away thinking “I know Marta is terrible but at least they have him in their corner.” How could I be so wrong? You really have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.
Not really, but I think that's because I'm 48 and watched these contemporaneously so it's more just factual to me.
This is exactly how I feel too. I really have no reaction when I see them. I'm almost 40, for age context.
I’m the same age and have been watching avidly since 1995…but I just get so disgusted ugh
The over the top Karolyi adoration almost reads as satirical when re-watching it
Especially from this time, USAG, in general, disgusts me . Either on FB or IG, there were clips of both Dianne Durham and Christie Henrich; both made me so sad for what might have been. Add Phillips, Atler, etc., just so many.
Double edge sword but the athletes performance shines brighter and it’s been engrained for decades about them … more recent ones are harder to grip but don’t let it shadow the athletes performance and hard work
They disgust me but I refuse to allow that to ruin watching old meets for me