On Friday the Blogathonrunnner decided to take a trip to the "Artistic" Gymnastics at the arena formerly known as the O2 and now known for some bizarre reason as the North Greenwich Arena for the period up to and during the Olympic and Paralympic Games no doubt. This was one of the test events that will occur for many sports up to the Games as part of the London Prepares Series.
It has to be said the spectator experience for this test event was very good and very promising with the Olympics just around the corner. More or less a full house of spectators saw gymnasts from all over the globe participate in various individual apparatus finals, with varying degrees of success it has to be said. British athletes of any sport would also be encouraged by national spectator support if the gymnastics is anything to go by. The minute a British gymnast was seen to do a somersault the noise level in the arena shot up by about 100 decibels and when a British young man by the name of Kristian Thomas won the High Bar competition the roof of the arena nearly lifted off. I do think there needs to be a few lessons in how to sing the British national anthem however, because that was about as good as the rejects you find on the audition episodes of the likes of the X Factor or American Idol.
Moving back to the topic of the "Artistic" Gymnastics. Now I never in a million years would I admit to being an avid follower of any gymnastic related sport. Like probably most people on this planet, my "Artistic" Gymnastics education has come from watching Olympic competition mainly, particularly in the 70's, 80's and 90's where gymnasts from former or current communist block countries won more golds that i have had hot dinners. It was the era where you were almost beguiled by the smiles and personalities as well as the gymnastic talent of the likes of Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci. The scoring was also pretty easy to understand as well. If a gymnast got a score of 10.00 you knew in lay man's terms "perfect".
Let me tell you blog readers, Gymnastics has changed! Upon my exit from the arena formerly known as the O2, i was asking myself questions such as; Since when have Mexico and Greece been good at gymnastics? Why on earth would you try a somersault on a 10cm wide plank of wood? Why can't any gymnast nail a dismount? Why don't you see gymnasts smiling and having a bit of personality anymore? Reflecting on these questions i have come to the following conclusions about 21st century "Artistic" Gymnastics.
1. "Artistic" Gymnastics is not "Artistic" Gymnastics.
To me "Artistic" Gymnastics is no longer about performing artistic and accurate routines to a degree. You appear to be awarded as a gymnast for attempting ridiculously complicated routines with a bucketload of difficulty crammed into the space of a minute and a bit. If performed perfectly and accurately - bonus! To me a forward layout somersault with three and a half twists in a piked position, would certainly probably have a wow factor, but if you miss your landing on a 10cm beam by 2mm, well it is not going to look pretty. Poor Sui Lu, a young Chinese lady who apparently has been World Beam Champion, found this to her cost on Friday. Attempting mind boggling elements in her routine she managed to fall off the beam twice and then proceeded to land on her face on dismount from the terrifying object. Gymnastics has certainly followed most sports now in terms being judged more on difficulty as opposed to performance. As a spectator you do want to be wowed by what you see, however, you don't want to be wincing either when a gymnast lands on their face.
2. Gymnastics is like a United Nations Convention Now.
Where were the Russians? Where were the Romanians on the Friday? Instead there were gymnasts from all corners of the globe from Chile to Greece, from Mexico to Israel. Clearly the appeal of Gymnastics is going global which cannot be a bad thing. Every sport's aim is to attract worldwide participation as well as a world wide audience. Gymnastics is clearly moving in the right direction.
3. And your chosen specialist apparatus is?
There was a time when the really good gymnasts in the world were almost like a jack of all trades when it came to all apparatus and were highly competent in all performing on all apparatus. The emphasis on difficulty in routines however appears to have forced the vast majority of gymnasts to have their chosen specialist apparatus and concentrate more or less entirely on perfecting their routines on that particular piece. This was seen in the fact that virtually no gymnasts appeared in more than one individual apparatus finals on Friday. One thing is for certain when it comes to the invidual all-round finals at the Olympics, the gymnast that wins gold will have well and truly earnt that title, because gymnastics no longer appears to be about being a jack of all trades, but a master of one or two at the most.
So has Gymnastics changed for the better? Well if audience response on Friday is anything to go by then yes. Gymnastics is no longer about the smile or the personality, it's about that extra somersault in the piked position.
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