gymn Digest Sat, 1 Oct 94 Volume 3 : Issue 26

Today's Topics:
Amanda's College Pick
Birmingham Classic Competitors
Birmingham Classic Results
Birmingham Classic Womens comp
Bogi
Brown Settles Lawsuit ... sort-of
Doni Thompson Interview
Georgia & Amanda Borden
IG (2 msgs)
J. Thompson's moved to Karolyi's
Juniors going Senior
Mike Jacki
Miroslav Smetana (2 msgs)
Oral agreements
Reese's World Cup
Romaian Strike Settlement
Romanian strike
Romanian strike over
Romanian Strike Settlement
Shannon Miller's Father
strike (3 msgs)
training conditions
World Cup 95--Portland (2 msgs)

This is a digest of the gymn@athena.mit.edu mailing list.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 01:09:44 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Amanda's College Pick

I'm not sure about controversy over choices but Mary Lee told me several
months back that Amanda, Karin, and Sammie all wanted to attend college and
compete *together*. She listed their top choices (though it was wide open at
the time ... Amanda could really write her own ticket I'm sure) Georgia,
Alabama, and Floridia and said then that wherever Amanda signed she would
wait out a year to train for Atlanta.

On another note, anyone hear anything about how Sammie's knee is doing?

Susan

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 1 Oct 94 0:33:53 BST
From: ***@ic.ac.uk
Subject: Birmingham Classic Competitors

Birmingham Classic, 30th September 1994,
Birmingham National Indoor Arena, England.

Competitors list (sortred by competition numbers):

Women
=====

Olga Yurkina (BLR)
Zita Lusack (GBR)
Elena Grosheva (RUS)
Daniela Maranduca (ROM)
Nikolett Krausz (HUN)
Annika Reeder (GBR)
Lavinia Milosovici (ROM)
Svetlana Khorkina (RUS)
Nadia Hatagan (ROM)
Elena Piskoun (BLR)


Men
===

Craig Heap (GBR)
Szilveszter Csollany (HUN)
Marius Urzica (ROM)
Evgeny Gukov (RUS)
Grigori Misutin (UKR)
Zoltan Supola (HUN)
Igor Korobchinsky (UKR)
Ivan Ivankov (BLR)
Lee McDermott (GBR)
Dmitri Karbonenko (RUS)


Report soon to follow.

Sherwin

(Just got back home )

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 21:52:24 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Birmingham Classic Results

I'm not sure if this will beat Sherwin's report or not but (it also doesn't
jibe with Sherwin's competitors list) ...

>From the PA Newswire ...

Birmingham Classic, National Indoor Arena:

Women: 1 L Milosovici (Rom) 38.913, 2 S Korkina (Rus) 38.500, 3 N Hatagan
(Rom) 38.388. Others: 7 Z Lusack (GB) 37.650, 10 A Reeder (GB) 36.325.

Men: 1 I Ivankov (Belarus) 57.250, 2 I Korobchinsky (Ukr) 56.600, 3 E Gukov
(Rus) 55.400. Others: 7 L McDermott (GB) 54.175, 8 C Heap 53.950.

"Romania's Lavinia Milosovici successfully defended her title at the
Birmingham Classic tonight. She also took two apparatus titles, beam and
floor. This earned her a total of L5,000 in prize money which came as a
welcome bonus."

"The men's title was taken by world and European champion Ivan Ivankov who
also won three apparatus titles, the pommel horse, parallel bars and high
bar."

Susan

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 1 Oct 94 12:24:28 BST
From: ***@ic.ac.uk
Subject: Birmingham Classic Womens comp

Birmingham Classics 1994
========================

The Birmingham Classics took place at the Birmingham National
Indoor Arena, England on 30th September 1994 between 7pm and
10:30pm. There were twenty gymnasts taking part (10 men and
10 women).

We arrived at the arena a bit late due to unforseen circumstances
(i.e. my brother's watch was half an hour slow and he's supposed
to drive us up there!). The first thing to do of course was to
spot who's here. A quick check in the programme and a quick glance
at the arena told me that Piskoun was here! That made me happy
enough.

The Russians had employed a barber! Certainly all four Russians
(Grosheva, Khorkina, Karbonenko & Gukov) had haircuts. (The guy
sitting behind me said Grosheva looked like Boris Yeltsin with her
short hair!) In fact I didn't recognise her at first since I thought
she was Galeva for a minute.

Women
=====

The ten women gymnasts competitors were:

Olga Yurkina (BLR)
Zita Lusack (GBR)
Elena Grosheva (RUS)
Daniela Maranduca (ROM)
Nikolett Krausz (HUN)
Annika Reeder (GBR)
Lavinia Milosovici (ROM)
Svetlana Khorkina (RUS)
Nadia Hatagan (ROM)
Elena Piskoun (BLR)

Yurkina looked the same (and still wearing her green leotard).
Lusack and Reeder of course had the support of the British crowd
behind them. The other loudest cheers were for Lavinia Milosovici,
not surprisingly since she won the "Gym Stars" pool just a couple
of months ago. She had a bit more curly hair too sticking out at
the back. Nikolett Karusz was tiny. I haven't seen her before so
this should be interesting. Maranduca and Hatagan were both tall.
The Romanians were generally very supportive of each other, you
can hear them shouting for each other when a fellow teammate was
performing. Piskoun was hanging around Khorkina and Grosheva
most of the time (again not surprisingly).

I didn't take down any notes since I was busy video-taping the
meet. The tape should help me in identifying some of the moves.
I also didn't have time (or a spare hand) to take down any scores
I'm afraid. The meet is going to be shown on TV later on today so
I may be able to give you some scores.

Vault
-----

I missed some of this since I arrived late. From where I was
sitting I couldn't see much of it anyway. Some major incidents
include Elena Piskoun under-rotating her double-twisitng Yurchenko
badly and her overall score for the VT was only 9.150 (one of the
few scores that I had mentally noted). Milosovici's VT was very
clean. Lusack fell over on her second vault.

Uneven Bars
-----------

The apparatus closest to me. No major mistakes from anybody
except Annika Reeder who fell in her Geinger and again in her
double pike dismount.
Yurkina: full-twist giant into Geinger; piked Jaeger; full-twisting
double back dismount.
Milosovici had a different dismount (since she's having trouble
with her bars dismount lately). It was a double front with half
turn so she landed facing forwards. It was a good landing too!
The two best bars both scored 9.8. They came from Khorkina and
Piskoun.
Khorkina's include the Gnauck release and lots of other twisitng
actions. She finished off with a full-twisting (anybody else find
typing the word "twisting" difficult? I always typed it as "twsit"
or something before having to correct myself... A twisting word...)
double back.
Piskoun's include Delchev; full-twisitng hop over the high bar
straight into a full-twisitng giant; and a double layout dismount
(good landing).

Beam
----

I've written down all the major moves from my video so here goes:

Grosheva: front somi mount; front somi; side somi; flick(ff),
flick; fish jump into Korbut; round-off (RO) into stuck double back.
Cool routine with nice jumps (straight legs)

Maranduca: Yuchenko mount (round-off, layout); ff, layout (LO),ff;
side somi; fish jump into Omelianchik (flick 1/4 turn to handstand);
RO, double tuck.

Krausz: front somi mount; back somi to 2 feet; ff,ff,LO to 2 feet;
front somi; RO,ff, double pike.

Yurkina: Yuchenko mount (wobble); handstand splits into ff, LO, LO
(wobble); Omelianchik; RO, double pike.

Lusack: simple mount; ff, LO, LO; ff double tuck. (Really a very
simple routine)

Khorkina: RO onto springboard, full-twisting ff mount straight into
ff, ff; splits handstand into ff, full-twisitng ff; RO, LO to 2 feet
(OFF she fell!), RO into side double twisting dismount.

Hatagan: mount (I missed it); ff, LO, ff, LO; front somi (heavy!);
split jump into Omelianchik; RO, double tuck.

Piskoun: front mount (no immediate jump afterwards); ff to 2 feet,
ff to 2 feet, LO to 2 feet (left foot went off and OFF she fell...);
ff to full-twisting back somi (OK); RO, double pike.

Reeder: Yuchenko mount (and OFF she fell); Korbut; ff, LO, ff;
Omelianchik to splits; front somi (OFF she went again); RO, double
tuck. Disappointing with the falls.

Milosovici: RO into Korbut mount; side somi; ff, LO, ff, LO; jump
into Omelianchik; Omelianchik (again); RO, double tuck.

It was generally quite high class overall, despite a few falls.

Floor
-----

I've written down the major tumbling runs...

Maranduca: Triple-Twists (TT); front somi, front 1 and 1/2 twists;
front 1 & 1/2 punch front.

Krausz: full-twisting double (FTD) pike; front 1 & 1/2; 3 whips, ff, TT
(it would have been excellent but she fell short).

Yurkina: Arabian double front; front 1 & 1/2 punch front; TT (OK).

Lusack: FTD-tuck; back 1 & 1/2 twists into front walkover; ff, whip
immediately into double twists.

Grosheva: FTD-pike; front handspring, LO front, full-twisting front;
front 1 & 1/2; double pike.

Hatagan: TT; handspring, LO front; Full-twisting front; TT again.

Piskoun: TT; 2 & 1/2 twists punch front; FTD-pike.

Reeder: FTD-tuck: handspring, 1 & 1/2 twists, ff, ff, double twists;
handspring, front 1 & 1/2.

Milosovici: FTD-tuck; 3 whips, ff, double-twists punch front (!); TT.
She was still very good despite her critics.

Khorkina: FTD-pike; Rudi punch front; TT (not quite round).


Overall
-------

1. Lavinia Milosovici (ROM) 38.913
2. Svetlana Khorkina (RUS) 38.500
3. Nadia Hatagan (ROM) 38.388
4. Daniela Maranduca (ROM) 38.188
5. Elena Grosheva (RUS) 38.138
6. Elena Piskoun (BLR) 37.750
7. Zita Lusack (GBR) 37.650
8. Nikolett Krausz (HUN) 37.125
9. Olga Yurkina (BLR) 37.113
10. Annika Reeder (GBR) 36.325

So Lavinia successfully defended her title without much trouble.
After the medals ceremony the young audience of course shouted their
hearts out for autographs. "Annika!" and "Lavinia!" were the most
common calls. Lavinia stayed behind to satisfy many of them, but Annika
was held up by the Press wanting to do interviews, etc. The Russians
were off the podium in a flash.

Here endth the womens competition report. As I've said the meet is going
to be shown on TV later on today, so I may have something more to add then.

The Mens report will probably have to wait till then since I didn't note
down enough to put up anything significant (I don't have enough battery
to video-tape the Mens comp) Sorry Susan... but I will write as much as
poss on the Mens, which include a Grigori Misutin injury shock!

Later,

Sherwin

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 02:12:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@delphi.com
Subject: Bogi

Susan stobchatay@aol.com) writes;

>Yes, she's at Karolyi's and yes, she's in the gym ... but training for
>competitive gymnastics? I *seriously* doubt it. If she wanted to make a
>comeback she would have done it long before now. I, quite frankly, chalk this
>whole thing up to Bela's fabulous self promotion ...

I certainly hope you are right. I have been a big fan of hers for years and
can not believe she would take part in the weird shenanagans going on at
Bela's place lately....
And I NEVER meant that Bogi was pathetic!!! I meant this apparent attempt at
expoiting her good name!

P.S. The recent post of "Olympic Fever" left me in a state of shock. What a
tragic, horrible story! I only hope it was the fabrication of a very bitter
women, without a shred of truth to it. I feel truley sorry for anyone
harboring such a dreadful view of our sport as this document portrays.
Gave me chills.

Ben

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 08:08:36 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Brown Settles Lawsuit ... sort-of

>From the AP by Tim Whitmore (direct quotes noted) ...

3 days into the trial a partial settlement between the women athletes of
Brown and it's athletic department assure that men's and women's sports will
be treated equally for the next three years. "[The school will] continue to
be equitable in allocation of locker rooms, athletic equipment, supplies, and
practice facilities; scheduling of games and practices; use of the
university's weight room, and opportunities to take training trips. It does
not require the school to fund a specific number of varsity teams or any
specific varsity team" School offcials says that the settlement agreement
only affirms current policy but the athlete's lawyer called it "a major
victory for women's rights."

"The agreement, which came on the third day of a trial, settles the part of
the suit claiming Brown gives preferential treatment to male athletes, but
leaves open the question of whether Brown women are given sufficient
opportunity to participate in sports." The trial will continue to try & solve
that dispute.

Comments from Brown's VP: "We agreed to continue to exercise our discretion
in an equitable manner on a program-wide basis. It expresses our intent that
if there are changes they will be made in an equitable manner."

Athletes lawyer (Bryant) - claiming a victory - say: "This agreement will
make Brown University a model for the nation in the treatment of men and
women in athletics." [on the continuing dispute] "There are additional women
at Brown who are not being accommodated [in their interest in sports]" The
lawyers are pushing for permanent injunctions that would force the University
to fund women's gymnastics and volleyball (the sports that started the suit)
and start funding women's skiing, water polo, and fencing teams. "Lawyers for
the athletes have said the proportion of male and female athletes at the
school should approximate the ratio of male and female students. Attorney
Lynette Labinger said while women make up approximately 50 percent of the
5,600 undergraduate students, only about 36 percent of varsity athletes are
women."

The school contends that women on campus are not as interested in athletic
participation as men ... and say they have surverys to prove that.

Lisa Stern co-captain of the gymnastics team, said she didn't think there
would be an out-of-court settlement of the remaining issues. But Stern, who
testified Monday that she and other members of the gymnastics team felt like
"second-class citizens" during the two seasons they were without varsity
funding, acknowledged Brown has made great strides in its treatment of women
athletes. "Things have improved a great deal," said Stern, of Mesa, Ariz.
"They're not yet perfect, but we're hoping they'll continue to improve with
this agreement."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - -

Does this sound like a lot of whining to anyone else? I mean did the men sue
(water polo & something else for the guys was cut at the same time as gymn
and volleyball for the women)? How many schools have enough interest to have
a women's fencing team? C'mon! Isn't school supposed to be for education
anyway? Athletic departments are nice but they shouldn't be the central focus
of your "academic" life.

Let's be realistic here, sports like football and basketball get big bugets
because the raise big money. Without that money sports like gymnastics
wouldn't even exist on the college scene (men or women).

Equality is nice but not always "fair" ... Sex discrimination is what lead
to the current situation of the men not even having an NCAA program (for all
practical purposes anyway). Do people really think they're going to cut
football to keep a team that runs in the red (as all gymn teams do)? Also,
the "same number of men's sports as women" is just plain silly. How many
colleges have a women's football team? That means that with fewer women's
sports competed (a simple fact) that "good" men' sports - like gymnastics -
get cut to make the quota. Are we going to see scholarships in women's
waterpolo now?

To me, anyway it's the height of silliness and selfishness. How many men from
olympic sports will no longer be able to compete so that the women can feel
that things are "fair".

In gymnastics in this country little girls can be elite gymnasts and compete
at the club level ... it's not something you see very much with men. For most
guys the NCAA is their only chance to put to use the years of training
they've put in.

Susan

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 14:12:49 +0800
From: ***@Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: Doni Thompson Interview

For those who haven't met her, Doni Thompson is an interviewer's dream.
She speaks very easily and appears to really enjoy the interview process.
Not that the shy gymnasts are weird or anything (I know I wouldn't want
people poking recorders in my face asking all sorts of questions), but it's
fun to interview someone that doesn't seem intimidated by the process.

-George

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 00:22:07 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Georgia & Amanda Borden

To All:
FYI: There has been a minor controversy brewing over Amanda's selection of
Georgia.
Amanda's coach is dating an assistant gymnastics coach at the University
of Georgia, and some have grumbled that the situation gave the Bulldogs an
advantage in recruiting the nation's #1 pick.
These folks, I suspect, are only grumbling because *they* didn't have any
sort of advantage.
--- Ron in Fla.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 06:17:03 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: IG

I just got my new IG today... or yesterday as the case may be.
Anyway, what's this about Sandy Knapp of USAG being nominated to the
FIG? Puh-lease...
Also, why were the two Dominiques on this months cover... IG is
the only magazine in the world that I've ever seen that it's covers have
nothing to do with the inner content. You don't see TIME putting Haiti on
the cover when the crime bill is the main story inside. The victors of
the various competitions actually covered won't ever get a cover that way,
unless they were covered the month before... I know I'm sounding picky,
but what's the point of this? Is there one?

Just wondering...

Amanda

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 01 Oct 94 01:14:53 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: IG

> Also, why were the two Dominiques on this months cover... IG is the only
magazine in the world that I've ever seen that it's covers have nothing to do
with the inner content. You don't see TIME putting Haiti on the cover when
the crime bill is the main story inside.

Agreed. It's ridiculous, and it happens nearly every month. I don't who's
picking the covers, they need to have some relationship to the content!

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 10:21:40 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: J. Thompson's moved to Karolyi's

[Jennie T. moving back to Karolyi's]
>Anyone know why? I mean, is there any particular reason?

I would guess two words: home, Aleksandrov

BTW, Amanda, did you call that or what? :)

Adriana

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 02:12:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@delphi.com
Subject: Juniors going Senior

>I can see going Sr. at age 14 the yr. before an Olympics but at 13? At 12?
>Will we see it even younger then that? Where do we draw the line? Why even
>bother with the Jr. designation if "anyone" can be a Sr. just be declaring
>that they were? To me it seems beyond silly that many of the Jr's are older
>then the Sr team members.

Exactly, and well put. Rules and designations are designed for a reason. To
make them and then to circumvent them as you desire is a waste of time. To
allow a 14 year old to move up prior to the games has at least a logical ring
to it, but other than that, what purpose does it serve? (or whom?) I can think
of plenty of negatives, but no positives worth mentioning. What mutton head
thought up this Sr/Jr age group system in the US?? Aren't there enough
International Jr. meets? Talk about confusion...

Ben

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 01 Oct 94 01:14:48 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Mike Jacki

Although he isn't strictly a gym-related topic anymore...

According to USA Today, Mike Jacki's first major function as head of US
Skiing will be to downsize the operation (and possibly cut participation in
training camps) due to funding shortfalls of over $2 million.

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 9:17:41 BST
From: ***@ic.ac.uk
Subject: Miroslav Smetana

This is probably old news but do you guys know that the
Czech gymnast Miroslav Smetana was killed in a car accident
in August? He was a Europeans'94 Rings finalist and was 16th
All-Around in Europe.

Sherwin

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 10:21:32 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Miroslav Smetana

>This is probably old news but do you guys know that the
Czech gymnast Miroslav Smetana was killed in a car accident
in August? He was a Europeans'94 Rings finalist and was 16th
All-Around in Europe.<

*What* is going on? First Oksana Kostina, then the Turkish gymnast, now
this... are there others?

Adriana

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 28 Sep 94 21:17:37 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Oral agreements

>>PS I'm taking sports law this semester and I just *love* it. We did NCAA
stuff the last couple of weeks.

Is there precedent you've come across for allowing USGF trust fund gymnasts
into the NCAA?

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 23:40:02 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Reese's World Cup

The World Cup, scheduled for Portland, Oregon in January, will invariably be
at the Memorial Coliseum, Portland's only _major_ arena [until late 1995],
home of the Portland Trailblazers and a minor league hockey team. It was
also the location of one of those post-Olympic gymnastic exhibitions.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 08:08:46 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Romaian Strike Settlement

>From the Chicago Tribune (29th Sep. '94) "Baseball, The NHL, Now This"
(direct quotes noted)

"The strike *threat* ended when the Sports Ministry said it would increase
prize money fivefold"

"The move came after the chief trainer, Octavian Belu, threatened last week
that women gymnasts would go on strike unless the government kept its word."
[I found it interesting that this article is the first article that says that
it was oragainzed by a coach and not the girls themselves ... which knowning
the Romo system I found very hard to belive.] Belu says: "They are true
ambassadors of Romania abroad and therefore they have to be treated
properly."

While preparing for competitions in the near future [World Challenge of
Champions in CAN and the Birmingham Classic ... both this weekend] the girls
did *NOT* stop training but the strike threats were widely circulated.

"A gold-medal winner now will get the equivalent of $7,000, a silver medal is
worth $5,200, a bronze $3,400. Those figures are about five times higher than
before."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - -

>From the AP ...

"Like other former Communist nations, Romania used its gymnastics program as
a symbol of its country's excellence. After the fall of Communism, gymnasts
protested that their prestige had fallen, and that prize money and training
conditions were inadequate."

-posted by Susan

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 10:07 PDT
From: ***@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Romanian strike

Lets face it...

Milosovici needs the money for her breast reduction surgery and Gogean
never finished paying the doctor who performed the lobotomy...


-Brett

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 28 Sep 94 18:28:23 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Romanian strike over

It was reported on AP that the dispute has been settled and that the gymnasts
never interupted training although the threat was widely announced and the
gymnastics federation upped the money for medals. $7000 for a gold, $5200
for a silver, and $3400 for a bronze. ---Brian

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 15:00:38 EST
From: ***@email.cfr.org
Subject: Romanian Strike Settlement

>From AP "Like other former Communist nations, Romania used its gymnastics
>program as a symbol of its country's excellence. After the fall of Communism,
>gymnasts protested that their prestige had fallen, and that prize money and
>training conditions were inadequate."

Actually their "prestige" *was* artificial, given the political
conditions of the country. Obviously after Ceausescu fell, it lessened
..though I believe much of the bureaucratic machinery is still
in place (Vieru is still head of gymnastics, no?). As to training
conditions, a story about gymnasts in Bucharest in the recent IG mentions
that one facility still uses the mats that Ungureanu used way back when...
sounds unsafe to me...can you "re-stuff" a mat? If Comaneci is sending
money to the Romanian Federation as was reported, hope it's being used for the
betterment of training and not leotards (of course she probably will provide her
own brand anyway free of charge).

Connie

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 22:22:48 -0600 (CDT)
From: ***@rainbow.uchicago.edu
Subject: Shannon Miller's Father

Hi,
Does anyone know the name of Shannon Miller's Father and, even
better, his e-mail address? He gave a seminar at Fermi Lab once
about Physics and Gymnastics, and I wanted to ask him some questions
about it, but I lost his e-mail address, and to me he was "Dr. Miller,"
so I could not find him with an Intenet Search engine.

Thanks In Advance
Chuck

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 02:12:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@delphi.com
Subject: strike

>From 2 stories on Reuters(27 & 28 Sep. '94) by Radu Timofte (direct quotes
>noted) ...
>
>The ROM women's gym team (10 girls) walked out of the training hall in Deva
>on Monday effectively going on strike. They claim that their gov't was not
>rewarding - financial rewards that is - them properly for their successes
>in competition.

Am I the only person here who finds this attitude tragic? NOTE: I did not say
'terrible' or 'selfish', etc. I mean sad. Has Gymnastics finally come to this?
everyone who thinks cash prizes and professional meets are the way to go
should see this.
Money, but no honor?
I realize that for these people the money is probably a much more important
factor in their lives back in Romania than I understand from my place in the
US, but still...
And as the USGF turns into an orginization apprently more fascinated with
revenue generation (how many certifications do people need now?) with a
bloating bueracracy and employees making 6 figures, incentive money for
coaches, gymnasts with agents, I feel a cold wind blowing....
or is it just me?

Ben

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 23:52:48 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: strike

> >From 2 stories on Reuters(27 & 28 Sep. '94) by Radu Timofte (direct quotes
> >noted) ...
> >
> >The ROM women's gym team (10 girls) walked out of the training hall in Deva
> >on Monday effectively going on strike. They claim that their gov't was not
> >rewarding - financial rewards that is - them properly for their successes
> >in competition.
>
> Am I the only person here who finds this attitude tragic? NOTE: I did not say
> 'terrible' or 'selfish', etc. I mean sad. Has Gymnastics finally come to this?
> everyone who thinks cash prizes and professional meets are the way to go
> should see this.
> Money, but no honor?
> I realize that for these people the money is probably a much more important
> factor in their lives back in Romania than I understand from my place in the
> US, but still...
> And as the USGF turns into an orginization apprently more fascinated with
> revenue generation (how many certifications do people need now?) with a
> bloating bueracracy and employees making 6 figures, incentive money for
> coaches, gymnasts with agents, I feel a cold wind blowing....
> or is it just me?
>
> Ben
>

Whether you agree with it or not, prize money is often given at
most international competitions. Is it fair for the gymnasts to have that
money taken away from them when they return home? They earned it, they
deserve it. Are their fedarations and/or government owed a piece of the
action? I don't think so. And it is up to each individual gov't whether
they want to monetarily award their athletes based on international
success or not, but if they make that promise, they should at least deliver.

Amanda

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 09:52:52 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: strike

>Am I the only person here who finds this attitude tragic? NOTE: I did not
say 'terrible' or 'selfish', etc. I mean sad.

What do you mean by "sad" if it's not selfishness or something along those
lines that is bothering you?

>Is it fair for the gymnasts to have that money taken away from them when
they return home? [...] it is up to each individual gov't whether
they want to monetarily award their athletes based on international
success or not, but if they make that promise, they should at least deliver.<

My thoughts exactly. It reminds me of "who should've won" controversies --
when there is such a controversy, everyone bemoans the obsession with
"winning", but I think there's a lot more to it. When you work hard for
something and don't get it because of unfair judging, an injustice has been
done that is worth getting worked up over. It isn't wanting to win "per se"
as much as it is wanting what one deserves (i.e. wanting justice).
Similarly, it's not (just) the money, it's the failure to deliver as
promised.

:)
Adriana

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 18:38:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: training conditions

What Connie said about the Romanians' training conditions reminded me of
the article (also in this month's IG) about Elena Piskun and how her gym
doesn't even HAVE a floor-ex mat at all! I have so much respect for her that
she's able to perform at such a high level when she must not be able to
practice her floor routine very much. I know she can practice the tumbling on
the vault runway and I suppose she can do the dance moves somewhere, but to not
have a mat to practice the whole routine on, using the whole floor area, has
got to be TOUGH. What an athlete!

Beth

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 18:33:54 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: World Cup 95--Portland

Could anyone give me info on what arena in Portland the World Cup is being
held? Thank you.---Brian

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 21:16:24 -0700 (MST)
From: ***@asu.edu
Subject: World Cup 95--Portland

> Could anyone give me info on what arena in Portland the World Cup is being
> held? Thank you.---Brian
>

Is this the *actual* World Cup (ie like Brussels '90 and Beiging
'86) that should have been staged this year? Or is it only another
"pro-am" circus performance?

Amanda

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End of gymn Digest
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