Goin Deep Gymnastics Documentary with Vanessa Atler Part 1

[@ekgym3]

This is so true. I, being a gymnast myself, fell victim to anorexia just a few years ago. Then, just recently, I started my first period (at the age of 17). I was soooo mad, because I have always felt this pressure as a gymnast to be pre-pubesant and a little stick figure. I just want to let everyone else out there who has felt the same way, that you don't have to look like that to be a good gymnast! Please, don't let the "stereotypical" gymnast image get to your head!

[@Omgirrl]

I remember Olga. You're right. . .she was way tiny.

[@kras118]

seeing Christy Henrich still devastates me........I remember when she died-- I was young and naive about gymnastics at that point-- it really made me open my eyes and see the other side of the sport that I adore

[@trashywilma]

"The premiere American prospect for Sydney." I still haven't forgiven the media or American gymnastics for destroying Vanessa Atler.

[@BravesGurl1983]

I haven't forgiven them for not taking her to Sydney. A "shaky" Vanessa was so much better than half of the "best" of the group we sent! We didn't need her on bars. She would have helped us everywhere else. Too bad she wasn't about 4 years younger. She could have "specialized" in the other 3 like Alicia Sacramone did.

[@JLFAN2009]

Indeed, her timing was off: the pressure was still strong to be an all-arounder ("Gymnastics is all about being the next Mary Lou"), even though there was room for specialists (the team competition format had changed since Barcelona, since not every athlete performed on the apparatus in a given rotation). As such, she entered the Olympic trials with a defeatist mentality -- thinking that the selection committee had already eliminated her. She hadn't yet overcome her demons on bars; so her standing at the 2000 U.S. National championships was only a modest fourth. The fact that it wasn't necessary to finish at the top in order to make the team (the committee had made clear that the team would not necessarily be based on the results of the meets) didn't seem to make a difference to her mentality: if anything, she may have thought that it didn't matter how well she did -- since nothing was guaranteed. This probably explained the subpar performances she turned in at the trials, where she failed to nail a single routine in her 8 tries. But really, now: how was anybody to know how things would pan out for the Sydney squad that actually went to the Olympics in 2000? That they wouldn't quite perform up to their potential, and therefore come away empty-handed (being only retroactively awarded the team bronze medal)? There is nothing as useless as 20/20 hindsight, to say that Vanessa should have been there ....

[@beffyblb]

The stats she gives for the "gymnasts in the '90s" was actually for the 1992 team. 1996 was considerably different.

[@HuggiMa]

Olga Korbut was the first tiny gymnast, not Nadia.

[@tracischarf3415]

I‘m amazed that the commentator said something so blatantly wrong. Olga Korbut was not exactly a secret on the world stage!

[@Montrosesister12]

HuggiMa they are all tiny. Under 5 feet

[@misulina3]

thanks for posting!

[@raras889]

They separate it between morning and afternoon... and yes, those long hours are necessary. I once tried gymnastics, we trained for two hours and after each session I felt like I was just warming up.

[@wicklandtube]

ahhh i just watched this again and realized that it's diana nyaad! Cool! :)

[@saradenise04]

I really hope people don't think that it is always like this. Me and my husband have a very successful team and none of our gymnasts have eating disorders. We encourage them to watch what they eat and topic things into their bodies that will help them to stay healthy and energized. Outsiders have thought in the past that we put our girls on diets because they are very lean and muscular. You can't get in get anything good out of your gymnastics if you don't give your body something to work with.

[@TheCerealluvr]

It's like ballet. I did the same thing for years, make my body look like a 12 year old's from well 12 (and before that emaciated) until I was almost 17. It's not right.

[@LadyBludgeon]

@LadyBludgeon Keep in mind, I don't disagree with the idea that ones environment does play a role in ones development, but it's not always the case with everyone. These reporters are pointing out that rigorous training puts a halt or slows down development for EVERYONE who does it. It's not always the case and to state that anyone who trains long hours since childhood will slow their growth are overlooking genetic factors... which also play a role on ones development. It could be a combination.

[@kayteeare]

@gymfan1079 I have yet to see a documentary on girls gymnastics that *doesn't* make it out to be a monstrous horrendous activity. It's quite sad because many girls do the sport, love it and don't succumb to the pressures because so few ever make it to the Olympics (which is perceived to be the ultimate destination). No one ever mentions the Pan Am games or other competitions. Anyway, sad really because you're right - there are many many positives in gymnastics that no one ever addresses.

[@patricia_armstrong]

@hwatson86 um it was proffesional back then as well

[@kbsydney]

@nuuuuumber1 They said more than 3 dozen, not 3 thousand

[@slsl5243]

This is from part 2, but they are commenting on how Vanessa Atler "does it right" and doesn't diet, she is "healthy." Huh? I thought part of the reason for her struggles was her eating disorder/bulimia. Goes to show we only get the full picture in hindsight. I wonder about the newest crop too, supposedly every thing is picture perfect but I'm sure there's more to the story. No glory without pain..

[@nmelgar74]

When this video was done she had not yet developed an eating disorder as she was 15. I believe her eating disorder started around 98 or 99 when she was 17 and 18. Here she still enjoyed gymnastics and was still peaking. She got surgery due to ankle surgery that prevented her from training and then gained 4 pounds. She had started coaching with Valerie Liukin who put a ton of pressure on her to lose weight and that led to different strategies to lose it but she foundit hard. She succumbed to an ED which in essence destroyed her gymnastics

[@Altoclarinets]

All I have to say to these people is Oksana Chusovitina.

[@lswalling]

wow it is true...

[@gymfan1079]

@jukodebu I didn't say I was at the Olympic level. For crying out loud, I'm in my 30s now - I'm not doing the sport at all. Was your nasty comment really necessary? Geez.

[@patricia_armstrong]

@Moonfrost1 she doesnt train as long as some others only 5 hours compared to those who train 7-8 or maybe even 8-9 hours a day

[@Floatie114]

Missed the Comaneci @ 2:23... Why oh why didn't her coach just take that skill out?

[@haidangkieu1]

Dam i can't even sleep to 7 or 8 hour a day,

[@Makeuphoarder1]

Gymnastics isnt always like this.. I hate the news story's that only show the negativity aspects.. There are way more positives

[@Montrosesister12]

Makeuphoarder1 me to. I’m chihuahuahirder2019. Hahahahahah no seriously. I hate the news I hate that insecure woman that wrote that book called little girls in pretty boxes. There are millions of gymnasts in America and they chose to exploit a small subgroup of those athletes. Look there were more anorexic girls in my high school than there were in the entire gymnastics world in my state. There are tons of men that are anorexic. Wrestlers, jockeys, ice hockey players, track and field athletes, ice skaters. It’s never going to end. That’s the sad part but to pick on one sport is kind of crazy.

[@raras889]

Exactly, and news show the world what gymnastics is like behind the walls.

[@Montrosesister12]

Raras Umaratih what? That IF you want to be an ELITE ATHLETE you’re going to have a ton of sacrifices? Gee I’ve never heard of anything so outlandish!!! Wow you’re a regular Angela Lansbury. Great discovery. There are many paths to take in gymnastics. It doesn’t have to be ; if you’re enrolled in a gymnastics class you have to make an Olympic team

[@soniaqable]

in this clip she falls on the comanechi/spelling. the coach should have taken that move out. this focuses on her great coaching...jeez louis.

[@Cmc995]

This sounded hopeful and says ‘a change is on the horizon’ yet Vanessa Atler told she wasn’t chosen for Sydney olympics because ‘she’s fat’ 🤦🏻‍♂️ I think it’s finally different today but look how many suffered.

[@B_fu]

... and we complain about the hours we have at school... :/

[@tekkenfan01]

Hope people realize they don't train 8 hours straight. Once in the morning and another in the afternoon.

[@raras889]

but you do put elite gymnasts on diets right? I mean, not no-eating diets but stuff like no-McDonalds. Also I have a question--if you're an elite gymnast do you have to drink special juices? Like once I saw a swimmer athlete who drinks a breakfast juice of eggs and, I dunno, some other healthy stuff.

[@LadyBludgeon]

@danimal97520 Like I stated in my comment earlier... it's a combination of the two, genes & environmental influences. My late bloom was due to genetics not rigid work that strains the body, which is what the reporters in this video are stating is the main cause for late puberty. I'm not disagreeing with the environmental theory, I'm just analyzing that if rigid physical work is the main cause of late puberty than why is it women who aren't doing rigid work go through puberty later in life.

[@nuuuuumber1]

did bela really coached 3000 olympians ??

[@hikaru99]

wtf? I eat like 1200 calories a day. It's called a deficit.

[@TheExgymnast]

Ignorance of gymnastics knowledge is bliss.

[@Nathalie2905]

7 to 8 hours a day really is way too long....

[@chickchick0509]

this thing is making gymnastics look bad when it isn't

[@Lucyballet1994]

You're only allowed into a pre professional ballet school though if you naturally have a flat chest, slim figure etc, you're not supposed to make your body into a 12 year old's

[@LadyBludgeon]

The idea that one could alters ones puberty through rigor training is pretty strange. There are women through out the world who do far more extreme physical work on their bodies than western women do yet they go through puberty at an early age... no set back on them. I think genetics is part of that 17 yr olds' puberty late bloom. I didn't go through my puberty till I was 15, even then I didn't fully went through the changes till 22yrs of age, no physical strain btw, just pure genetics.

[@benrobinson77]

oh come on ... they cannot compare gymnasts from the 1950s to women of today, gymnastics was so lame back then and didnt have to do NEARLY as hard as tricks

[@gymfan1079]

This newscaster really pisses me off. She's making the sport out to be some kind of monstrous, horrendous activity, all to make a news story... pathetic. Gymnastics is a beautiful sport and the vast majority of girls participating (me included) get a lot out of it. So newscaster, go to hell!