Unsuccessful Comebacks | Part 1

[@gymnasticsmasterclass]

DISCLAIMER: During the Shawn Johnson segment, the script reads "At the 2011 Visa Championships, Johnson competed once again on beam and bars". While editing, I noticed it sounds like she ONLY competed on those two events. I just wanted to clarify she also competed on vault. Thank you for watching.

[@Saint3188]

Its all good.

[@xilomp3]

shawn had a legitimate chance to come back successfully, but her injury was just too much to overcome :( so sad because she had such a relatively short career and was so powerful and talented!!

[@elizabethsantos5586]

Shawn was so amazing and I completely agree her gymnastics career could've gone a lot farther if it wasn't for the injury

[@ALu-nq8rf]

Aye, but I'm glad she looks happy being a wife and mom and growing her family. ☺️

[@REChronic54]

At least she looked at it with optimism. I watched an interview of hers where she said that she was sad but not making it in also freed her from gymnastics and allowed her to move on to different things.

[@ema6250]

She did a video on her youtube channel about it and she said it was mentally as well as physically she could not overcome it but she is so happy now :)

[@Sarah-eh7bw]

@@ALu-nq8rf her husband is so annoying tho…

[@toedstool]

shawn has always stood out to me as a wonderful ambassador of the sport. she speaks about gymnastics on her channel as something she did because she loved it, not because she felt obligated to. Her retirement was a great example of that, I love that even in her departure of the sport, she was a person first and a gymnast second.

[@darkangel7589]

Cheng Fei’s body basically gave out, Nastia didn’t have enough time to train and prepare for the olympics, and Shawn was pushing herself too hard.

[@robertjames6659]

Shawn tore her knee up in a skiing accident though!

[@mygirldarby]

Shawn Johnson is such an incredible athlete. It's too bad she was pressured to lose weight. People have this certain ideal about how gymnasts "should" look, but it's really about aesthetics and not competitiveness. If a gymnast can compete at Olympic level, it shouldn't matter about their weight. It shouldn't matter about their age either. All gymnasts don't have to be 5' tall and weigh 90 lbs. Shawn is a mesomorph body type. They gain muscle quickly and are compact and stout. At their healthiest a mesomorph is not a stringbean. They are muscular powerhouses. The mesomorph carries a little extra weight but their muscles are stronger and it balances that out. I wish women gymnasts could just be accepted as they are like men gymnasts. And no more talk about their weight! It is irrelevant. All that matters is their skill.

[@asharadayne6159]

Right? All that muscle helped her jump, tumble, and get those super high D-scores! It's really a shame that all of those issues, including the pressure to lose weight, prevented her from being able to mature as a gymnast beyond her Olympic peak. I think about how much Aly Raisman's technique on events like bars improved and how much better her leaps got between 2012 and 2016, and I wonder if some of the less amazing aspects of Shawn's execution would've improved with time.

[@CAMarg-zs1xq]

It's crazy now that gymnastics coaches don't preach just be skinny athletes are doing amazing skills when their bodies are properly fueled

[@MorganKate]

The kinda sad thing is, if Nastia had even six months more conditioning behind her she probably would have made it onto the Olympic team ahead of Kyla Ross. She seemed to get her skills back easily enough but it's the conditioning that really killed the dream for her.

[@elizabethsantos5586]

As sad as it sound I think Shawn's retirement was a good option cause look at her now she has a beautiful child and wonderful people in her life

[@Emper0rH0rde]

For real. She's the happiest she's ever been.

[@gabrielfreitas1263]

Unfortunately they couldn't do a comeback and compete at the london olympic games, beacause of injuries. I feel bad especially for Cheng Fei beacause even before her retirement she was still winning gold on vault

[@daniella921]

Thats who I felt for as well. She was amazing to watch

[@MsJubjubbird]

Sometimes I think it's good to go out on a high. Rather than just fade away to a shadow of what you once were, trying to emulate success you can't see you'll never achieve again. I think you have to really love the sport itself for that

[@jen5138]

Shawn has got to be one of my fave gymnasts of all time

[@eurekamreum5458]

I'm sad she had somewhat of a short career, she was so so so talented, powerful and consistent! One of the greatest american gymnasts of all time.

[@vanillamarshmallow]

She has my all time favorite beam routine. The execution on her flight series is unmatched. Takes my breath away every time I watch it.

[@boosadan28]

Same.. i love her so much

[@katiek6156]

@@vanillamarshmallow ikrrr the rhythm of it is so solid and satisfying.

[@bergercookie]

Same ! She’s so solid and confident ! Fantastic gymnast and iconic queen 👑 ❤️

[@iamacat6650]

At least they try tho

[@annarbl7815]

What does "tho" mean? (I'm from germany btw😂)

[@Saint3188]

Like Gretzky says you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

[@annikonion]

@@annarbl7815 “though”

[@sarafinley2246]

@@annarbl7815 though* “tho” is just a shorter way of saying it

[@nakkilama]

victorrrr

[@catinabox3048]

The sad thing about Cheng Fei is that it would have meant the world to her to finish her career on a good note. That's the main reason she was trying so hard to make a comeback despite all her injuries. She had fallen on her eponymous vault during the vault finals at the Beijing Olympics, costing her the gold she otherwise would have easily won. She was very upset about that fall, and even though she was of the age where a gymnast typically retires, she wanted to give it one last try to redeem herself.

[@kidgaming3659]

one of the best comebacks was Aliya. considering her injuriea were fatal.. but she cameback strong and won medals. such a queen.

[@yuiop6611]

An ACL injury isn’t fatal.

[@TraceUK]

Fatal means dead! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@eliskaudatna5398]

I think we all understand this person meant it was a very serious and career ending injury. No need to laugh at anyone

[@brianh6]

She came back from the dead? Now that's impressive. I'm surprised it didn't get more attention.

[@felipebarros1572]

Just like Rebeca. She had 3 ACL injuries in a single quad and is now silver and gold medalist in both the OG amd WC

[@ClarkKent-bs5xh]

shawn will always remembered for her flawless balance beam routine in 2008 beijing olympics

[@gymnasticsmasterclass]

Absolutely. There's very few gymnasts who performed such solid + difficult routines as Shawn & Nastia. I can think of Sui Lu, Li Qi, perhaps Deng LinLin...

[@giselleanjos4373]

Nastia and her father were really inocent on thinking she would be at her old level in less than 1 year and even without participating of a championship to get used to the public again.

[@tiadavenport5465]

Natisa wasn't as great as they made her out to be.

[@giselleanjos4373]

@@tiadavenport5465 She was at her best in China, that day she was better than Shawn, but still Shawn was better than her. The only event Nastia used to be better than her it was the UB

[@alinaporter3846]

@@tiadavenport5465 You don’t… can’t win Olympic AA GOLD being “not that great” Wtf?! I’m sorry but she was a beautiful gymnast! How could you say otherwise? I’ve NEVER seen her fully fall on beam (although she has been close) and to this day no one on the US team has been able to swing bars with fluidity like her and I have yet to see anyone come close to the artistry and perfection all of her performances had.

[@ericarichards8350]

@@alinaporter3846 I think the frustration comes from that she could get away with more because Marta loved her. I mean even now nastia swears her experience on the national team was amazing. Her dad is notrious for being a horrible coach hence why he was fired so I've always wondered if she was covering for her dad or if he treated her better because she was his daughter. Probably the first one because in interviews with his daughter right beside him he would say "oh we can't do hard skills because she's too weak so we work on her execution instead" or "she has trouble with her ankles because she's not strong enough to handle the tumbling that's required". I mean it's possible they could separate work from family so who knows. Also i don't know if we've watched the same meets because I've seen nastia fall all the time so let's not pretend she's the Jesus Christ of gymnastics.

[@alinaporter3846]

@@ericarichards8350 I understand the frustration that would come with assuming something like that but that shouldn’t discredit her talent as a gymnast. It doesn’t mean that she didn’t win fair an square at the Olympics purely do to HER abilities. If anything those things you mentioned about her not being strong should only solidify that she is talented due to the fact she had “disadvantages”. Having those “weaknesses” caused her to be stronger in the area of execution than others.SHE wanted to be just like her dad and because she didn’t have the typical body and strength of a gymnast she had to work extra hard to prove herself and that’s more than most are willing to do. Also said I’ve never seen her fully fall on beam not that she has never fallen on any apparatus🤦‍♀️ I’m aware she has fallen on VT, UB and FX but as far as BB…ya she’s had a few close calls and close saves but I can’t recall her coming off onto the floor. At least up until 2012. I just wanted to make a point that she was good.

[@donaldholderdoc2910]

Who else but Nastia can take a hard fall on uneven bars and end it with a graceful leg raising? (3:35)? All class and grace. You know that fall had to rip the heart out of her dad as he tried to grab her but knew she was better off falling than him catching her. The look on his face as he saw her was pure worry of a parent, not a coach.

[@pcbassoon3892]

He didn't try that hard.

[@_birdie]

Still can’t believe we only saw Shawn Johnson in ONE Olympics.

[@DiegoMoreno-kz2wk]

Cheng fei could have made that 2012 team. I did not have much hope for Nastia due to her consistency. But Shawn has a big chance to make it.

[@josiefa5852]

@D Leo when did she say this?

[@xavierpereira9498]

@D Leo that is a lie, shawn was not even on the us trials.. she announced her retirement before that..!

[@madeline2282]

@D Leo all she said was she retired right before the olympic run and was proud of her comeback

[@ztatchu5060]

@D Leo I think she said that about 2011 worlds lmao 😂 Still funny though

[@fairyofshampoooo]

@D Leo I'm dying word of advice check your facts before spreading nonsense

[@theartoffigureskating2315]

unfortunately I feel like nastia came back too late. i think if she had came back earlier she would've had a good shot to get on the team.

[@hannibaljustincase9985]

I dont think there would be much use for her on the team. Basically, she could've only contributed a high bars score, as her connections on beam were rather slow and international judges were way more harsh with giving cv in the new cop, vault was never her strong suit and on floor her difficulty wouldnt be enough.

[@theartoffigureskating2315]

@@hannibaljustincase9985 i do have to agree with you, her connections on beam were rather slow at times and these last 2 quads the judges have been stricter than ever in regards to giving CV, and i don't know if her bars would've helped the team. I just feel bad for her but whatever, she was already an AA olympic champion lol.

[@hannibaljustincase9985]

@@theartoffigureskating2315 I dont think her bars would've helped either, but this is the only apparatus I can see her scoring relatively high. But who knows how she would've adapted to a very different code of points, her style of routines was not so highly scored anymore. However, if not for the injury, I can _maybe_ see her on the team instead of Kyla

[@austinxa2339]

@@hannibaljustincase9985 still she would have been a better selection than kyla. Nastias connection are delayed but she does them with precision and no balance checks so judges would likely given her cv, and they love that look

[@theartoffigureskating2315]

@@hannibaljustincase9985 yeah. i think a little more preparation would've maybe been a good time for her to develop her strengths more, i think she misjudged herself and thought she was more ready than she actually was.

[@mariamyousef8269]

I love the quotes before each gymnast's segment

[@oldemail227]

I have to disagree with the one that said that self worth does not come from our achievements. I have to strongl;y disagree. I ONLY have a sense of self worth due to the fact that I achieved turning my life around from a horrible past. If I* had of stayed in that I would have no self worth. But I have achieved a lot that makes me proud.

[@Star_Jewel]

@@oldemail227 I see what you mean, but the quote more so is referring to not basing one's self-worth on the quality & quantity of awards one wins.

[@chuuu4610]

Cheng Fei was such a legend.

[@iluvunot]

I miss watching Shawn compete

[@JennaLeigh]

I don't feel like Shawn's comeback was "unsuccessful". She was back on the National Team, a traveling alternate for worlds '11, and looked great- was showing marked improvements with every meet. Unfortunately while her mind, most of her body, and soul were all on "The Shawn Johnson for London 2012" train........ Unfortunately, her knee just wasn't up to the challenge. All's well that ends well though. Look at her perfect lil family now!💖🌺🌸

[@elizabethsantos5586]

Honestly being tall (having longer legs) like Nastia (not being rude) it's harder to do most skills so I give her A TON of credit just to be able to do the things she did she was so good

[@daniella921]

Svetlana Khorkina was a very tall gymnast and is now legendary

[@dennis9944]

nastia is 159

[@xilomp3]

nastia is not even tall she just has long proportions

[@rosegroshek1218]

@@shawk2832 Kyla Ross is 5'7 according to online. Nastia is 5'3

[@AndreyVas2008]

Those are good stories saying that life does not end when things change. Even if those things were core to your previous lifestyle

[@michaelking4578]

My momma always said quitters never win....then she would make me smoke another cigarette and call me a loser. The doctor said she had a mental affliction. I think she would’ve been a great gymnastics coach.

[@westley5735]

Nastias leg kick after falling on her face is iconic

[@bergercookie]

I love Shawn and Nastia so much, both queens and icons of their sport 👑👑❤️❤️

[@stereotypea123]

Nastia could’ve done it too, she just waited too long to come back 😭 She had improved so much even from nationals to trials.

[@gymstyle5091]

Shawn won beam and finished 3rd on bars at that World camp and Marta still left her off that team in favor of her ex gymnasts student. Marta forced Kyla to lower a 6.6 start value on bars she was hitting consistently in 2012. The Karolyi's were doing everything they could to put Nastia on that 2012 Olympic team. Anna Li was going to be used on bars during team finals in 2011 but Nastia announced her comeback to Marta and that's why she didn't put Shawn on that 2011 team and left Anna Li out of competing. IT WAS FIXED.

[@robertjames6659]

As much as I hate Marta I bet she didn't choose Shawn because of Shawn's knee, Marta probably thought it wouldn't hold up and be a big injury risk!🤷

[@gymstyle5091]

@@robertjames6659 No. She knew Nastia was coming back and promised her a spot for the Olympics if she hit. They knew there was too much talent in the ranks for both so Marta made sure Shawn didn't shine at Worlds so she wouldn't feel like she needed to take her.

[@mst3kanita]

Kim Zmeskal back in 1998, and Shannon Miller in 2000.

[@Cmc995]

Both had great qualities too! Definitely could’ve been success but injuries got in the way

[@jamesvelasco6491]

Shawn Johnson still won a gold and silver medal at Pan Ams in 2011. She might not have made the Olympic team, but she had a nice comeback. Her injury took her out sadly.

[@nicolejaime9222]

I don't see many people able to reach that level! So they didn't fail.

[@andreasolinas111]

martha would have loved to send nastia to london

[@wtmusic4264]

I want to see successful comeback~

[@nathanielhalls1893]

I hope Laurie isn’t gonna be added to this list...

[@goldwingedvic]

Let's hope Chellsie doesn't either...

[@sydneygoldstein116]

I feel like Chellsie seems to be pacing very well and coming back with strong skills that play to her strengths. She has a plan and knows exactly how to best pace herself. If she doesn’t make the four person team, she could even get an alternate spot! I haven’t seen too many training videos of Laurie, but from what I’ve seen, she hasn’t put in anything that she wasn’t already doing in Rio. The sport has evolved since then, so it’s hard to tell what her chances are right now. We’ll just have to see how the season goes and I wish both of them the best ❤️

[@Hervinbalfour]

@D Leo what full routines has she shown??? I follow her on Twitter and Instagram and she has yet to show a full routine. Furthermore, how many full routines have you seen from anyone in the US in recent months? Chellsie is doing to the same thing all the other gymnast are doing, showing snippets of what she's doing.

[@siona8662]

@@Hervinbalfour plus chellsie is aiming for worlds not the olympics, so she has more time than the rest of the national team

[@josiefa5852]

She will

[@gabriellaporazzi6182]

Nastia beam routine on the first day of Visas in 2012, actually scored, 15.1 not 14.9.

[@gymnasticsmasterclass]

14.9 is her score from Classics

[@koolkitty108]

1:47 well at least she’s coaching now

[@minimini550]

I know a lot of people have a lot to say about her as a person but Nastia Liukin will probably always be my favourite women’s artistic gymnast. Imo her gymnastics is/was the perfect combination of power, technique and grace

[@argoneonoble]

The last of the 'artistic' gymnasts. It ought to just be called 'Gymnastics' now and not ' Artistic Gymnastics'.

[@wedgeantilles4712]

It's just what happens sadly, but I have to agree with Shawn, it's not worth the risk.

[@xilomp3]

@@rolandgreen7484 no progress and yet she won a silver on BARS of all apparatuses at the panams? sure

[@robertjames6659]

@@rolandgreen7484 bruh if shawn didn't tear her knee up in that skiing accident she would've made it to London!👌🤷

[@robertjames6659]

@@rolandgreen7484 true that😌

[@plantsforlife1120]

All these ladies are CHAMPIONS in their prime, their comebacks, and their lives!!!!!!!!!

[@daniella921]

I commend them all for trying.

[@makeupbycarlcapellan]

Off topic: I've often wondered why Nastia never liked Shaposh transitions

[@eimardgomes1128]

OMG tear her ACL skiing when you're a gymnast? That's what I call fate.

[@talialawee5997]

I clicked this video knowing I'm going to be sad lol

[@Saint3188]

Go figure I'm starting classes again but my biggest concern is my fitness at this point.

[@roanjorna4698]

If Chellsie doesn't make the 2020ne team. Would we consider it unsucessfull? I absolutely wouldn't

[@gymnasticsmasterclass]

Only if she has a complete meltdown in competition. She's been out for 8 years, but is trying new skills and actually improving on the ones she already had. If she doesn't go to the Olympics, I hope she sticks around for Worlds. My personal opinion: with such a deep field to choose from (USA), girls who go to the Olympics should not be allowed to go to Worlds later in the year, just to let other gymnasts have their moment too :)

[@roanjorna4698]

@@gymnasticsmasterclass She told me she would definitely try for worlds. That would be a good rule btw... I would love it if you made either a discussion or a video about predictions for the US 2020ne team.

[@JesusPerez-em3on]

I don't think so specially considering how intense the field is, is she makes it to classics it could absolutely be considered a sucessfull comeback, specially because the amount of time she has been away from competitions

[@bagelized]

@D Leo Are you having a stroke? There was no need to include a whole paragraph as a rant there buddy. Have some cookies and calm down.

[@JesusPerez-em3on]

@D Leo she has nothing to prove to everyone but herself, her comeback has a goal different than the Olympics, she wants to qualify for classics and see where it goes, if she doesn't get to the Olympics without being her goal is it going to be consider unsuccessful?

[@ClarkKent-bs5xh]

Back in 2008 beijing olympic After watching shawn in her bb routine i wa excited to see her again in 2012 rio..

[@dananezat]

Nastia definitely could have made it if she didn’t wait til the last minute to start training again. Her stamina just wasn’t back but her technique and form was still perfect.

[@blakewalsh879]

I don’t think people realize that it’s so hard to come back after years of not training. Nastia hadn’t competed since 2008 and tried to make the 2012 team last minute. Had she started training earlier she absolutely would’ve made the team. Same goes for the others.

[@romain77200]

where : -Chellsie Memmel -Bridget Sloan -Sam Persek -Rebecca Bross -Youna Dufournet -Larissa Iordache -Lauren Mitchell -Daiana Dos santos

[@nathanielhalls1893]

Well definitely take Bridget Sloan off and larisa Iordache

[@lucywalz4786]

When u try ur best but u don’t succeeeeeeeeeddddddd....

[@plantsforlife1120]

Luikin was one of the most BEAUTIFUL gymnasts ever!!!!

[@talialawee5997]

When cheng fei won gold in all years between olympics and not at olympics

[@chloeschannel1228]

Wow! It’s interesting cuz I never knew what they all went through 🤯

[@annab9256]

Shawn was just incredibly talented ahead of her time

[@randomvintagefilm273]

How Nastia made the team in 2012 was pure politics. How she had a meet named after her is the same reason.

[@sarahw.9915]

don't forget how Shawn has said she was treated by USAG when she decided to start competing again....

[@francisnguyen6349]

Don't give up.

[@michaelhart7282]

Nastia had a legit chance but needed to start earlier

[@otow27]

Eu acredito que a Nastia tinha muitas chances de estar no time de 2012 se ela tivesse voltado a treinar antes. Demorou muito pra entrar em forma, e acho que ela tiraria a vaga da kyla ross como especialista nas paralelas e trave.

[@matthewkretschmer7010]

I felt sorry for their injuries and failures.

[@aerokayo]

Catalina Ponor had succesful comebacks!

[@krishisweirdways3273]

No wonder why. Don't want to do gymnastics

[@notkerrystolcenberg]

Tbh this is more therapeutic than my therapy. SNS

[@courtneypuzzo2502]

Dominique Moceanu in 2000 made the team but had to withdraw due to a knee injury and that Olympics turned into a shitshow Vault being set too low positive doping tests for taking cold medicine I.e. Andrea Raducan and at least one Gymnast being disqualified for being too young Dong Fangxiao of China she was 14 at the Sydney Olympics when min age was 15 hence how Tasha Schwikert made that Olympic team at 15 years 7 Mos at the US team trials in Boston where Shannon Miller withdrew due to an injury on Vault Tasha was the youngest girl on the team while the oldest was Dominique Dawes 23 years 8 mos. also ages are swinging back to how they were before 1968 the youngest girl on the Russian team in 1968 was Lyundmila Tourisheva age 16 who competed in 3 Olympic Games and yes there have been scoring shennanigans in the past for ex Floor exercise in 1992 Bronze ended in a 3 way tie Cristina Bontas of Romania Shannon Miller US and Tatiana Gutsu Ukraine then a member of the Unified team all scoring 9.912 due to mistakes in their exercise such as out of bounds short landings

[@angiebrown4463]

Alicia should be in part 2

[@nathanielhalls1893]

Sacramone? Err have you not seen that she went to worlds in 2010 and 2011 and won gold on vault in 2010??

[@angiebrown4463]

@@nathanielhalls1893 yes I know that, but she was trying to come back for the 2012 olympics and didn’t make it.

[@nathanielhalls1893]

@@angiebrown4463 but it doesn’t make it unsuccessful. She still accomplished a lot. 3 more World championships medals. Someone like Nastia didn’t go to worlds after her comeback and didn’t do well at all.

[@hydroflask8992]

I love Nastia to death, but I’m still not sure why she was chosen for the 2012 trials 😭😭

[@Hugo_Tate]

3:36 that was funny lol she’s such a babe

[@ayrescaxias]

Gaby Douglas ist the next…

[@lpoco0006]

probably most of female gymnasts in the US after one Olympics 😅

[@daniella921]

They are spoiled for choice

[@robertjames6659]

Yea but they win so....

[@Doublemg12]

It's pernounced Lu-kin. The i is silent

[@aLaRmCaLL1983]

Biles needs to be added to this list

[@pcbassoon3892]

She just announced her comeback and Olympics are next year, so I think we are looking at a Nastia repeat.

[@lyd2460]

You said what 🤡🤡

[@Annonymous5411]

I still find Nastia vastly over rated and was 0 surprised about her ability to make a comeback. I said what I said.

[@lorelaim3294]

unlucky 2008 gymnasts

[@CoffeeLover-mz7bk]

Nastia should not have taken so much time off.

[@Lenlen-ui9nj]

Hi

[@bandersnatch6546]

Had Nastia returned to competing just one year earlier, I'm sure she would have made the Olympic team and won more medals.

[@ztatchu5060]

Soo... Basically the 2008 US olympic team?? Lol jk

[@nathanielhalls1893]

Bridget Sloan came back after Beijing to go and win worlds AA gold. I also think chellsie is gonna go to worlds in 2021 and get a medal on beam maybe all around too

[@krishisweirdways3273]

Hahahahaga

[@brilliantnights4860]

Well we can add Simone biles do that too since she unsuccessfully came back to the Olympics and failed by the way

[@slaza3845]

She won team silver and BB bronze, but go off...

[@cuddlesofdeath]

you failed when you wrote this comment love

[@Ganjatarian]

Clickbait af I thought I was gonna see them fumble not this talking bs