With just over five months until the kick off of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the preliminary competitions are in full effect trying to determine front runners and top contenders that will be competing for gold at the world's most prestigious sporting event. Gymnastics has long been considered a highlight of the Olympic games, and for decades, the American teams struggled to capture the spotlight away from other top competitors.
This year, however, there are young American hopefuls who have been dominating the world since the 2004 Athens Games, and gymnasts like
Shawn Johnson,
Nastia Liukin,
Paul Hamm and
Jonathan Horton may again prove that United States gymnastics is not only the present, but also the future of the sport.
While gymnastics has been around for a few thousand years, it only began to become organized as a sport in the late 1800’s. Originally developed in Europe, the sport was dominated by European teams, and even as it made it’s Olympic debut in 1924, American teams were never seen as a truly competitive force.
While stars like Russian
Olga Korbut and Romania’s
Nadia Comaneci captured the attention of audiences and made the sport one of the most celebrated of the Olympic competition, it was ironically one of the only sports that Americans never seemed able to excel in, and while many competed, very few had international success.
It wasn’t until the 1984 Games held in Los Angeles that American gymnastics was even considered an international force. With a boycott from several powerhouse athletic countries like Russia, the Americans were finally given a chance to rise to the top and several athletes seized the opportunity.
West Virginia native
Mary Lou Retton impressed the entire world with her effervescent spirit and her flawless routines and earned a spot in history as the first ever American Olympic gymnastics champion, capturing the all-around competition. Earning perfect 10’s on her vaults has become Olympic legend and Retton is still highly regarded as one of the pioneers for US gymnastics.
The US men also excelled at the Games, earning the first ever team gold medal, which was lead by
Bart Conner who himself earned several individual golds.
The Americans were on a gymnastics high, and enrollment in the sport skyrocketed in gymnasiums all across the country, which would foster a new crop of Olympic hopefuls. Despite the success at the 1984 games, however, many gymnastics fans felt that the boycott had been largely responsible for the United States' success in the sport, and over the next decade, they seemed to be proved correct as only a handful of American athletes were able to excel at international meets and no one was able to dominate the field as they did in 1984.
Kim Zmeskal showed some promise in 1991, becoming the first woman to win a world all around gold, but a disappointing Olympic competition in Barcelona left the sport wide open for other competitors.
It was at those Olympics, however, that a bright young star would prove that America did in fact have talent as
Shannon Miller took home five medals and lost the all-around gold by the smallest margin in Olympic history to Russian
Tatiana Gutsu, a controversial decision.
Miller would go on to dominate the world, winning back-to-back World championships in ’93 and 94. She eventually became the most decorated female American gymnast of all time.
As the world geared up for the 1996 Games in Atlanta, GA, Miller and her six fellow competitors seemed like a long shot to win as the newly splintered USSR was now able to produce more athletes with teams from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus seemingly the best in the field.
The American women, however, did capture the gold medal in a stunning spectacle of poise and consistency and the “Magnificent 7”, as they were dubbed, rose above the competition and put USA gymnastics back on the map. While the women seemed to be having resurgence, the men’s program still suffered from inconsistency and was unable to impress on the international scene.
The comeback, however, was short lived as the next few years proved to be a large dry spell in the American program.
The women’s team was now overseen by legendary coach
Bela Karolyi, who had helped create some of the finest women’s gymnasts including Comaneci, Retton, Zmeskal, and
Kerri Strug.
Along with his wife Marta, Bela chose a mismatched team of competitors heading into 2000 Sydney games, leaving off national champion
Vanessa Atler and even opting to pass on Miller despite her extraordinary history in the sport.
The decision proved costly as the women struggled and were unable to return home with a single medal. The men also suffered a medal drought and the programs once again seemed to be in jeopardy.
After the unsuccessful games, the sport was reorganized from the top down, and a new and controversial scoring system was put into place. No longer were athletes judged out of the 10.0 scale that had become so recognizable and synonymous with the sport, and gymnastics began to suffer because of its complexity.
Fans are less able to identify with the scoring and the elements of competition, and it has become nearly impossible to be a causal observer as in years past.
The once popular sport has lost some of its luster and fewer events are held annually because of a lack of interest and funding. Ironically, as the sport has become less popular, the Americans have become more successful.
After a silver medal at Worlds,
Carly Patterson become the first ever American female gymnast to win an all-around gold medal in a non boycotted games when she captured the prize in Athens.
Not to be out done, American Paul Hamm stunned the world with a gold medal of his own, and both teams took home medals for the first time in years.
Chelsea Memmel won the world title the following year, and budding stars like
Jana Bieger,
Alicia Sacramone and
Alexander Artemev showed the depth of the American program by capturing medals over the next year’s events.
In 2007, Shawn Johnson dominated every single gymnastics competition of the season, winning World’s, Nationals and the American Cup in her first year at the senior level.
She has an unflinching focus and amazing skills that have given her routines some of the highest degrees of difficulty in the world. At this week's American Cup, she suffered her first loss after an attempt at a new and complex vault caused her trouble, and fellow American Nastia Liukin was able to squeak out the victory.
After a two year absence from the sport, Hamm also returned with a new focus and determination to lead the American team to another medal in Beijing. His uncompromised routines helped him capture the American Cup title and clearly put him ahead of the international field once again.
These young players are certainly going to be ones to watch at the upcoming Olympics, and despite a convoluted scoring system, gymnastics is still one of the most stunning displays of raw athleticism in any sport.
USA gymnastics has gone through many different machinations and with each new cycle of gymnasts there is new hope for the sport. This is a pivotal year for the squad as it is the first time ever that they are coming into an Olympic competition as the leaders of the field. Their success will help dictate the future of the sport and hopefully this crop of gymnasts will once again have fans cheering for team USA.
© This Week In Texas
