08-15-2008, 10:28 PM
Quote:Based on what I have read, the U.S. seems to have... not done all that well in gymnastics. My position isn't give the U.S. the gold, my position comes from the utter disgust at yet another example of Chinese child labor.
At these games? They won silver in the team competition, and two of the girls have won gold and silver in the individual all-around event. The third best was injured right before competition started, and the girls who had to step into her place made some mistakes in the team competition. I'd say that is pretty solid (with the individual apparatus finals yet to come) and this may be the best women's gymnastics team the U.S. has ever fielded. The Chinese were the more solid team on the day of team finals, without a doubt.
In female gymnastics, any amount of height seems to be a disadvantage on virtually every event, and this is a health problem. I have a niece who competes in club gymnastics, and when she was 10 or maybe a bit younger she started watching her weight and wanting to stay short for the rest of her life. This is a girl with no pressure from her parents, whose mother and older sister are both pretty big eaters, and she comes up with ideas like this. The sport is physically brutal to begin with, without adding eating disorders and putting so much emotional pressure on such young girls.