To find watching the gymnastics utterly depressing?

[GandalfsWrinklyHat]

Watching the olympics - gymnastics on right now. Think it's the team competition bit. I know nothing about gymnastics at all, and am in awe of all those girls doing what they're doing, but they are SO YOUNG. And I cannot imagine that they could have had much of a childhood at all. I just find it so depressng. And they must surely know pain? You cannot train to do what they're doing and not experience a lot of pain. Somebody set me straight. I actually feel quite guilty for watching... Am I wrong?

Thanks, Desolate

DS2 utterly refuses to watch the women's gymnastics because of the dancing (and other unnecessary poncing around that detracts from the impressive stuff). He loves the men's gymnastics because it has none of that (and no glitter/rhinestones/etc). It's a shame as the female gymnasts are really impressive

Each to their own. My DDs don't watch the men's gymnastics because there's no dancing and it looks boring compared to the women's. (I don't necessarily agree with them there - the men's gymnastics is awesome but I much prefer the women's)

There are many valid complaints to be made about the uneven treatment of male and female athletes in the Olympics but I don't think you can say gymnastics routines are one of them. Men's floor routines are almost painfully awkward and bland compared to the women's. The music and dance take it from 'just' an impressive display of athleticism into a performance and they're fantastic to watch. In this argument, it's correct to say that the male and female elements aren't equal but, for once, the women have the better deal and the popularity and fame of the female athletes over the males completely reflects this.

I don't think children are pushed too hard or treated badly in good gyms. My children have more or less dropped gymnastics in favour of dance but still enjoy it for fun and have had a great time training. I run a gymnastics club (just at an extra curricular school level) and you do need to push children in stretching or they will naturally stop as soon as it gets uncomfortable. But safely managed, the pain isn't dangerous.

Don't feel guilty watching this! This is their life's work so far! I have so much respect for the younger athletes who are completing their education while competing at this level; it's so much work. It's also a lot of fun though. When training for a championship you spend 30+ hours a week with your team and you form very close friendships and have a lot of laughs while you train. The support you get from teammates beats the support of most friendships through childhood.

When you compete in any sport you need to be stretched to achieve optimal results (and less pain and injuries long term). Children don't always understand this and do tend to cry a lot, but when you get to the age/stage when you realise that being stretched out HELPS the cramps/strains/etc you learn to love it.

I still remember stretching out my little sister after a hard training session when she was about 9 and having her punch me in the face.... the bitch

I'm from a very sport-centric family though, we've all competed internationally in our respective sports (brag, sorry, I'm proud) including a couple of Olympians and commonwealth athletes - it's very rewarding. As children we were forced to do an hour of sport every night; whether we went on a run or did a club of some kind, that was the minimum but we almost always did more.

i thought of this thread when watching gymnastics lst night, the Chinese competitor crying, i think she went from 3rd to 4th possibly.

Well I'd probably cry too.

Stupid question but what do you mean by stretching someone out? (Obviously I've never done any sport of this nature..)

The young us gymnast Simons had a very bad childhood gym stabilised her

She could of easily ended up a crack head

I assume you mean Simone Biles? Yes her birth mother was a problematic drug and alcohol user but from a very early age she lived with and was subsequently adopted by her grandparents (an air traffic controller and a nurse who owned a care home: hardly occupations where cocaine use would be likely) and she had lived with them for a number of years before she went to her first gymnastics session.

So this talk of 'could of [sic] become a crack addict' until she was 'saved' by gymnastics, inaccurate and quite frankly racist