LONDON OLYMPICS
MEN'S GYMNASTICS at the O2 ARENA- GREENWICH. 28th July 2012
This is the first men's gymnastics competition I have seen live because I am more of a fan of the women's gymnastics (which I used to compete at in school) but this to me is the most glamorous sport of the Olympics. It was so inspirational to see the men's/ boys strength and power emanating from these young bodies whist displaying incredible control. Though young and some inexperienced I was aware that with most of the now free Eastern European country gymnasts were not of the standard of the bygone era or even as long ago as 40 years ago.
The standard of competition in the 70's/ 80's produced overnight stars such as Nadia Comaneci, Nelly Kim and Olga Korbut (and who could forget her perfect scores, back flips on the beam and tiny child like frame), with their routines forever reaching unbelievable levels of difficulty and each year we looked forward to seeing what they would come up next in choreography and skill. Each country would try and outdo each other and the Eastern European countries such as Romania, The Ukraine and Russia were a force to be reckoned leaving the Chinese and US gymnasts in their wake. Now, it is China and the US which lead the gymnastic competitions. I remember seeing near perfect scores back then on TV with no drops, crashes, wobbles or shakes because we knew without saying anything what the repercussions would be from the communist countries if they did crash and burn. But, with these perfect scores and routines came enormous pressure to win gold for their country simply because they had to or else and they were literally trained from birth to be gymnasts in the Communist way. Pressure at such a young age mentally and physically whilst I was off surfing meant that they had very little time to enjoy being teenagers and experience life outside the confines of their training camps and schools. Ultimate dedication is what was expected and the gymnasts provided this. So, whilst I long for the days of perfect scores with absolutely little or no mistakes and to see top level competition being just that, top level competition of highest order, I can sit back in my lounge chair writing this thinking that some of the gymnasts of today can have a cool looking hair cut, listen to pop music and enjoy the freedom that maybe their country didn't have 40 years ago.
