Downie documentary

[QuietColours]

I believe Deanna said she basically self funded this project outside of her regular paid work. There's a place on her webpage you can donate to try to contribute to more episodes

 

[Jerkin]

I don't think the age limits are actually the problem. I think the problem is the persistent mindset in women's sports that everyone hits their peak in their teens. It's like society cannot accept that while some girls make peak in their teens, others will peak later.

We don't really see this in men's sports. If we see a male gymnast that is extremely good at 16, we don't begin training all other male gymnasts as if they must also be good at 16. We see him as an outlier. There's room for other gymnasts to develop at a slower pace.

We also see women peaking in their mid to late twenties in other sports (track and field, tennis, basketball, etc.). I personally played sports all through high school and was a semi (more like quasi) pro athlete in my early 20s. I was at my strongest in my late 20s. To me that indicates that improvements in physical prowess aren't limited to our teenage years.

However, sports like gymnastics, figure skating, and snowboarding train every girl like she's a prodigy. I think that's the real reason gymnasts bodies break down so quickly. We see girls learning new skills as college gymnasts or as elites in their 20s or 30s. Yet there's still this pervasive mythology that if you don't acquire a certain skillset in your teens, your career is over.

Yep, fully agreed with this. I think they could place limitations on gymnasts in other ways though. In tennis, for example, after so many young prodigies burned out, they now significantly limit the amount of tournaments that players can compete in.

Obviously gymnasts aren't competing week in, week out but perhaps it would be more helpful for gym federations to be more proactive in placing limitations or guidelines on the amount of hours/reps a 16yo should be training.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I thought it was very interesting when she said she'd not specifically worked on elbow strength type stuff until after the injury. It brought back revolting memories.