Gabby Douglas Comeback Thread (New goal: LA 2028)

[GymBeauty]

I don’t think Biles needs to stay away from difficulty at all unless there is a physical limitation. She just needs to not put all the pressure on herself to be perfect and carry the team, which will probably take care of itself on a 5 person team with other former Olympians, and with the media treating her a bit differently this time. Personally I think there’s a high chance Biles wouldn’t have melted down if Skinner was on the team instead of the bland, lower-scoring McCallum. There was nobody else on that team with an equal level of experience; she needed the steadying presence of someone who was her age and reliable.

 

[Laura722]

Biles melted down because of McCallum? That is so ludicrous, not to mention totally insulting to Grace. Someone of Simone’s caliber does not melt down because of the presence of another gymnast.

My one piece of advice for Simone would be to avoid social media. For some reason, she kept engaging trolls on Twitter who were bashing her during the Olympics. Reading that stuff cannot be helpful.

 

[GymBeauty]

I didn’t say because of McCallum, rather the lack of an actual peer and team leader. Biles didn’t want to have to play mother to everyone. McCallum shouldn’t have been on the team anyway since she was the lower VT/FX competitor (where the 4th team member was expected to compete) and had no individual medal chances; that bad decision may have created further repercussion.

 

[RichardL]

This is absurd that you’re bring McCallum’s team inclusion into a conversation about another athlete’s mental blocks. Why are you airing your anger about 2020 team inclusion right now in this context?

 

[RichardL]

Bland, lower-scoring McCallum lol… I can spot a Skinner stan from a mile away. Where did you come from and where did you learn about what good gymnastics should look like?

 

[RichardL]

And if you think Skinner is Biles’s “peer” and a “team leader” I think you have a lot of meditating to do.

 

[GymBeauty]

I’m not a Skinner stan, but it seems you hate her and don’t want to look at the situation objectively. Aside from being the correct pick for the team because of factually having the better scores and medal potential, she was also Simone’s closest gymnast friend there and, yes, definitely more of a leader than any of the others on the team, with her lengthy career and outgoing attitude and strong competitive nerves.

It’s impossible to know what would happen in that different reality, but obviously it’s good for anyone to have a better support group. Hence, I personally think there is a good chance Simone would not have melted down if she felt the team was more experienced, and with someone else her own age there to be the head cheerleader and to confide in.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Wasn’t Grace slated to do UB/BB over Jordan in the team final? I don’t think you can justify Skinner over her for that reason.

 

[GymBeauty]

After Jordan messed up in prelims yes, but Jordan going into the Olympics was supposed to be doing the AA (and it was yet another stupid decision to leave Jordan out of the Bars lineup just because of her fluke mistake in qualifying; which she then proved by outscoring Grace when given the chance, as she had been all year).

Skinner beat Grace in the AA at the Olympics anyway (and already had the higher AA top score at Trials), so she was quite simply the better choice in every real way possible - team high score, individual medal capability, experience/leadership/nerves, AA potential.

 

[Yarotska]

Why do you always come out with some off the wall mess out of nowhere?? Literally NOBODY in Tokyo could relate to the issues she was having, especially not Skinner, who only competed in one worlds, never went to the Olympics and had no expectations on her.

 

[Sasha]

So, ahem, back to Douglas for a sec if people don’t mind. Does she have any path to competing this year if she doesn’t do Classic?

 

[MaryClare]

There is no doubt that Skinner is/was Simone’s closest friend in the gymnastics world. At nationals and trials in 2021, Simone, Jonathan, Mykayla and crypto dude went out for dinner every night.

In the midst of the stress and chaos of the team final incident, it was Simone who first alerted Laurent to tell Mykayla not to fly home.

I think it’s very far fetched though to say that Mykayla’s inclusion on the team could have averted Simone’s mental block. She clearly gets on well with Jordan, and due to Jordan, both Laurent and Cecile were able to be there. Covid restrictions meant that each athlete was only permitted 1 accredited coach. Additional coaches couldn’t even travel.

I think the impact of covid on the athletes in Tokyo have been downplayed hugely.

Extended quarantine prior to travel and upon arrival in Japan.

Daily covid testing, with the worry that one positive test ends your Olympics

No family or friends able to travel. Jade Carey was the only gold medalist who had a family member there to watch her win.

No real downtime away from sport/Olympics due to risk of catching covid.

 

[RedBirdie]

So, ahem, back to Douglas for a sec if people don’t mind. Does she have any path to competing this year if she doesn’t do Classic?

Unclear. To the best of my knowledge, she’s not been at any camps. My guess is Chellsie and Alicia are going to be a bit more flexible about past Olympians petitioning to nationals. Or just petitioning on general. I guess we’ll see how this all plays out.

 

[Passion]

Douglas has never actually announced her intentions for anything. Maybe she never had any plans of competing this year. Maybe she doesn’t want to show routines until she’s 100% confident with them. Maybe she was never training for elite at all.

Maybe she’s reconsidering plans that would now mean having to deal with Biles’ drama/bullying again.

 

[MaryClare]

Maybe she’s reconsidering plans that would now mean having to deal with Biles’ drama/bullying again.

You can’t spill that much tea without providing cake.

What happened?

 

[RedBirdie]

Yes, spill!

 

[irichluck21]

Douglas has never actually announced her intentions for anything. Maybe she never had any plans of competing this year. Maybe she doesn’t want to show routines until she’s 100% confident with them. Maybe she was never training for elite at all.

There was a reddit thread and I can’t find it now, but there were rumors about Douglas was not training for elite gymnastics but training because she would be accepting a part in a “new” Cirque de Soleil show called Bazzar which debuts in the US in September it had previously been shown in Africa and Asia.

So who knows if this is the case, but we will find out soon I suppose.

 

[Passion]

Yes, spill!

Nothing that wasn’t public. Biles’s multiple attacks on Douglas on twitter. Douglas’ isolation on the Rio team (who was ringleading that?) Both Cecile Landi and Biles repeatedly insisting that Nichols deserved to be on the Rio team over Douglas.

 

[RichardL]

This last point is just ridiculous re: team experience. The only person on the team with less experience than Skinner was Simone’s “best friend” and training partner, Jordan Chiles. Grace had been to two World Championships and had team final experience at both; Lee had competed at the previous Worlds and had competed in all-around finals and two event finals, where she won medals. But anyway, this is the wrong thread for this, especially if we’re going to talk about Skinner’s “outgoing attitude.”

 

[JaJa]

But its also wrong to refer to the twisties as a “mental block.” No one really knows what causes them and way too many people, including the press, were way too fast and eager to ascribe what happened to Simone in Tokyo as some sort of mental or psychological thing. Many gymnasts have expereinced the twisties when doing really difficult high level elements… Just as likely caused by some inner ear and brain stem issue.