Gabby Douglas Comeback Thread (New goal: LA 2028)

[ArnoldRimmer]

I guess I’m trying to say that Gabby did great, but the fix was in for Raisman. If she’d been scored properly on bars, of course, then it wouldn’t have mattered.

The international judges were verrrrry generous to Aly, that was well established by 2016, but do you mean even if Gabby had come back with much better beam and floor than she showed in Rio to the extent that she was clearly better, Aly would’ve been held up? What I’m saying is I think it would’ve been possible for Gabby to have been sufficiently better that the extra few tenths in laxity didn’t matter, but that starts from the basis of Aly having been scored like we’d expect.

 

[blake]

Raisman’s 8.733 on bars from QF is one of the most inexplicable scores of all time. Looking at the list of gymnasts who hit that she beat in QF - Kovacs, Alt, Tan, Miller, Rogers, L Wevers- is depressing. On a side note, Rio may be the best overall display for bar workers at an Olympics. None of the top bar workers fell in prelims.

Form aside, she was such a clunky bar worker which is something I think the code has a hard time evaluating.

 

[RichardL]

The international judges were verrrrry generous to Aly, that was well established by 2016, but do you mean even if Gabby had come back with much better beam and floor than she showed in Rio to the extent that she was clearly better, Aly would’ve been held up? What I’m saying is I think it would’ve been possible for Gabby to have been sufficiently better that the extra few tenths in laxity didn’t matter, but that starts from the basis of Aly having been scored like we’d expect.

I guess I’m struggling to imagine what these “much better beam and floor” would have looked like. As it is, she was 7th on beam and 9th on floor in QF – nothing to sneeze at. She was great! 2nd AA in 2015 and 3rd AA in Rio QF. I don’t see the argument that she could’ve been much better. Were there skills that she could do on those events that she never showed? I don’t think the 1.5 to triple full was in the cards anymore due to body changes and her twisting technique, for example, but I have no idea if she was still trying to get it back in.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Let’s not forget Gallardo was in the mix.

For real. I know Gabby was really disappointed by the way 2016 went, and for sure the media was absurd in the way they treated her, but she brought a lot of this on herself with all the coaching shenanigans she (or possibly Natalie?) pulled that quad. Wasn’t Kittia the only coach willing to take her on? She looked quite good in 2015, but there was major deterioration in 2016 that Christian probably had a lot to do with.

 

[RedBirdie]

The story was Liang Chow wanted Gabby to sign a contract giving him a a percentage of her winnings and endorsement deals. But leaving Chow they way Gabby did (reportedly at the direction of her mother) made her radioactive to the big name elite coaches. So she ended up at Buckeye. Kittia isn’t the coach that’s going to take you to Olympic gold, and Christian…well, he may have a golden tongue but he can’t coach elites for shit.

I hesitate to say Gabby brought this up on herself, because despite legally being an adult, it was pretty clear Natalie called every single shot, up to and including the decision to “fire” Kittia. Gabby had little to no say over pretty much everything on her life at that point. It was all Natalie and what Natalie thought would get the most money.

 

[makam]

Not sure how to put this, but it would be interesting if Gabby is Valeri’s “redemption” athlete. They were both pretty radioactive for a while but if Gabby has the focus and character to do this comeback right and Valeri has changed his techniques to coach the individual as they are instead of trying to force them into a mold of the 70s/80s/90s gymnast, well, it would show that change is possible in gymnastics culture. And teaching the high level coaches that after safety is assured, collaborating with the gymnasts and giving them some agency can produce good results.

 

[Passion]

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

The story was Liang Chow wanted Gabby to sign a contract giving him a a percentage of her winnings and endorsement deals. But leaving Chow they way Gabby did (reportedly at the direction of her mother) made her radioactive to the big name elite coaches. So she ended up at Buckeye. Kittia isn’t the coach that’s going to take you to Olympic gold, and Christian…well, he may have a golden tongue but he can’t coach elites for shit.

I hesitate to say Gabby brought this up on herself, because despite legally being an adult, it was pretty clear Natalie called every single shot, up to and including the decision to “fire” Kittia. Gabby had little to no say over pretty much everything on her life at that point. It was all Natalie and what Natalie thought would get the most money.

It’s crazy how much influence that mom had over a 19-20 year old. I hope she is well out of the picture this go around. Imagine how Gabby would have progressed with another quad with Chow.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I guess I’m struggling to imagine what these “much better beam and floor” would have looked like. As it is, she was 7th on beam and 9th on floor in QF – nothing to sneeze at. She was great! 2nd AA in 2015 and 3rd AA in Rio QF. I don’t see the argument that she could’ve been much better. Were there skills that she could do on those events that she never showed? I don’t think the 1.5 to triple full was in the cards anymore due to body changes and her twisting technique, for example, but I have no idea if she was still trying to get it back in.

For someone with that level of talent I think the better question is what couldn’t it have looked like, particularly since there wouldn’t have been a lot of difference between Gabby on her best day in Rio and what Aly saw even in the context of her problems preparing. If she couldn’t do particular skills any more or upgrade, was there no way that her training and prep could’ve looked in order to address that?

 

[irichluck21]

Gabby went to Buckeye because she followed Fernando Villa there when he left All Olympia.
Gabby was being coached by him at AO when she was living in Los Angeles.

 

[MaryClare]

Gabby went to Buckeye because she followed Fernando Villa there when he left All Olympia.
Gabby was being coached by him at AO when she was living in Los Angeles.

Why did she follow a coach across the country then not be trained by him?

 

[irichluck21]

Why did she follow a coach across the country then not be trained by him?

She was trained by Fernando as was Nia Dennis and the juniors also.
Kittia was the head coach of Buckeye and on the floor.

 

[MaryClare]

She was trained by Fernando as was Nia Dennis and the juniors also.
Kittia was the head coach of Buckeye and on the floor.

I’m so confused. Where does Christian then fit into this?

 

[makam]

I’m so confused. Where does Christian then fit into this?

The only part i clearly remember is that he was better at spotting her and that is why she went with him. But i don’t use xitter or follow any of the gossip/speculation past the Balance Beam Situation site and didn’t back then. I know there were lots of posts about her mom running the show but i never knew how much of that was fact and how much was speculation so didn’t pay it much mind. I do know that Gabby was pretty religious in her interviews so her being sheltered/naiive even as an adult was not hard to believe.

 

[irichluck21]

If I recall correctly,
Christian was with Kittia on the floor for the seniors.
Fernando was with Kittia on the floor for the juniors.

As is most elite clubs, there is not one coach for everyone, but multiple coaches, the athletes rotate with different coaches.

 

[JaJa]

I know there were lots of posts about her mom running the show but i never knew how much of that was fact and how much was speculation so didn’t pay it much mind.

My impression was it was absolutely fact. And that Natalie was a very significnat problem.

 

[KristyJ]

We hear often about Natalie being a big issue, but what beyond hearsay have we seen to bear this out as truth?

 

[JDB]

Yeah. Natalie Hawkins got a lot of promotion in 2016 and it was weird. But people do just make thing up about her so I take everything I read with a grain of salt.

 

[crdubb17]

My impression was it was absolutely fact. And that Natalie was a very significnat problem.

It was a factual based on what though? I’m still confused about what Gabby and her mom could have done that would make them ‘radioactive’ to the gym world when they left Chow? Surely it had to be more than because she didn’t want to give him a percentage of her earnings? There’s got to be more than the story. I hope she puts out a real memoir one day, because she has one of the strangest gymnastics journeys!

 

[MaryClare]

It was a factual based on what though? I’m still confused about what Gabby and her mom could have done that would make them ‘radioactive’ to the gym world when they left Chow? Surely it had to be more than because she didn’t want to give him a percentage of her earnings? There’s got to be more than the story. I hope she puts out a real memoir one day, because she has one of the strangest gymnastics journeys!

The rumour is that every gym she left, she left owing money. Going right back to when she left Excalibur. Natalie was always a demanding customer, but once Gabby was Olympic champion it got much worse and she also thought that Gabby should train for free