Gymnast Social Media Megathread

[KristyJ]

Cute kiddo, congrats to them

 

[irichluck21]

Not a fan of the baby having an instagram.

I was not either. However, my friend did it for her kid in 2018 and now the kid is 5 and the parents will show their daughter her baby pics and etc and her birthday parties that she doesn’t remember. So it is kind of a fun memory book/photograph album.

As long as its not crazy, every day postings

 

[Sasha]

That is very cool - if it’s private. To be fair, I’m not sure whether the Harmers’ made theirs private or public.

 

[MaryClare]

The Nagornyys have never revealed their son’s name apparently. They don’t use his name in public and even their friends don’t know what he is called. Everyone refers to him by his patronym Nikitich which means son of Nikita.

(I am amazed the Harmers didn’t go for Shaerlytte)

 

[Hatsumomo]

If it’s private, baby IGs and hashtags are fine. Keeps it organized for the family members given access. It’s when it’s open for millions to see where it’s a problem. Though giving a child a digital footprint from day one isn’t the best idea. But as I said almost two years ago when I started this thread:

I’m awaiting Mykayla Skinner to metamorphize into her final form as a Mormon mommy vlogger

So it’s entirely on brand and expected.

 

[irichluck21]

bump…

 

[makam]

I think I am okay with staged, photoshoot cute baby pics but as soon as they start walking/talking, take that private. Babies look like babies and once they start looking like people, they shouldn’t have a digital footprint until they are old enough to have the credit card and bank account to deposit the royalties into. At least child actors have some laws protecting them, kids of influencers can be exploited without any oversight (hopefully that changes in the near future).

 

[Hatsumomo]

The laws are slowly coming in. Illinois just passed a law entitling child influencers a portion of the earnings (so basically a version of Coogan’s Law) and WA state has a law in the works. I know they had a couple of children from family vloggers testify about what it was like growing up in that.

I’m waiting for the tell-alls of children of mommy bloggers to come out. I’m kind of expecting Dooce’s daughters to lead the way since she has passed.

 

[MaryClare]

Reunion of Russia’s 2016 and 2012 Olympic team. The reason was the inaugural Evgeny Grebenkin Cup (he was the head coach in Rio and London)

 

[brg09]

Well. Melnikova is giving herself a home facelift with her hair. Ouch.

And Aliya… that’s all I have to say about that.

 

[rlayt]

Aliya’s metabolism will reset itself in the next few years. She’s probably still very busy and active but giving up elite training and having a baby are way hard. Produnova had the same issue after she retired and she went back to looking great after a while.

There’s no shame in looking different.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

It’s really not appropriate all to make any comment about any gymnast’s appearance, retired or not.

 

[MaryClare]

Or anyone’s! Some of the comments about Nastia recently have been very inappropriate

 

[ruby]

No one is saying anything mean. It must be ok to acknowledge that someone looks very different.
All I can think of is an interview after London where she stated that she usually did not eat anything before competitions and that she did UB finals without having had even the tiniest bit of food that day and how light she felt. That’s insane.

 

[MaryClare]

did not eat anything before competitions and that she did UB finals without having had even the tiniest bit of food that day and how light she felt. That’s insane.

It’s completely normal

 

[JaJa]

Aliya’s metabolism will reset itself in the next few years. She’s probably still very busy and active but giving up elite training and having a baby are way hard. Produnova had the same issue after she retired and she went back to looking great after a while.

Many gymnasts gain weight after they stop training. It’s totally normal. They have to adjust to burning far fewer calories. And compound that with having a baby. Anyway lots of women gain some weight past their teens or twenties. No big deal. But seeing her picture reminds me how much I miss her. She will always be one of my favorite all time gymnasts.

 

[KristyJ]

Whether or not it should be normalized could be questioned (though each athlete needs to do what works best for them).
I remember reading Evgenia Medvedeva’s description of Eteri not allowing her skaters to drink more water than they absolutely had to so they wouldn’t “bloat” (let alone their diet), and how it compared to what she encountered in Canada, and it was yikes. There are definitely some dietary practices that are maybe based on short term outcomes but not long term, old ideas, and a lack of science. Those sorts of diets destroy a metabolism in the long run (I know this personally… )
Now, if you just can’t handle having something on your stomach when you compete, that’s different.

 

[MaryClare]

Joscelyn and Simone having a day out in Antwerp

 

[Hatsumomo]

Now you know they’re in a different era. Marta would’ve had them spending the day training. I recall in 2007 they only got to have a partial day off after winning TFs.

 

[MaryClare]

I kind of wish that old USAG/Martha had experienced adult Simone. Because I would have loved to see them try to control a multi millionaire “grown ass woman” to quote gymcastic