My Journey: Trust the Process

[OnlyBeansOnToast]

It's 337 pages of fairly large type. I'm curious now if me summarizing Laurie's book would be longer or shorter than the original, as I've been accused of never seeing a detail I didn't think was vital.

IIRC, Laurie's is firmly pitched at the "10-year-old recreational gymnast with big dreams" demographic.

 

[Doug1233]

• During Leanne's twisties, added an involuntary half twist to every front layout. Began when she accidentally twisted once, then her body wouldn't stop doing it. Went back to drills and lower level skills and gave herself a break from it to get over it

Mine was literally this. I couldn't do any front somi without my body involuntarily swinging a half twist. Sometimes I would focus so hard on it that I would do a quarter twist one way and then try and quarter twist back the other way and land sideways. It was so annoying. In the end, it was "cured" by doing a half twist before the skill.

Did we land on who the "alternate" who was wishing for an injury was? That is steaming hot tea from Leanne.

 

[BB12]

Thanks for summarising this.

 

[makam]

I mean, I agree with this in general, but at the same time she would have been a member of the 2019 World team if not for a random fluke fall on her DTY at selection camp, and then she would have been a member of the Tokyo team if she'd done her day 2 Trials beam routine on both days. I don't blame either of these on the Fongs.

Leanne seems like a very self-motivated gymnast. It makes you wonder how she would have done under a coach like Spini or one who wasn't so invested they give the athlete the silent treatment when they failed to perform to the coaches standard. Gotta think Al and Armine's intensity affected Leanne's composure and it appears she doesn't usually do her best with the big pressure (Conversely, makes you wonder how Skinner would have done with more rigid coaches--improved or quit?)

 

[Kara]

Leanne seems like a very self-motivated gymnast. It makes you wonder how she would have done under a coach like Spini or one who wasn't so invested they give the athlete the silent treatment when they failed to perform to the coaches standard. Gotta think Al and Armine's intensity affected Leanne's composure and it appears she doesn't usually do her best with the big pressure (Conversely, makes you wonder how Skinner would have done with more rigid coaches--improved or quit?)

I'm pretty sure there was an article about Skinner that said she had quit or was going to quit gymnastics because it was too structure and rigid for her and only continued because Spini basically let her do whatever she wanted to.

 

[Peridot]

Amazing summaries @QuietColours ! Thank you

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Amazing summaries @QuietColours ! Thank you

Seconded! Thank you very much for doing this.

 

[Aeris]

I mean, I agree with this in general, but at the same time she would have been a member of the 2019 World team if not for a random fluke fall on her DTY at selection camp, and then she would have been a member of the Tokyo team if she'd done her day 2 Trials beam routine on both days. I don't blame either of these on the Fongs.

It's their fault if they are making their gymnasts feel more nervous and worse about themselves, leading to less consistency, but ofc it's hard to say exactly how much that can be put on them.

The routine construction can always be criticized though. The most successful competitors have been able to make teams despite a fall. Leanne's full potential was never realized, she's someone who had the talent to be in the realm of Suni Lee, still scoring 57 in the AA at Worlds in qualifications with a fall on beam.

 

[KristyJ]

It's their fault if they are making their gymnasts feel more nervous and worse about themselves, leading to less consistency, but ofc it's hard to say exactly how much that can be put on them.

The routine construction can always be criticized though. The most successful competitors have been able to make teams despite a fall. Leanne's full potential was never realized, she's someone who had the talent to be in the realm of Suni Lee, still scoring 57 in the AA at Worlds in qualifications with a fall on beam.

It was telling that Leanne knew the problems with her composition when she missed a twist, but felt stuck with it.

 

[jezmerallia]

“Gagery”. . Finally a word for it.

I read that as gag-gery and thought it was a queer inspired term for toxic tomfoolery.

 

[jezmerallia]

How would the vaccine have helped her in this specific situation though? She never actually had Covid or tested positive in Tokyo. She was quarantined for being a close contact of Eaker, who was vaccinated. Wong being vaccinated wouldn’t have stopped Eaker from testing positive.

She was only 17 in July 2021. It really wasn’t up to her whether she was vaccinated or not at that time.

That depends on the state. For example, in VA, you can make important health decisions on your own when you're 14. Lots of parents here lose their shit when their minor children don't let them in the room for doctor's visits.

 

[QuietColours]

I've learned there was some question on this bullet, which was a little slapdash when it was written:

Later that evening there was drama between one of the alternates and the main team gymnasts. She was in the practice room when she heard something like, "Please don't get hurt. I really don't want to compete and have to replace you." Remembers staring at them in disbelief. Rumor started that the alternate wanted someone to get hurt. Everyone had to meet and she had to personally apologize and clarify that she didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. Simone commented, "Being an alternate is not an easy job, but we need to work together."

I wanted to provide the full quote for clarification:

Later that evening, there was drama going on between one of the alternates and the main team gymnasts. I was in the treatment room when I heard something like, "Please don't get hurt. I really don't want to compete and have to replace you." I remember starting at the person and was in total disbelief! No matter what--it was definitely a strange comment to make at that moment. She could have been totally sincere, but the news traveled fast, and a rumor started that she wanted someone to get hurt. As we all know when a story gets told repeatedly, it gets spun uncontrollably. All of us had to meet and she had to personally apologize and clarify that she didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. Simone commented, "Being an alternate is not an easy job, but we need to work together."

This is just a reminder of how much pressure and emotions alternates and the four member team have to deal with preparing for the Olympics.

If there were other points that were poorly written and people would like me to go back to the source for, please let me know--I know things are written in a hurry at times. Because I do a lot of details in the bullets, I do try to limit the number of long quotes so I don't impinge too much on copyright, but I'm happy to provide clarification or actual quotes as long as I still have the book (this one goes back to the library in 10 days).

I also can't believe I have to say this, but I didn't do this for people to take the summaries and go harass any of the athletes mentioned. Learning this has happened has made me extremely wary of doing this again.

 

[Aeris]

It was completely unnecessary for that blurb to be posted on twitter. The person who took it from the forum wanted a way to get engagement and made it seem like something nefarious happened, when nothing did.

There are so many people out there with serious issues in their reading comprehension, or who jump to assume the worst. The summary you wrote was completely understandable and not confusing, much less an indictment of anyone or an attempt to create drama. I hope you continue to share.