Tom Forster resigns

[blake]

That the Ranch outside of the gym was ran more like a summer camp with volunteers than the facilities at the UOPTC says a lot about USAG as an organization.

 

[JaJa]

And individuals can have individual needs based on their particular body. We don’t all have the exact same body chemistry etc.

I think that is an important point. Nutritional needs are, I think, not only specific for a specific sport but also for an individual. I think different bodies just have different needs.

 

[makam]

Well, the CEOs gotta be paid, you can’t afford to spend money on gymnasts who will probably just break in a month anyway when an exec needs a new pool, amiright?

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I sometimes find myself wondering how different some gymnasts careers might’ve looked if they’d had access to better support: sports psychology is another good point. It’s extraordinary, when you think about it.

 

[Hatsumomo]

Case in point: Simone Biles

 

[Puffin]

The question of whether there’s a difference practically speaking takes us to the issue of why Aly thought this: would there have been any negative repercussions if she had helped herself to the apple? Where did she get this idea from?

Well there are certainly plenty of accounts of the Karolyis, especially Bela, verbally abusing gymnasts by calling them “fat cows” and “disgusting pigs” who were “caught” eating. There was and article a year or so ago about Romanian gymnasts who experienced the same under the Karolyis. I remember reading in the 1990s the story of a US national team member (cannot remember the name) who had picked up a peach (or possibly a pear) to eat after a 4 hour camp practice and she was called out in front of her teammates for for being a disgusting pig with no self control.

So it is easy to see where the culture whereby Aly felt that she would be judged or even shamed for eating an apple developed. Calling out teenage girls for eating even healthy foods encourages disordered eating patterns and secret eating. It ultimately created a culture of under-eating in front of the coaches as one of the “unwritten rules” of camp.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

That sports psychologist in 2013 was possibly one of the best purchasing choices in the history of the species.

 

[MaryClare]

But Bela hasn’t been around the national team in over 20 years and even longer since Marta and Bela had gymnasts of their own. 2010s Marta was not 1980s Marta. Different person, different job

 

[Doug1233]

I’m flabbergasted that the bathrooms at the Ranch didn’t even restock the soap before they arrived!

 

[irichluck21]

I’m flabbergasted that the bathrooms at the Ranch didn’t even restock the soap before they arrived!

Seriously!

 

[JDB]

This discussion reminds me of words of advice for Tom Forster’s future replacement:

• Don’t shout down the employed sports psychologist when he gives feedback for improvement (Dennis McIntyre).
• Don’t have a breakdown when the team qualifies in second place. Seriously, middle aged adults should not act this way (Tom Forster).
• Don’t enable coaches who bully children (Martha Karolyi).
• Throw a national team pizza party once in a while (Martha Karolyi).

 

[Puffin]

So why didn’t Aly feel that she could eat an apple?

 

[Doug1233]

I don’t think it’s because Marta was saying “apples are bad”. I think it’s because they were scared of the staff!

 

[MaryClare]

That’s probably rather complicated and a result of the overall culture of fear. It isn’t because the eating of apples was actually restricted

 

[JaJa]

So why didn’t Aly feel that she could eat an apple?

I believe her point was that food was so overregulated and girls were admonished for “overeating” so much that she was afraid to eat something as uncaloric and healthy as an apple.

 

[Doug1233]

I don’t think i’ve ever had THREE downvotes on one post before!

To those who downvoted it, what was the specific part of what I said that you didn’t agree with? Like, quote the part (not any implication or assumption).

 

[MaryClare]

I think people genuinely think that elite sports can or should be warm and fuzzy

 

[RAFIKI]

I remember reading in the 1990s the story of a US national team member (cannot remember the name) who had picked up a peach (or possibly a pear) to eat after a 4 hour camp practice and she was called out in front of her teammates for for being a disgusting pig with no self control.

Erica Stokes? I think I remember this from LGIPB.

 

[navyblue]

“Bela hasn’t been around the national team in over 20 years”

If you mean 20 years from ‘today’, I don’t know why ‘today’ is a meaningful reference point, as the ranch has been closed down for several years, and we are discussing a lot of issues spanning back from the early 2000s through 2010s. Do you think Bela really vanished from his own property as soon as he lost the formal title, when it shifted to his literal wife? Was the ranch the Karolyis’ permanent residence, or did they live elsewhere?

As for Marta, I’m not sure what makes you so confident that she was fundamentally transformed as “2010s Marta”. I mean, she is literally the same person, and even though the circumstances of gymnastics culture have changed since the 1980s I’ve never seen evidence that Marta has had a come-to-Jesus moment of sincere contrition or introspection.

 

[MaryClare]

The ranch is massive and I’ve never heard any coach or athlete mention anything that would suggest that Bela was still an active presence from 2002 onwards