Tom Forster resigns

[Doug1233]

And out of Skinner’s 5 E scores - 2 of them were VAULT!

 

[Jack]

I’m late to this party, but I’m 100% here for this job. Mandatory limp wrists for all. In addition, every gymnast will score an 8.8 at every verification, forcing either a lip sync for your life or drawing rocks for major teams, details to be hammered out shortly.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Your vision is so beautiful that it cured my covid.

 

[onodian]

I think melnikova would kill the lip sync for your life portion somehow

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

If Jack’s going to find a way to bring Melnikova into the US selection pool, USAG need to press gang him literally today.

 

[onodian]

Oh, we’re bringing Jack’s visions full circle into the fig. In Paris 24 tiebreaks will be decided on a lipsync with makeup by Celine van gerner

 

[Denn]

Biles tweet seems to rebukes people’s disproportionate criticism of Forster.

I wonder what she would say about the balance in this thread. What have other athletes had to say?

 

[irichluck21]

What have other athletes had to say?

Well we already have Shilese Jones who has spoken out against Tom, essentially saying that he has favorites and at no point did she get anything from him when others did. While she was always going to be a bubble gymnast, as a national team member she absolutely deserves the same treatment as everyone else.

McCallum and Skinner went on record saying they had no idea what it would take to make the Olympic Team and that Forster was not clear about expectations (which is true he always flip flopped).

Morgan Hurd also seemed to be disappointed in the decision to not be allowed to petition to Olympic Trials. And while that decision was just and probably the right decision, it was a slap in the face to Morgan Hurd who had done so much for USAG in recent years. She was never going to make the Olympic Team, but perhaps honor her previous efforts by allowing her to compete at Olympic Trials. Even if it was just one beam set. IIRC, Tom later told the media that to make Trials Morgan needed to be top 2/3 (I forgot) on at least one event. Hurd then retweeted it saying “Wish I knew this ahead of time” or something.

Other athletes perhaps have not voiced their concerns or displeasure because he was in a position of power. Now that he is gone, perhaps more will speak out, especially if they have decided to be done with USAG for good.

Biles publicly criticized USAG over the last quad because she had the luxury to do so. She could have said just about anything and USAG could do nothing about it. you can’t leave the greatest of all time off a World or Olympics.
However, Leanne Wong, Kara Eaker, Emma Malabuyo, Riley McCusker, etc did not have the same leverage to do so otherwise they risk getting black balled.

I didn’t read Biles’ tweet as rebuking criticism of Tom at all, more like saying Tom resigning isn’t going to fix the problem as there are many deep layers. Fact of the matter is there are staff at central office and part of coaching that have not been removed when they should have.
That said, Biles really does love the drama. So anytime she can throw out a vague tweet like that and not go into further explanation she will.

For all her power and public stance against USAG she hasn’t really been a solution maker either. If she knows what is wrong with USAG why not use her voice and come out swinging and pointing fingers.
If she wants change to be made she is the one that can force it.

If rank order is so important to “transparency” then the domestic scores need to reflect accuracy and not ignore deductions because the gymnast is super present in social media and may or may not be a favorite of Tom/ USAG doesn’t want a 2nd backlash for leaving said gymnast at home again.

Ultimately Tom needs to go because he has zero communication skills. With the coaches, media, gymnasts, etc.
A person in that position needs to communicate accurately and specifically. He often appeared aloof or dismissive. When he did make decisions it contradicted what USAG said. Remember when he said Carey was not eligible for the Olympic Team and then USAG said “oh actually, Carey can make that decision.”

 

[Denn]

I didn’t read Biles’ tweet as rebuking criticism of Tom at all,

That is NOT what I said, so I hope you don’t think that you are responding to me.

 

[irichluck21]

That is NOT what I said, so I hope you don’t think that you are responding to me.

What did you mean then?
I read your statement as: “Biles’ tweet seems to rebuke people’s disproportionate criticism of Forster.”

So it seemed to me that you are stating that Biles’ tweet is defending Forster and that he is being overly criticized by people.
You are interpreting Biles’ tweet in a way that I am not, but rather interpreted it in a different way.

Which is exactly what I brought up in my response.
Biles’ likes to stir the pot with these vague tweets.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

I feel like Simone was just reminding people that Forster leaving does not solve USAG’s issues.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Same, that’s exactly how I’d have interpreted it. Seems pretty neutral towards Tom.

 

[Denn]

No, I actually think we are reading her tweet more or less the same way. I also think it’s vague and I also do NOT think Simone Biles is (necessarily) defending Forster. It might be. It might not be.

And that’s why I phrased things the way I phrased things.

 

[dweiss324]

I’m still surprised he resigned. That takes a certain level of self-awareness I frankly didn’t feel he possessed. It seems to me he should have been outright let go, but they can’t do that if they don’t have a replacement plan in place. That’s my take anyways. People who are excited to see him go felt he probably should have been fired a long time ago, and sure yeah, but resignation is totally different. Hence Simone’s tweet. He must have really been feeling it.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

There’s got to be at least a possibility that it wasn’t an entirely voluntary resignation, surely?

 

[irichluck21]

No, I actually think we are reading her tweet more or less the same way. I also think it’s vague and I also do NOT think Simone Biles is (necessarily) defending Forster. It might be. It might not be.

I totally get it and agree with you. Sorry I misunderstood your point as I read it as you thought Forster was being overly criticized and Biles was defending him.

Like…Tom was A problem but he was not THE problem.
He preached transparency, fairness, and rank order and then complete contradict yourself over and over again.
He constantly put his foot in his mouth and didn’t want to take ANY accountability for decisions made, which comes with the territory.

 

[irichluck21]

here’s got to be at least a possibility that it wasn’t an entirely voluntary resignation, surely?

Absolutely.
Which is why Simone is reminding everyone that he isn’t THE problem.

I want Simone to just go off and state specifically ALL that is wrong at USAG and needs to be fixed.

 

[irichluck21]

Also… to go back to Morgan Hurd as a perfect example.
It was obvious to everyone that her performances and her injury status did not warrant her invitation to Trials.
USAG and Tom could have easily invited based off her previous records, all that she accomplished for USAG, and allow time for more repetition following injury. However, understandably so…had they done that then it doesn’t make sense for Memmel or Finnegan to have not been invited. Memmel was in the midst of a comeback and Finnegan had great meets previous and just had one bad day that cost her.

So I see the point of not inviting Hurd.

When questioned, Forster could have easily said that it was an unfortunate situation, but given her injury status and her inconsistent performance, it did not warrant an invitation to Trials, but he wishes to thank Hurd for all that she has done for USAG gymnastics and sadly the delay of the games and timing of her injury resulted in the tough decision made.
I think everyone would have understood, including Hurd who is intelligent and reflective.

However, he did her wrong saying, “well Hurd didn’t get invited to Trials because she didn’t finish top 2/3 on one event.”
This statement takes the accountability for his decision off his back and places it directly on Hurd, who rightfully responded with “top 3 finish on an event…wish I had known that!”

Does she really need to know ahead of time what the alleged expectations were? Nope.
However, if USAG wants to work toward transparency and positive athlete culture, these kinds of statements from the High Performance Director are not acceptable.
It basically comes down to this was a set secretive criteria she was held up to but was not informed of.

You can’t push for standing by your athletes but pull a media stunt like that.

 

[Doug1233]

He would have been better off saying nothing.

Marta never had public post mortems about how she picked the team and what she was looking for in each athlete. Although she was criticised often for a lack of transparency, Marta never made herself out to be transparent.

Tom shot himself in the foot. He came out with all the “I want to be transparent” and “medals aren’t everything” bullshit, but then after the selections have already happens he starts telling the media what Morgan needed to achieve to advance to Trials.

Just digging himself a hole. It’s best just to not say anything. The closest I recall Marta EVER got was to say that the Rio team “the final choice was between Gabby and Locklear”. But she never went into detail about what Locklear needed to have done to beat Gabby. It was just “this is my decision - some choices were hard but I had to make a choice and I made it and that’s it”.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

That’s not a viable option anymore, and credit to Tom, he appeared to get that. The programme would never have got away with failing to offer an explanation in this climate. He or someone able to speak on the committee’s behalf had to provide some justification or his position would’ve been untenable. The expectation now is transparency, it’s a million miles from the Marta era. That doesn’t mean he has to answer every question immediately, but there does always have to be an explanation.

With that in mind, the focus needs to be on making sure that what’s said is sensible. If you want to take the top 4 AA in a 4-3-3 format, say that, and make a good case. Don’t say tenths don’t matter, say in these covid times we want to be risk averse. Don’t bullshit about petition decisions, just say that unfortunately Morgan did not show readiness to compete and thus we did not accept her petition. That sort of thing.