Gymnastics

[ad hoc]

Some of you have undoubtedly seen that incredible clip going around I presume from this weekend of Katelyn Ohashi competing for UCLA (if you haven't it's worth it. It's fucking incredible)

Well, here is the same athlete on the Player's Tribune, which adds a backstory, and talks about why she gave up elite gymnastics and went to college.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en...ymnastics-ucla

[Incandenza]

She's amazing, as are so many of the women who compete for UCLA (Peng-Peng Lee, who graduated this past year, also has a great story)

UCLA gymnastics meets are really great to go to. I like football and basketball, but recognize that a lot of the emotions around that are aggressive and are about trying to see the opponent fail as much as you are trying to see your team win. Gymnastics competitions aren't like that, at least that I've seen. The fans cheer for every gymnast, even on the other teams. There's so much more of a positive atmosphere of encouragement, and all of the women on the team seem to genuinely like each other. They're truly a team, even though they are competing individually. I'm sure there may be rivalries behind the scenes, but you don't get a sense of that.

They've done it all under the leadership of Miss Val, Valorie Kondos Field. She was a ballerina and had never coached gymnastics before being named the gymnastics coach at UCLA in 1991 (she was a choreographer for their floor routines prior to that). In 27 years of being the coach, the team has won 7 national championships and 15 conference championships...she's up there with John Wooden as one of the best coaches that UCLA has ever had. And not just because of success...you hear her gymnasts speak, and you can tell that she's almost like a mother to them.