When Winning is Everything
USA Gymnastics isn’t the only crowd that’s too focused on winning.
I fell in love for the first time at age three. From the very first time my tiny hands made a cloud of chalk dust clasping the rail of the uneven bars, I knew that gymnastics was going to change my life forever. And it did — I went from recreational classes to a competitive team, which included being a member of USA Gymnastics. Although my competition days are long over, I’m able to pay my experience forward by coaching gymnastics for Special Olympics. The sport continues to be a daily presence in my life.
Of course, sometimes love hurts, but this isn’t a #MeToo story. My gymnastics experience involved typical sports frustrations — why won’t this injury heal faster? Why has my teammate mastered this skill but I haven’t? But, during my 15 years competing in the sport, no one ever abused me — physically, sexually or verbally — and I’ve been fortunate to witness nothing but positive, professional behavior in the several gyms I’ve coached at since. In fact, I have mostly good things to say about the sport of gymnastics, which isn’t a popular position to take right now. But, that is why I feel compelled to distinguish the sport itself from its governing body, USA Gymnastics. Unfortunately, in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal, these two things are being conflated.
Although I’m certain that by now, most people are familiar with Larry Nassar and the USA Gymnastics scandal, for those who’ve not been paying attention, Dr. Nassar sexually assaulted nearly 160 women and girls under the guise of medical treatment as the team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. The scandal has caused many highly decorated US Olympic gymnasts, most notably, Aly Raisman, to comment that the organization is “rotting from the inside out” and that an independent investigation is warranted.
I want to address both of Raisman’s points, but for purposes of this article, will focus on the first. Although USA Gymnastic must be held accountable, many other professional sports organizations are likewise in need of the same level of accountability. Let’s reform our culture around all sports, and not sacrifice the sport of gymnastics for the sins of its professional organization.
Currently, there are approximately 5.4 million participants in gymnastics in the U.S. Of those, only 68,797 participate in competitions sanctioned by USA Gymnastics, and at any given time, only between 30–80 athletes are considered elite, i.e., those training for World and Olympic level competition. These numbers are in no way intended to diminish what Nassar’s 160 victims went through; I can’t relate, so I’m not going to try. I’m only going to say that I’ve long admired many of these women for their athletic abilities, and now, I admire them so much more for their strength of character.
Rather, I provide these numbers to further Raisman’s point — USA Gymnastics is rotting for the scandal — obvious rot — but also because it is almost entirely focused on the success of 0.001% of its participants. As has been stated by numerous media outlets, USA Gymnastics allowed success and medals to matter more than its members’ safety. Although this is, of course, absolutely unacceptable, this is not a problem that is unique to USA Gymnastics, which shows that we, as a society, have an additional issue to address when it comes to our relationship with winning and sports.
Although we often tell children that “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game” and that “having fun is the most important part,” professional sports organizations prove time and time again that it’s actually all about winning. Similar motivations are why many in Major League Baseball long turned a blind eye to steroid use, why many in the National Football League chose to ignore the severity of concussion-related injuries long after medical research cautioned them of the problem, why the NCAA is always haphazardly chasing yesterday’s infractions, and why doping continues to be an issue in a number of professional sports, including swimming, track and field, and cycling.
Yes, USA Gymnastics prioritized success no matter the costs, but so do nearly all professional sports organizations. Regardless of what happens to hold those at USA Gymnastics accountable for the issues stemming from Nassar’s conduct, we, as a society, must hold ourselves accountable for prioritizing winning over health and wellness. Ultimately, sports, including gymnastics, should be just as much about recreational participants as they are about elite and professional athletes. In other words, professional sports organizations need to prioritize a healthy lifestyle and not just sponsorships and ad revenues. Although the success of elite athletes does provide lower level participants something to aspire to, we need to do a better job of emphasizing values such as hard work, determination and time-management, not just competitive success.
In my own experience, this is why I fell in love with gymnastics. I knew that even if I didn’t win that all-around gold medal, I was still in great physical shape and I loved perfecting the athletic technique to flip and twist to the best of my abilities. I was also able to apply the structure and discipline I learned in the gym into academic and professional success later in life, something I’m still grateful for. Ultimately, there are more gymnasts with stories like mine than there are like Raisman’s, so the sport of gymnastics itself isn’t the problem. Our culture around professional sports is the real problem, and it is my hope that the USA Gymnastics scandal serves as a catalyst for change for all sports.
