Kerri Doyle Mrs.

Pisani Babich English 137H 1 November 2013 Farewell to the Perfect Ten Its 1984, and Mary Lou Retton has only vault remaining in the all-around finals. She runs, she vaults, and she sticks the landing! Perfect ten (ESPN.com)! Retton had achieved perfection, as told by the scoreboard. But how can we measure perfection in gymnastics now? If you have watched gymnastics recently, you probably noticed that the once coveted perfect ten no longer applies. With the new code of points, gymnasts consistently score above ten, even into the fifteens and sixteens. Scores now include a difficulty score, which increases when gymnasts perform more challenging skills or connect certain skills to each other and an execution score, which reflects how well the skills were done on a ten point scale. Officials brought about this scoring change in order to reward gymnasts for performing harder skills. With the old system, someone could do just enough to meet the requirements, but do it perfectly, and score higher than someone who did much more difficult and impressive skills with slight form breaks. Arguably, a difficult routine with minor errors should earn the same score as a simple routine with flawless execution, and the new code of points allows this to happen. However, as a result of the digression from the perfect ten, an intense focus on difficulty and power is replacing the artistry and precise execution that once defined the sport. This shift is allowing the sport to grow more rapidly than ever before, but not without a few adverse effects. Interestingly, similar shifts away from perfection are occurring in areas outside the realm of gymnastics as well. One of the most obvious effects of the change in the gymnastics code, the gradual disappearance of artistry, is changing the nature of the sport. Floor routines used to illustrate a gymnasts grace and performance, always full of balletic and airy dance. Now, gymnasts are so

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focused on cramming difficulty into their routines that they forget about the dance and performance factors that once held primary importance on the event. Some gymnasts, like Kyla Ross, still focus a lot on artistry, but it does not pay off like it used to. Kyla has beautiful gymnastics and dance, but other gymnasts with higher start values consistently outscore her. The winners do not always have the most perfect routine anymore, just the most difficult. For example, Alexandra Raisman, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist on floor, had a 6.5 difficulty score and a 9.1 execution score (Chappell). Compare that to Catalina Ponor who scored 9.75 to win the gold on floor in the 2004 Olympics (Catalina). Catalina had to do a cleaner routine in Athens to win than Alexandra did in London; artistry and execution had a greater impact on outcomes back then. With such an enormous focus on difficulty now, the sport is progressing at an unprecedented rate. Instead of focusing on perfecting old skills, gymnasts are constantly trying to outdo each other and increase their difficulty scores by creating new skills and performing skills in combinations no one even imagined before. Norah Flatley, a thirteen year old junior elite, competes a front aerial to front aerial to side aerial to switch to back pike on beam (Junior Watch). To translate, she does two front flips, a cartwheel without hands, a leap, and a back flip, all connected on a four inch wide piece of wood. And at only thirteen years old, she still has three more years to improve upon this connection in time for the Olympics in Rio. Not long ago, to do just one or two of these skills would draw some attention. But, the scoring system is pushing gymnasts to break old boundaries every day in order to stay at the top. Such accelerated progress adds to the thrill and excitement surrounding the sport, but it makes it nearly impossible for gymnasts to have a lasting career. While the senior elites were out competing for team U.S.A at the London Olympics and then touring the United States and

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doing publicity events, the juniors like Norah Flatley were working diligently at home. They were learning new skills, increasing their difficulty, and doing whatever it takes to represent the U.S.A next time around in Rio in 2016. This year, just one year after the Olympics, only two girls from the 2012 Olympic team have returned to competition, and a new crop of elite gymnasts now rule the playing field. Kyla Ross, 2012 Olympic team gold medalist, should theoretically be winning events since she is the oldest and most experienced U.S. all-around gymnast right now. But, she came in second to Simone Biles at both the national championships and the world championships this year. Simone just turned old enough to compete as a senior, and she has already surpassed last years Olympians. This shows how quickly the sport is moving; a few months gives juniors enough time to progress beyond the seniors and make Olympians names of the past. In addition to the progress of upcoming juniors, injuries are also slashing the duration of gymnastics careers as a result of the rule change. The pressure to increase difficulty impells girls to learn more difficult skills, which naturally pose more risk. Combine more dangerous skills with a diminishing focus on execution and technique, and detrimental results will surely follow. Proper technique makes it possible for gymnasts to do crazy things without injury, so without emphasis on technique, gymnasts cannot safely learn skills. Also, the tremendous pressure to improve rapidly prompts gymnasts to attempt skills that they physically cannot perform yet. This was extremely evident at the 2013 world vault finals. Out of the eight girls who competed, three of them fell on at least one of their two vaults, others had scary landings, and medical staff took one girl out on a stretcher for a knee injury (Womens Vault Final). These falls resulted from gymnasts attempting excessively difficult vaults in order to increase their start values. Yamilet Pena Abreu provides a clear example of this. She attempted a vault with a 7.0 start

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value, the highest of any womens vault (Womens Vault Final). Ideally, she would have run, jumped on the board, put her hands on the vault, pushed off her hands, flipped two and a half times in the air, and landed on her feet. If she landed the vault, she probably would have won due to the high difficulty, but she did not. She barely landed feet first, and she took a hard landing on her bottom. She did not get hurt, luckily. But, I have never seen her land this vault in competition, and I watch a lot of gymnastics. She obviously does not have the ability to perform this skill successfully, yet the high start value motivates her to try it and risk injury over and over again. Along with injuries that occur when performing skills incorrectly, overuse injuries may also multiply with the new code of points. Juniors are training relentlessly to increase difficulty, and with increased training comes increased strain on the body that eventually leads to stress related injuries like tendonitis and even fractures. So, what does all this mean for the sport of gymnastics? In my opinion, the loss of artistry neither helps nor hinders the sport, it just changes it. Instead enjoying gymnastics for the beauty, people will like it for the exciting power and agility. On the other hand, I think the loss of emphasis on technique could cause disaster. I can deal with gymnastics being less pretty, but without technique gymnasts cannot learn skills safely. This would cause injuries that could burden the sport to the point that no mother will put her child in gymnastics, and the whole sport could deteriorate. However, this code does seem fairer, and it has brought an exhilarating surge in difficulty. Overall, the rule change has affected gymnastics in a positive way, but coaches must have caution and intelligence and remember the importance of technique when teaching gymnasts new skills to up their start values. To sum up the change as a whole, I would say there was a shift away from perfection towards uniqueness. Instead of deriving the entire score from how flawlessly the gymnast

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performed, judges also decide the score based on difficulty, and gymnasts accumulate difficulty by creatively linking skills and creating new skills by being unique and innovative. This trend toward innovation in gymnastics mirrors the shift that has taken place in the rest of society. In the music industry, technology has eliminated the need for perfect singing. Anyone can go into a studio, and with enough editing, make their voice sound flawless. So, just like gymnasts, singers are finding ways other than perfect technique to distinguish themselves. Some, like Miley Cyrus, do it by changing their hair and attire and twerking with teddy bears (MTV). Lady Gaga distinguishes herself with outrageous outfits made of various unique materials, including one dress made of meat (Grass). Although Miley and her twerking can never compare to Norah Flatley and her beam series, both represent a shift from perfection to uniqueness as differentiating factors. The same shift is also affecting academics. Just like in gymnastics, it seemed unfair to reward someone who did something easy very well more than someone who challenged themselves and made a few mistakes. So, to prevent students from taking easy classes and loading their schedules with art classes as GPA boosters, they created weighted GPAs. Now, when a student takes more difficult courses, their weighted GPA reflects that. Also, like in gymnastics, it is possible to not have perfect grades but still have a higher weighted GPA than someone who got all As in easy classes. This model represents students work ethic and abilities much more effectively than the old un-weighted scale. Colleges can look at the difficulty of a students schedule, just like judges look at the difficulty of routines, in order to make a more informed decision about whether or not they should accept the student. Like in gymnastics, the effects of this change diffuse into the ones under judgment. But, in this case teachers parallel the coaches, and students parallel gymnasts. Students are pressured to take AP

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courses; teachers basically shove it down their throats beginning as early as ninth grade. Fortunately, unlike gymnastics, this almost always has positive effects, and it rarely causes injury. Clearly though, both instances demonstrate a shift toward uniqueness and distinction through increased difficulty rather than perfection. The score change in gymnastics has ultimately increased fairness and helped the sport to develop, but also altered the artistic nature of the sport and put a vast emphasis on difficulty that could potentially harm the sport if coaches do not take careful safety measures. While change in the code of points for gymnastics did not cause the simultaneous shift away from perfection in other aspects of society, the fact that they happened concurrently raises the question of whether they share an underlying cause. Following the mass conformity that came with the outbreak of suburban living, it seems Americans are trying to counteract that conformity by accentuating the importance of uniqueness and differentiation in all aspects of life. After seeing how a conformist culture limited personal expression and advancement, society has decided to head in the opposite direction to promote innovation and progress in the world.

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Works Cited "CatalinaPONOR." Catalina PONOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. <http://www.olympic.org/catalinaponor>. Chappell, Bill. "Aly Raisman Becomes First U.S. Woman To Win Olympic Gold In Floor Exercise." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. "ESPN.com - ESPN 25 - 70: Mary Lou Gets the Gold in Olympic All-around." ESPN.com - ESPN 25 70: Mary Lou Gets the Gold in Olympic All-around. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. Grass, Michael. "Lady Gaga's Meat Dress To Be Shown In National Museum Of Women In The Arts (PHOTOS)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. "Junior Watch: Norah Flatley | The Couch GymnastThe Couch Gymnast." The Couch Gymnast RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. "MTV VMAs: Miley Cyrus Twerking with Teddy Bears?" Extra. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. "Women's Vault Final - 2013 World Championships." YouTube. YouTube, 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.