WAG 30 for 30 Heavy Medals

[CuriousCate]

Has anyone listened to this season of 30 for 30? It's about the Karolyis. I was wondering if it was worth listening to.

 

[CuriousCate]

https://30for30podcasts.com/heavy-medals/

 

[QuietColours]

I found it very well done and definitely worth listening to. It was very well researched with a lot of different voices--they included people who had a lot of different opinions about the Karolyis. It's not just the same information as we always see in the articles--even as someone who's been following the sport for more than twenty years, there was new information.

 

[Lola Marigolda]

Another good podcast is "The End of Sport". They did a 4-part gymnastics "week". The first two were Episode 28 and 29, History and Harm in Gymnastics with Georgia Cervin (in two parts) and then Episodes 30 and 31 with Geza Pozar, the first covers the Karolyis in Romania and the second once they defected.

I'm currently still listening to Ep 30. So far, it's revealed some new info for me, and like another poster, I've been following the sport for several decades. The intro for Ep 30 is pretty long, but gives context for some of the info presented.

 

[ladybird]

I listened to it and it was well worth it. Let’s just say it hit home.

 

[thefellowsmom]

We listened. It was good. new voices and not the same old same old.

 

[flippin out]

thought it was well worth listening to. My only negative about it was that I wish that they'd have identified the voices more often than the first time they speak. For those that are not familiar with some of the people speaking, or just have a hard time keeping track, it would be easy to get lost on who was speaking as they bounce back from one person to another for perspectives. It's not impossible to keep up by any means, it just think it would've been more beneficial to identify the voices more often

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Yes, I thought it was very well done.

 

[MuggleMom]

I need something to listen to while I work going to put this on my list. I had a friend who was on the national team at one point. She doesnt talk about it much so that makes me wonder what the experience was like for her. I never got the impression that it was the worst but I also don't think it was all hearts and flowers for her. She did say once that Marta was always telling her she was too nice because she would cheer for the other girls...I thought that was a bit sad.

 

[californiagymmom]

can anyone comment about whether this would be appropriate for a 13-year old gymnast to listen to? I will check it out myself, but always on the lookout for podcasts to recommend to her since she's bored out of her mind with so much free time in her schedule these days

 

[CuriousCate]

I'm on the 5th episode and I would think that it would be fine for a mature 13 year old. That said, I don't know if the next few episodes deal more with the sexual abuse...

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I would be fine letting a 13 year old listen. They don’t go into anything graphic with any of the abuse.

 

[Gymmom826]

Has anyone listened to this season of 30 for 30? It's about the Karolyis. I was wondering if it was worth listening to.

Yes. It was very good. I never realized that the Karolyi’s retired after the 1996 Olympics and that they were asked to come back in 1999 by USAG.

 

[Tulip811]

I had my 10yo listen to it. I felt it was important for her to hear (and discuss with me) what is considered emotionally and physically abusive in the gym. Since I can't be in the gym with her, I want her to recognize wrong behavior on the part of the coaches. At 10yo she is completely intimidated by her coaches. There is no way she would interpret anything they said as anything other than truth. She needs to know what constitutes inappropriate coaching and feel empowered to tell me about it. We listened to it in the car on the way back and forth from the gym the past few weeks. As she continues in gymnastics I'll encourage it her to listen to it again. The last episode does discuss Nassar and sexual abuse. I felt it was OK for her to hear this too. She needs to know (unfortunately from a young age) what is absolutely not OK.