WAG Lily’s HOPES Classic results...

[rjb123]

OMG that is terrifying!

 

[MILgymFAM]

She was not using her hand , literally hanging on with 2 fingers and thumb on giants . Totally saw it coming ... Was standing right in front of her

May I ask, as a professional who saw things clearly, why you didn’t talk to a coach or official and try to stop her routine since it was clearly so unsafe? I swear I’m not being sarcastic- if the girl was clearly not safe, should she have been allowed to compete?

 

[lhmom]

She was not using her hand , literally hanging on with 2 fingers and thumb on giants . Totally saw it coming ... Was standing right in front of her

After the 2nd time she came off, I actually said out loud to my screen, “please make her stop”. When she dismounted and hit her head on the bar, I felt sick, That was awful to watch!

Also wanted to say congrats to Lily!! She looked relaxed and confident. Good luck in Ohio!

 

[gymbeam]

I didn’t see Emma’s routine or fall but just what y’all are describing is making me sick to my stomach. I hope the broken neck statement was someone’s suspicion that got incorrectly retold as the diagnosis.

I just hope whatever the situation, she’s not in a lot of pain and will be better soon.

 

[suds]

... I am going to say/suspect (and this may get me in hot water).....

She was not using her hand , literally hanging on with 2 fingers and thumb on giants . Totally saw it coming ... Was standing right in front of her

Thank you for sharing this. It is difficult to do, yet helps us move in a positive direction.
The question for each of us: Would I have said something to her coaches before she competed?

We each confront, and struggle with, multiple, deeply entrenched barriers within our gymnastics culture that can, at times, prevent “us” from speaking up for safety. Can you (can I) imagine telling a coach during a podium competition, that their athlete appears too injured to safely do a skill / compete and the athlete needs to stop? If not, then what will it take? A strong culture of safety is present when any of us, in any role, would both feel comfortable and feel obligated to speak up for safety, at any time.

Eerily reminiscent (in some ways) of Joan Ryan’s book regarding Julissa Gomez:

“Gomez's technique on the extremely difficult Yurchenko vault had been described as shaky at best, and Gomez was unable to perform the vault with any consistency during practices, sometimes missing her feet on the springboard.[1] A teammate from Károlyi's, Chelle Stack, later stated, "You could tell it was not a safe vault for her to be doing. Someone along the way should have stopped her."[1] Ryan, Joan (1995). Little Girls in Pretty Boxes. Garden City: Doubleday. pp. 17–20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julissa_Gomez#cite_note-LittleGirls-1​

Or, for another perspective, in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, commercial airplanes crashing into mountains because the co-pilot was hesitant to speak up and didn’t challenge the captain’s errant decisions and actions.

Whatever prevents any of us from speaking up for safety, represents a specific area that needs changing within our gymnastics culture.

Perhaps we should adopt some version of DHS’s mantra, “If you see something, say something.”

 

[mom2newgymnast]

FWIW, on Twitter, her coach (I believe this is her coach, right?) wrote:

Jeff Wood‏ @JeffMetrogym92 13h13 hours ago
Emma Boyd at U.S Classic , strained her wrist was trying push thru however at the end of a great bar routine her wrist failed and she took a hard crash but like the super hero she is she got to her feet saluted the judge and walked off floor with her head held high ! Very proud !

 

[amiandjim]

FWIW, on Twitter, her coach (I believe this is her coach, right?) wrote:

Jeff Wood‏ @JeffMetrogym92 13h13 hours ago
Emma Boyd at U.S Classic , strained her wrist was trying push thru however at the end of a great bar routine her wrist failed and she took a hard crash but like the super hero she is she got to her feet saluted the judge and walked off floor with her head held high ! Very proud !

And therein lies the problem! Of course it’s great that she held her head high and saluted, but sometimes we as a culture make it seem like pushing through the pain of injuries makes an athlete heroic, when in reality, the smart and responsible thing to do is to rest and recover.

 

[fuzi]

The Hopes athlete who had a bad fall on bars in the first session and was removed on a backboard, Azaraya Ra-Akbar, is fine according to her own (parent managed) Instagram. There’s a photo of her smiling outside in her meet tee shirt.

 

[gymbeam]

And therein lies the problem! Of course it’s great that she held her head high and saluted, but sometimes we as a culture make it seem like pushing through the pain of injuries makes an athlete heroic, when in reality, the smart and responsible thing to do is to rest and recover.

I thought the same exact thing. :/

 

[mom2newgymnast]

And therein lies the problem! Of course it’s great that she held her head high and saluted, but sometimes we as a culture make it seem like pushing through the pain of injuries makes an athlete heroic, when in reality, the smart and responsible thing to do is to rest and recover.

I completely agree with you. It sounds like she is okay from the fall though, right ? I truly hope she is.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

May I ask, as a professional who saw things clearly, why you didn’t talk to a coach or official and try to stop her routine since it was clearly so unsafe? I swear I’m not being sarcastic- if the girl was clearly not safe, should she have been allowed to compete?

agreed. however I/we did not notice anything during regular warmups (but I wasn't looking either), then they were second flight for 30 second touch and I wasn't watching. The first half of her routine seemed fine, though again I wasn't looking for anything. The giants were the last 4 seconds of her routine and I honestly thought she was having problems with her grip at first during those 4 seconds. It wasn't until she was done that I replayed the routine in my head and (all the mistakes etc...) and came to this conclusion. Obviously if anyone saw her swinging like that in warmups (including her coach) they would of stopped her. But by the end of that routine she clearly was having great difficulty using her wrist. and now we know why.....

 

[rjb123]

And therein lies the problem! Of course it’s great that she held her head high and saluted, but sometimes we as a culture make it seem like pushing through the pain of injuries makes an athlete heroic, when in reality, the smart and responsible thing to do is to rest and recover.

Yes. And also, she is what, like 12 or 13? And it is just hopes- not elite, not Olympic trials- this would not have been the end of the world by a long shot for her to scratch it. She has a lot of years ahead of her and she could have really ended her career. Thankfully she is okay.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I will add that later I did hear that she had issues with her wrist , but that was hours later and all gossip at this point.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

So is it possible SHE hid it from everyone, because she wanted to compete so badly? I'll admit I have done this for regular-season meets when it was a minor injury, IMO it's entirely possible she just wanted to compete and didn't oversee the possible consequences of it. She's not older than 13, her mind might simply not be able to oversee it.

 

[LJL07]

I am so impressed with your daughter and her gym! I know elite is new to them from what you’ve said, and it seems like they have done an amazing job! Kudos all around!
And someone broke her neck? Wow. That’s terrifying.

 

[fuzi]

I am so impressed with your daughter and her gym! I know elite is new to them from what you’ve said, and it seems like they have done an amazing job! Kudos all around!
And someone broke her neck? Wow. That’s terrifying.

No one broke her neck. She my other post.

 

[Aussie_coach]

First off congratulations to Lily, that is an absolutely amazing achievement! She must be very proud!

As for the injuries, ad the waynthey were treated. This stuff happens in high level gymnastics all the time. The girls, their coaches and their parents often feel like they have devoted their whole lives to preparing for this moment, they down p,at injuries because they don't want the kid to be injured. It's not just the case in the US either, it happens everywhere. Tough one to deal with, because gymnastics also tends to attract kids and parents who are prepared to push through pain, rather tha. Listening to the pain.

 

[LJL07]

No one broke her neck. She my other post.

Thank goodness! I missed your post when I first read through the thread.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

I saw both falls and it's just crazy because the fall from the second meet (the one where she got up and walked away) looked so much worse than the fall from the first meet (where she was removed on a stretcher). I can't imagine what was going through the minds of those girls parents!! And bars was just a mess for both meets, I've never seen so many falls and near misses before. I've never worried about Lily competing on bars before but at this meet I was a nervous wreck! So glad to hear that both girls are fine. As I've said many, many times before, this sport is not for the faint of heart!!!

 

[Ginger]

@FlippinLilysMom - Congrats to Lily! Can't wait to see her at the Championship!

Sorry for OT, but does anyone happen to know why the two other GAGE elites (JaFree Scott a Leanne Wong) were not competing? Maybe they already qualified to US Championship?