Going into London: On the past and the present...

Kristie Phillips, 1987 Pan Ams Silver AA looking very stylish in this photo of 1981!

Dear Martha Karolyi,

Remembering the past allows us to inhabit our on history and understand it better. You should try it... The Olympics are a year away once again.


Let's recount how it all went down in the past:

Since Martha Karolyi instituted this schema to choose the Olympic and World teams, injuries have been abounding.

In 2007 Shayla Worley made it to the World Team after already having battled injury problems, in 2008 she could not recover in time and was left home.

Holly Vise was a great, beautiful gymnast and she could have really contributed to the 2004 Olympic team, but Martha likes her team to be strong, and as low on artistry as she can find them. And so Vise was kept out, good for her that she had such a great career at Oklahoma.

Samantha Peszek is a good, solid gymnast that had a great run in the last quad. Unfortunately, even a power gymnast like Peszek could not avoid injuries after a grueling season. She got to go to Beijing, but it was as a throw away score on bars in qualification, and honestly I was pissed that Martha did not give a chance to one of the alternates in order for Peszek to win a medal. She did deserve her medal though for all that she did for the US team before that. A healthy Peszek could have been a option to substitute Sacramone after her first meltdown on floor in qualifications in Beijing. But because of Martha's decision to keep injured Peszek and Memmel, the truth is: there was no other option so I don't blame Sacramone for their demise in the team finals, I blame Karolyi!

Chellsie Memmel was victim number 2 of Beijing and it was for the second time in a row after a great 2003 and her inability to make the 2004 Olympic team. At least Memmel was there to contribute on bars in TF which was her first responsibility, but as she has said herself, she did not have the Olympic experience she hoped for. I wish her all the best in her third run at the Olympics, she is truly a fierce competitor.

Ivana Hong is such a good and clean gymnast and I really like her style. She has suffered from crazy coaches syndrome, but she has made the decision to move on to college and have some fun with her talent for a change and I think it his going to be great for her. Her precise routines are going to go a long way in NCAA. In 2007 she made the world team, but was injured and visible frustrated in 2008 and did not make the team. After a coaching change and another world championships she was injured again and has struggled to keep herself in the elite rankings. It does not fail to amaze me how the clean, elegant, and artistic gymnasts in the US system just drop like flies before the Olympics. I guess this system is just a way of guaranteeing that Martha can put the gymnasts she likes on this team.

Mattie Larson is also a great gymnast that has been written off by Martha Karolyi because she made mistakes on the world championships last year. This is where the US system, and Martha's pervasive power comes to the fore. A team like China understand that mistakes are part of the game and they teach their gymnasts through experience to be comfortable in high stake competitions. But Martha only accepts mistakes on the part of gymnasts she would like to see on her team, like Sacramone, Patterson, etc. So Mattie is in the outs, and most likely has no chance at the Olympic team which is really unfortunate since Larson has a great marriage of power and style. More good gymnasts for the NCAA as it seems.

These are just a few examples of great gymnasts that fell through the cracks of a dictatorial and overworked gymnastics system that is Martha Karolyi's USA gymnastics. In my opinion USA gymnastics needs to retire her, fast! I am a believer that if she cannot bring the team gold this time around, she might have to step down, but if by any chance they do manage to win it, we might be looking at another decade of ugly gymnastics, injured stars, bad choreography, and just an overall sad situation!