Library blog

Summer Olympic Sports: Excellence, Beauty—and Danger

Two of my personal favorite Olympic sports to watch have been, for as long as I can remember, figure skating in the Winter and gymnastics in the Summer.  My mother is a big fan of watching figure skating, so I’m sure that is part of how I first became exposed to it.  Something about those two sports—the combination of artistry with athleticism, amazing twists and turns that make us spectators slightly dizzy even watching.  There is also an element of danger associated with a number of the required skills in both sports: jumping high in the air, spinning and/or twisting multiple times, and then landing—cleanly is essential for excellence—either on stationary solid ground or on a thin skate blade moving across ice.  Olympic-level diving also has some of these same elements in its execution—but at least the divers get to land in water.

Whenever I heard someone talking about Simone Biles and her withdrawal from most of the events of the Tokyo Olympics due to concerns about her mental state, I thought about not only how brave she was to assert her autonomy over her own body (and to not cave in to peer pressure and expectations) but also about how she was protecting herself from possible serious injury.  Whenever an athlete pulls out of a competition due to a physical injury (e.g. broken bone, strain, etc.), no one questions that decision.  When Simone withdrew because she knew her mental state was not in the proper place for her to execute her skills accurately—some people accused her of not having a good enough reason to not compete.  

Although serious injuries from gymnastics are rare, there have been several instances throughout the years of gymnasts doing more than simply breaking bones or straining muscles or ligaments.  A college-level gymnast, Melanie Coleman, who was herself a gymnastics instructor, died in 2019 after falling from the uneven bars.  Although that could be considered a freak accident, if a gymnast makes a mistake and/or is not properly focused, and they land improperly—they could injure their neck/spine and be permanently disabled.  Julissa Gomez, Adriana Duffy, and Sang Lan (all three vault-related) as well as Elena Mukhina (tumbling) all landed on their head/neck area and suffered paralysis afterward.  Julissa and Elena’s injuries left them paralyzed from the neck down, and Julissa died at 18, only 3 years after her injury, from injury-related complications.  These and related injuries (and near-miss injuries) led to changes in some of the physical attributes of the vault apparatus to make it safer.  Elena’s injury came from attempting a move that has since been banned—the Thomas salto. 

There are several gymnastics moves in addition to the Thomas salto which have been banned from competition due to the determination that they had too high of a risk for serious injury.  Remember--when a gymnast executes a skill in competition, they have practiced it hundreds or thousands of times already.  Each time a gymnast attempts a skill, there should not be fear that a slight mistake could have disastrous consequences.  Even Olympic-level athletes are still human, after all. 

As we reflect on the end of another Summer Olympics, hopefully we can not only appreciate the beauty of the movements and skills of world-class athletes—but also respect that they, the athletes, are the only ones qualified to determine whether or not they should compete.  In some cases, walking away from a competition without a devastating injury should be considered a win itself.  After all, even if our favorite athlete does not win the gold (or any) medal—that still means other deserving and talented athletes have the opportunities to win. 

To learn more about your favorite Olympic sport(s) (and find some new sports to follow), check out our latest New to You @ the Library lists.