Great article on the Karolyi's gymnastics training camp:
"A Gymnastics Boot Camp
Karolyis Mold Elite Girls Into Potential U.S. Olympians"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061902192.html
The system:
[quote]The Karolyis' system, installed with the blessing and funding of USA Gymnastics, the sport's national governing body, is a hybrid of the centralized, state-run Romanian model and the individual American approach. Gymnasts continue to live with their families at home, where they train year-round with personal coaches and attend school. But every six weeks they travel to the Karolyi ranch, accompanied by their coaches (no parents allowed), where they train as a group for three to five days at a time.[/quote]
No parents allowed....reminds me of some clubs rule that no parents allowed in to watch...makes you wonder what is going on there, what they have to hide, and how much control they want...
A camp in the wilderness - in the middle of nowhere in a way:
[quote]It involves a trek to the wilderness to reach the 2,000-acre Karolyi ranch, home of the national training center for the country's elite female gymnasts. Here, an hour north of Houston, far from the interstate, across the train tracks and tucked miles down a rutted, gravel road is a surreal scene: 30,000 square feet of gym space, a dance studio and rows of cabins set amid a clearing in a dense forest in which camels roam, peacocks honk and red tail deer lurk.[/quote]
Testing for who is strong, physically and mentally:
[quote]With 4 million American children participating in gymnastics, the pipeline for prospective Olympians is gushing. There is enough talent, insiders say, to field multiple Olympic teams. The challenge is assembling a squad that is accomplished both technically and artistically; sufficiently diverse to excel in all four events; injury-free; and emotionally unshakable.
That's what the Karolyi camp is about: The harsh business of culling the pack as you might thoroughbred horses, separating those whose bodies and minds are breaking down from those who blossoming. The fact that it's a numbers game is lost on no one.[/quote]
Chellsie Memmel:
[quote]Says Chellsie Memmel, 18, of West Allis, Wis., the 2005 all-around world champion: "You come here and you know what is expected of you. You just have to come here and work. There aren't any distractions here. It's like we come here and do our job."[/quote]
...key words 'job' and 'work', it is kind of like that, with 40 hr. 'gym work'
Kind of robotic, dictatorial...? better listen if you want to be selected on the team...?
[quote]Then in unison, as if members of the Von Trapp family singers, the gymnasts say: "Thank you, Martha, coaches and national staff. Good-bye."
Finally each steps forward according to height. Martha cradles each gymnast's face in her hands, then drops her palms to the top of her shoulders, leans down and speaks in a tone so hushed that only the gymnast can hear. She tells each what she did well this session and what she needs to improve before returning next month. And one by one they take a balletic turn toward the gym door and march out, head high.[/quote]
