Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Infographic courtesy of International Gymnast I wanted to share Dwight Normile's ideas, as I find he has taken a systematic approach to deconstructing some of the reasons for the recent degradation in women's gymnastics, and to providing evidence of the fall in standards internationally.   You will find the link at the bottom of the page. Dwight proposes that the sport has essentially lost its way and shed strength in depth throughout the international field thanks to the introduction of the open ended system of marking, now ten years old.  An imbalance between the difficulty and execution quotients of the mark has led to an over emphasis on difficulty to the detriment of form and technique.  Injury has also become far too common a mark of this lopsided approach to evaluation. I would agree with Dwight, and go further to say that the very essence of gymnastics is the elevation of movement to the level of culture, so that something like a simple tinsica can become an objec...