I just watched the 2000 Classic last night (which, although cheesy, I really enjoyed the coach's insights on each of their athletes). Nessa had a nice (for her) bar set. And she seemed genuinely happy about hitting.
Flash forward to 2000 Olympic Trials. She bombs everything.
Flash forward again to 2005 Starting Over. Nessa seems "over" gymnastics, trying to sabotage herself, relieved to have not made the Olympic team, and not so enamored with Liukin.
When does the change occur between Classic and Trials? What happened? I mean...sheesh... if she had continued improving at that rate, I can see her being a player in vault finals in Sydney (esp. if she threw her Rudi, which btw. is a real shame it's not named after her) and perhaps in BB and/or FX finals.
It's now 10 years later and I still feel full of questions. When did she fall out of love with the sport? When you think about it, what a shame! Even if she wasn't happy in early 2000, that's 15 years (give or take) worth of work, all thrown away. I'm not saying she would have been Olympic AA champion, but just to go and give it your all.... why not do that?
5 comments:
I miss her so much. I was a huge fan of hers
ughhhh. I so wish she'd have been given the option to not do bars from 97-00. The continuous falls killed her psyche. And she was IMPECCABLE on vault, beam and floor. She'd have been a better specialist than Alicia in my opinion. You aren't the only one who loves Vanessa!
It's sad. Don't think me too much of a dork, but it's hard watching the 2000 Nationals & Trials. I grew up with Atler, always fully expecting her to be on that team. 13 years of work, all ended in a matter of months. The only consolation is that I don't think anyone who went to Sydney had a good time. Morgan White breaks her foot. Beckerman isn't called in as alternate, which, per the rules, she should have. Ray got screwed on vault, and Maloney was in pain, hit most everything and still didn't medal anywhere.
It was a painful Olympics for us in general :(. Though I think it could be said that Ray peaked a few months too soon. At least, in my opinion!
It is sad about Atler, although I read she is doing well, coaching and everything. But I think it was the constant problem om bars, they should have taken the comaneci out sooner, found a way to make a routine thst should handle. I think steve rhibacki thought that if she could only hit a couple times, she would get thw confidence amd be fine, because she did have the skill, but that never really happened. When Liukin finally fixed the routine after her move to tx, i think her comfidence was too shaken. Also her biggest adversary was the age limit changes that prevented her from 1996 olympics and 97 worlds.
Post a Comment