Gymnastics is one of my favorite Olympic sports. It’s one that I can’t do, but I like to watch it because it is so beautiful. Both of my kids are in gymnastics, but they’re very low-level (my 4 year old was just promoted to the boy’s novice class, and my 8 year old is level 3). Even still, I love to watch the team gymnasts at our gym practice.
Gymnastics takes quite a bit of strength and balance… and years and years of training. You sometimes hear stories of runners taking up running in high school, but a good deal of the gymnasts that you see at the elite level have been practicing since they were little. It takes a lot of talent, but it also takes years and years of practice.
I think I like ladies’ gymnastics better, but they’re both awesome. There’s always some dramatic moments in the Olympics. You have to hope that your team doesn’t fall or make a fatal mistake, and hope that nobody gets injured.
Pictured here is a photo from the 1896 Athens Olympics. They did their gymnastics outside. That would be a pretty weird sight to see.
