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Kevin from mn.us at Wednesday, Jul. 24, 1996, 7:51pm ET
Kerry Strug did not have a choice.Talk about pressure. She said she was hurt and the response she got was "you can do it, we need a 9.6 for the gold." I'm sadder for the moment.
charlene from yk.ca at Wednesday, Jul. 24, 1996, 10:39pm ET
what bothered me was that Kerri Strug didn't even look happy
when she got her gold medal. I suspect she was more concerned about the possibility of not being able to compete in the all around. Even an Olympic Gold could take away her
need to compete. She's worked so hard for so many years. What happens after that ends. Where does she go with her life.....
michelle from pa from ptd.net at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 12:38am ET
I think it's ok and it's not, because most of the time it is the child that wants to do it. But on the other hand the kid is suppose to be a kid, they are suppose to have a childhood.
Nora from win.org at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 1:04am ET
I am not so sure that it is a good thing for a child to focus on something so young, they are enthused at their ability but pressured to continue and eventually they do loose interest, there is so much more in life for a child to achieve than a gold metal. this seems to become a major concern of everyone involved with this childs ability and soon it become an obsession to a point than anything. I also dón't think that anyone whom spends 12 or thereabouts years doing something is considered an amature, therefore I think many of these children become adults before they are susposed to.
Carsten from compuserve.com at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 6:55am ET
I think it has nothing to do with the idea of the olympic games.
michelle from siam.org at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 9:27am ET
These kids are DRIVEN. They have something special in them that makes them want to succeed, to win, whether it is put there by their parents or not... I think if they did not want to be there they wouldn't try so hard. They may be influenced by parents and coaches, but they have to want it themselves to work so hard. At least I hope this is the case.
Eric G. from [155.40.22.6] at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 11:37am ET
These kids are driven because of conditioning from a very early age...some don't know they have other options. I grew up in a town were no one listened to jazz music. When I first heard jazz, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread--but since I was in college, it was a bit late to devote my life to it HAD I WANTED.
by the way, I know that at age nine, I would NOT have relished any idea of being a competitor at the olympics. Some kids find reading or being with friends to be just as good--if not better. Competition is not the end all and be all of existence, but many trainers/athletes and fans feel that way.
Paul from [149.150.3.147] at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 11:39am ET
I think the problem lies with the childrens parents. These are
the people who live vicariously through their children. This
is where all the pressure comes from. Children naturally
enjoy competition. It is fun for them, but the fun stops when
Mom and Dad start to push toward being successful instead of
concentrating on what really matters, their childs happiness!
Paul from [149.150.3.147] at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 11:45am ET
Eric, don't knock competition, especially if you never have
done anything competitive in your life. You should try doing
something that forces you to push you to your limits and then
maybe you will learn the importance of healthy competition.
Vicki from ge.com at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 12:13pm ET
As the mother of a 9 year old daughter who is a Level 5 gymnast, I understand all the sentiment people feel over Keri Strug risking further injury to herself for the sake of her teamates and to some extent her country in pursuit of the Team Gold Medal. However, let me point out that this is something that this college-bound young woman has trained for all her life. To be an Olympic champion! To all the naysayers and critics who are so quick to judge, who is to say that if any one of us was in the same position as Keri we wouldn't have done the same thing. And to make a generalization that these little girls and young women aren't having fun and don't enjoy what there doing, just think of that magnificent image of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team as they stood on the podium with smiles that could light up the sky as they received their Gold Medals.
Tell me they weren't having fun!
K.Lyn from [152.120.101.86] at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 1:12pm ET
VICKI.. You couldn't have said it better!!! There's nothing wrong with a little hard work and determination. A lot of people lack those traits, and to see it in young people is refreshing. They will probably continue their hard work and determination into adult hood.
Amy from fishnet.net at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 3:38pm ET
I agree with Vicki also. I would never push my daughter into anyhting, but if she told me "mommy I want to go to the Olympics," there is no way I would do anything to stop her. Winning medals in the Olympics is a chance of a lifetime. At 18 you can drive a car and risk your life everytime you get in your car. The country also considers you old enough to vote for the leaders of our country. I believe Keri was old enough to make the decision she did. If she was my daughter I would have been extremely proud of her.
Thomas from [198.78.190.21] at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 5:13pm ET
I think that child athletes represent what the entire nation is coming to. As so many have said, "kids keep getting smarter and smarter at a younger age" this saying truly holds water! The fact that we are seeing more and more VERY talented child athletes setting new levels of talent that seem almost unattainable is a feat all in itself! I can't begin to say that it literally amazes me to watch all of the gymnasts on the U.S. women's team and how GOOD they really are. I personally believe and agree 110% with Vicki about how they train for that and are willing to risk so much to "grab the gold!" Although in great pain, Keri was having fun and LOVING every moment from the second the final standings were posted all the way to when the medal was going around each team members neck! If that were me in that situation, I would have done the same thing....or if I were worse, I would've hobbled down the runway and tried anyway with not a worry about what MIGHT happen! The chance to grab the gold comes so rarely in anyone's life...and that's exactly what she wanted and received! My hats off to her! She deserves it!
B.Serrick from washington.edu at Thursday, Jul. 25, 1996, 6:11pm ET
I watch each Olympics with a passion for each sport,
respect for each athlete, and a patriotism I never
feel otherwise. I have been a viewer for many years, and
will continue to be.
I feel that there are various types of athlete's out there.
Some are born with the dedication necessary to be a
champion, some are forced to be one because they were
picked by their country at an early age and ripped from
their family to train for these games. Other athlete's
do it to please someone other than themselves.
I think our country is the most concerned with young athlete's, and we should feel fortunate for that. Remember, that many of these coaches are products of countries that gave them no choices, and came to this country to have more freedom. Their country expected one outcome and perfection, and this type of conditioning does not leave easily. The coaches that "are" demanding have proven that their technique has worked, I guess. Could this be one reason that we are becoming more aware of this issue?
Mark from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 1:43am ET
I am a child and I think it gives a positive view for the future by setting goals and trying to achieve them. I feel all child athletes good or bad are winners in their own frame of mind!
2 young 4 u from [205.162.162.138] at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 1:58am ET
i think any one under the age of 175 should be thrown out
2 young 4 u from [205.162.162.138] at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 1:59am ET
it's child slave labor
Eliz from onramp.net at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 2:13am ET
I live in Houston where Keri Strug trains. I think it is pathetic and highly insensitive of parents and coaches to force these young CHILDREN to "achieve success". Whose success are we talking about? Certainly not the CHILDREN'S!
The parents can brag about their child and the "coaches" are able to charge more money for their "training". Someone mentioned that we should remember that in the countries from which these coaches come, they are given no choice. That their training methods are conditioned and hard to change. Well, it seems as if we are letting these "coaches" get away with these attitudes in our country. My daughter attended a school where two sisters were "students" of B. Karoli. These children left school early several days each week (for years) to drive into Houston to attend gymnastics classes. Wouldn't their time have been better spent on SCHOOL WORK? Another CHILD was in a gifted and talented program but her parents took her out of it because the advanced work was interfering with her gym classes! Just as college and professional sports (like football and basketball) are filled with illiterate "jocks", we are filtering an attitude of "sports over education" down to grade school level. There is a reason these are called "WOMEN'S" teams - NOT "CHILDREN'S" teams!
Eliz from onramp.net at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 2:19am ET
One more thing - I find it extremely odd that we are "allowed" to praise children for being "number 1" in sports, but in academics "everyone is a winner". The children who do poorly are given "rah-rah" speaches by their teachers while the children who go to class on time, listen to their lessons, do their homework, and constantly get good grades are NOT rewarded! Why should sports be so emphasized over academics?
STEVEN from [199.70.197.233] at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 8:37am ET
I think they have a little more pressure on them because they are so young but if they have the talent to perform in front of thousands of people they can go out there and perform. People are complaining about these young athletes far to much, it gives them a goal to reach once they get older. I think the earlier they start out the better, then they will know whats coming in there future. there is nothing wrong with child athletes, as long as they get there education. When they dream it can be reality and not just a dream.
E. Frecker from uky.edu at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 10:34am ET
Jon Tesh acted as if Strug broke her neck and not sprained her ankle!!
Craig Lowell from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:08am ET
I feel that 2 young 4 u is overreacting. If the girls don't want to compete, no one is forcing them.
Shun Fujimoto from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:10am ET
You people call that ankle thing an injury? I did a triple
somersault and landed on a broken leg to beat the dog-breath
Russians when it was the Soviet Union. If I didn't nail that landing I probably would have had to fall on my sword
when I got back to Japan, it was no joke.
Shun Fujimoto from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:11am ET
Eliz: Nobody pays cash money to watch someone else get good
grades or do their homework.
Craig Lowell from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:12am ET
Gymnastics is anything but child slave labor. It is an opportunity for teenage girls to do something that they've trained for and dreamed about for years.
Craig Lowell from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:16am ET
Shun Fujimoto: No matter what anyone else thinks, trying to land a vault with a sprained ankle and to torn ligaments ain't easy
Shun Fujimoto from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:25am ET
Craig Lowell: I know, I was being facetious, good job by
K. Strug. My take on child athletes is that it's fine,
but I have a real problem with the female gymnasts because
I think there is some unnatural stuff going on as far as them making weight, etc. Bulimia, anti-growth hormones,
there is something wrong with this for people of any age
or sex, but this stuff is going on with little girls.
Shame.
Holly from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:49am ET
I think kid athletes can compeate if they want to. Dominique
Moceanu is only 14 and she is a very good athlete. I think
anyone under the age of 15 should not be able to play unless
they are physically able to.
Morbid Angel from compuserve.com at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 11:57am ET
I think that children should not compete at all, just 13 year old and up.
Vicki from ge.com at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 12:35pm ET
Instead of praising these girls and young women for achieving success at the Olympics as well as at the Elite gymnastics level, the attention is diverted from their achievements to whether or not gymnastics is a form of "child abuse". The media has truly taken the positive and turned it into a negative. Keri Strug as well as the whole US Women's Gymnastics team should be praised for their gymnastics achievements. And might I add that Dominique Dawes will be attending Stanford University in the fall and Keri Strug will be attending college this fall also. So you see folks it's not just gymnastics, gymnastics, gymnastics! These women truly have their eyes on the prize!! Give praise were praise is due. And to Eliz I would like to say that yes there are some insensitive parents as well as coaches in gymnastics, but to make a broad statement such as yours and generalize that all parents who have children enrolled in gymnastics does us a disservice. My 9 year old daughter is doing gymnastics because she wants to, not because I force her too.
Thomas from [198.78.190.21] at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 4:24pm ET
Eliz your biased views are not thought out at all and are seemingly one-sided. You say that children or students are NOT rewarded for going to school and making good grades. That is not true at all. Someone such as myself who has participated in sports and done very well at a national level, graduated magna cum laude, and has made a wonderful living for myself I STRONGLY disagree.
I firmly believe that even though these "children" as you say get to leave early and you feel that sports get in the way of their schooling is not the correct viewpoint. Ever here of someting called a "work ethic?" These kids train day in and day out and BUST THEIR BUTTS to be the best they can be. They do this because they enjoy it, be it team or individual, give it 110%, and discover what it takes to achieve status on a higher level..its called "work ethic" and DEDICATION! For those parents that have kids in various sports/activities I would push (not FORCE...push=support) my child in whatever he/she wants to do and teach them that the only way to succeed is through work ethic and dedication.
Look at some other "child athletes" such as Tiger Woods. (Ameteur Golfer). 20 years old now, was dismissed from school for certain events and what happened. Graduated from H.S with HONORS, is in Stanford now and has a 3.87 GPA. These kids are learning WORK ETHICS and I guarantee you that they will carry what they learn from sports and implement that intensity to whatever they do...whether it be sports,schools,career or selling hot dogs...they will give it their all to be the best they can be! I couldn't disagree with you more.
What would you rather have? 1) A child training to win an Olympic Gold and learning work ethic and gaining EXPERIENCE (WORLD-WIDE experience...keep in mind SO MUCH goes along with this) or 2) you child on a street corner doing drugs and experimenting with the "bad element?"
I need not say anymore.
lamar stringer from mn.us at Friday, Jul. 26, 1996, 5:03pm ET
I think being a child athlete is hard because you have to live up to high expectaion of your parents your friends and other kids that look up to you.
But being a child athlete my self I now how hard it is to be good at what you do and still live up to other peoples expectaions
Chris from [204.97.248.99] at Saturday, Jul. 27, 1996, 8:47am ET
A parent's job as I see it is to balance protecting their child with letting him/her develop. As we should know a young child and often a teenager doesn't know his mind very well. To wit my ten year old daughter's reply to the question: What 3 things do you want most to happen. Answers: 1. World peace 2. Feed the starving 3. Go to the Def Leppard concert. So first of all parents must be very perceptive, fairminded and uninvolved emotionally and egotistically, a difficult task, as are many of every parents tasks when truly taken seriously. Secondly, limiting the age to something like 18 might help because if nothing else it might allow everyone involved to slow down a bit. It may keep coaches and parents from trying to squeeze their children into the olympics before they mature physically ie develop sexually.
Jeff from [205.148.227.31] at Saturday, Jul. 27, 1996, 12:06pm ET
I love to watch younger athelets because you can relate to them.
Lindsay Javel from umn.edu at Saturday, Jul. 27, 1996, 10:19pm ET
I think its great for kids to chase their dreams, just as long as it does'nt get to carried away.
Amanda Beard from [205.186.168.114] at Sunday, Jul. 28, 1996, 10:04am ET
I am a child athlete!
Amanda Beard from [205.186.168.114] at Sunday, Jul. 28, 1996, 10:05am ET
who here saw me?
Eliz from onramp.net at Sunday, Jul. 28, 1996, 3:29pm ET
In response to Shun Fujimotot - So your point is that it's all about money. Money is more important than good grades or doing homework. You may not realize it but you have just proven my statement that we are filtering the "sports over education" mentality to younger and younger children.
Domit from mn.us at Sunday, Jul. 28, 1996, 8:43pm ET
I think younger ahletes have more motovation than some of the veteran athletes!!Does anyone else feel that way???
Deena from uu.net at Sunday, Jul. 28, 1996, 10:03pm ET
I think you guys need to stop being hypocrites. When you see Midori Ito going out there ice skating in poor health you say " The poor thing. She's being forced to skate under political pressure". When you see the russian ballerinas you say "Those poor things, they are put under so much pressure to be the best". When you see an achieving young athlete from any other country besides the U.S. you automatically assume that they are a victim of child slavery. What happened to Kerri Strug was CHILD ABUSE. Noone (her coaches, spectators etc...) really did not give a damn that she hurt her leg. All they cared about was that Gold medal. "you can do it, you can do it." They told her. Talk about pressure. If Japan or Russia had pulled something like they would be indited by the UN for human rights violations.
adrian from [148.232.1.103] at Sunday, Jul. 28, 1996, 10:06pm ET
they are kids, so let them the oportunity to growth and develop as all children of their age, if not they will be like machines, and when the golden time of their plenty be gone, they will suffer for that time has gone.
Catherine from data-io.com at Monday, Jul. 29, 1996, 4:07pm ET
Saturday I took my three-year old daughter to gymnastics class (a parent-child class). There were three children in the class. I think my daughter was the oldest. While I encouraged my child to try each activity, if she didn't want to do it, that was up to her. My main goal is that she enjoy herself.
However, one of the other mothers was pushing her young daughter (I don't think the child was quite two) to do everything and do it right. When the child fearfully refused to do a particular activity, the mother was not going to let it stop there. The child's enjoyment of the activity was not as important as her getting it right.
My question is, how many of these young athletes are programmed early on by parents and instructors to compete rather than enjoy the activity? And how young is too young? Are any of the male athletes as young as the prepubescent females we see? If not, why are female athletes the only ones who are being encouraged to participate at such a high level (international competition) at such a young age? Much of my enjoyment of watching the sport (gymnastics) has been taken away by the realization that many of the participants have missed out on many of the pleasures of childhood. Competition and athletic achievement can be realized at a later age, but for the most part adults and teenagers cannot enjoy children's activities as children can.
Gail from ua.edu at Tuesday, Jul. 30, 1996, 12:17pm ET
I think that the gymnasts want to be where they are, and are doing what they want to do. One thing to think about is, if athletes are not allowed to compete until they reach a certain age, they will still be training from a young age. So it kind of defeats the purpose.
Lee Nelson from washington.edu at Wednesday, Jul. 31, 1996, 5:41pm ET
The Yes or No format of the Poll was inadequate to address the
complexity of the issues. If my child has olympian ability
and he or she really wants to pursue it, then I will be supportive.
If he or she does not, then I will not push my agenda. Kerri
Struggs is not a normal 18 year old. She has been in boot camp
for so many years that she has not had the opportunity to think
for herself that many late adolescents have. Thus, chronological
age is really relative. In Kerri's case, under such pressure,
I'm sure she went with her trainer's agenda. It made me furious.
Vicki from ge.com at Friday, Aug. 2, 1996, 2:11pm ET
In response to Amanda Beard, are you the same Amanda Beard we saw in the swimming events at this year's Olympics? How many hours do you train each day? Did your parents push into swimming and if not how did you develop an interest in it? Anyway you did a magnificent job in the Olympics and at 14 you possess more maturity than most 17 or 18 years olds.
Do you plan to keep swimming and if so how do you fit school into your schedule when you are competing, particularly in international events. From your response maybe we will gain some insight into the wonderful world of athleticism and young kids.
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