It is never good when an unbelievable journey isn’t graced
with an unbelievable ending. We learned that with LOST, we saw it again with
Desperate Housewives, and this weekend in Chicago the rollercoaster that is
Chellsie Memmel was stopped without one last trip around the tracks.
I would be shocked if anyone reading this didn’t already
know the circumstances, but for clarity...
In the excitement of watching small scale US domestic
competitions like the Classic to see how people are progressing and keep our
beady eyes peeled for upgrades, we can often forget that they have a specific
purpose. The US Classic is a qualifier to the VISA National Championships later
in the sporting year.
Now, Chellsie Memmel, although she is a superstar in the
fans eyes, has not competed internationally since the Beijing Olympics.
Therefore she needed to use this competition not only as a practice (like it
was for Wieber, Douglas, Raisman etc due to being on last year’s world team)
but she needed to fulfil certain requirements in order to qualify.
For event specialists, this basement level requirement is a
score of 14.000 on the apparatus of choice. As Chellsie opted to compete only
on beam, this is the score she would have needed in order to advance to
Nationals. As we all know, this did not come to pass. Falls on two major skills
cost Chellsie dearly, and she posted the lowest beam score of the competition.
Not the easiest watch. Shame about the Arabian - Korbut connection, I like the idea
As a result, Chellsie’s petition to Nationals has been
denied (similarly to the Dominique Moceanu situation in 2006, and therefore
feelings of sympathy might explain Moceanu’s heated tweeting on the topic) and
she becomes the first top name gymnast to be officially out of the Olympic
selection process. As of this weekend, Chellsie’s gymnastics career is over.
It just doesn’t feel right: like a giant blazing fire being
blown out by a breeze. There is an overwhelming sense that the Memmel saga
deserves more of a bang than this damp fizzling out.
WHY I AGREE WITH THE DECISION
Rules are rules
It cannot be denied
that a big part of the reason the online fans are so up in arms about this
decision is due to Chellsie’s popularity. People see her as a fighter, a
likeable character who has always seemed to be a determined,
charismatic athlete; and more importantly,
a team player.
Memmel deserves this appreciation. No doubt about that, and
it pretty much sums up the way I feel about her as an athlete. She always
appeared to always try her best to get the job done, but faced a
greater than average share of setbacks and bad luck along the way. Of the top
USA WAG competitors this decade, I would say she is probably the one with the
most underdog appeal. People root for her more universally than many of her compatriots,
because we have watched her hit walls so many times and we all want her to get
her slice of good luck.
BUT, imagine if it was Nastia Liukin who had fallen from the
beam twice and posted the lowest score. If she was granted a trip to nationals,
people would not be sympathetic. They would say she was undeserving and in it
for the fame. However, Nastia DID hit. She scored the 14.000+ she needed and
pretty much smashed it. Sure her connections were a bit off, but they always
were anyway.
Switch ring less than great, but on the whole pretty impressive
This is why we have frameworks like these qualification
rules in life: they give a structure to certain events and prevent unfair
biases stemming from subjective likes and dislikes. It does not help in this
situation that gossip in previous years has been that Chellsie is not favoured
by Marta, allowing many of us to get hotheaded and claim this is a personal
attack based on personal opinions. When all the information is viewed from a
cold, non emotional standpoint it simply boils down to this: Memmel knew what
had to happen, and sadly she couldn’t make it happen on this occasion.
Transparency
In what may seem like a contradiction to the above, in the
end it will pretty much be Marta’s decision who goes to London. Although I just
now advocated following rules to the letter, if Marta really thought Chellsie
has a shot at a spot on her dream team, she would have found a way to get her
through to Nationals. So in a way, although it may have been a simple case of
rule following, this could have been Marta’s way of saying “you are not going
to be on my team, so save yourself the stress and call it a day here”. At least
it is honest.
Health
Not to make assumptions about Memmel in any way, but if her
general portrayal is anything to go by it would seem that her determination and
fighting spirit got her to where she is, and not necessarily her health. Given
that she wouldn’t make the Olympic team (obviously that is my opinion, but I am
pretty sure most people would concur) maybe it IS a good thing for her to stop
before something else happens.
WHY I HATE THE DECISION
The Pan-Ams issue
Shawn Johnson does not have to qualify because she attended
the Pan American games last year. Chellsie was named to this team but withdrew.
Now, it could be argued that being deemed good enough to represent the USA
internationally last year should earn Memmel a ticket to Nationals even though
she didn’t actually go.
Was this all about
London?
If Chellsie was only continuing to try for a London team
spot, then this might be less of an issue as mentioned above. However, perhaps
she would have been just fine with bowing out after a good show at nationals
and another go in front of her fans?
Legacy
Chellsie is one of the faces of noughties US gymnastics and,
as discussed, a huge favourite with the fans. Sure, the rules are not made to
be broken, but surely in certain circumstances room can be made for the long
time contributors? Even if just for the sake of making Nationals a better
competition for the fans to watch.
Further, and I appreciate I am about to enter dangerously
subjective and speculative territory here, but WHY did Chellsie have shoulder
problems anyway? Was it indeed because she put her health and individual
competitive record on the line by slogging it out for the team effort in 2006?
Perhaps if Memmel was the kind of person to shy away from giving a team meet
everything she had, she would have a stack more world medals and a much shorter
health bill.
Some people might think that a young girl who sacrificed her
health for USA gymnastics should be granted one more day on the national
podium. (and indeed many do, as revealed
by the petition being signed here: https://www.change.org/petitions/usa-gymnastics-usag-olympic-selection-committee-steve-penny-allow-gymnast-chellsie-memmel-to-compete-at-the-national-championships )
WHAT NONE OF THIS WILL CHANGE
-
Chellsie will forever be a double individual world champion
-
Chellsie will forever be a USA gymnastics legend
-
Chellsie will forever be the girl who repeatedly
stunned commentators, fans, bloggers and the world with her ability to bounce
back and look amazing again
Nothing like proving the gruesome threesome wrong
Whenever I think of Chellsie Memmel I am instantly reminded
of this: one day, 3 stuck dismounts and two stuck double pikes. Memmel was
always a pleasure to watch and her contributions will be sorely missed.
Wham, Bam, Thankyou Memmel.
