Podcast Summary
Luck plays a crucial role in athletic success: Being in the right place at the right time, finding the right coach, and avoiding injuries are all factors that require luck in becoming an elite athlete
Becoming an elite athlete involves a significant amount of luck. Former Olympic gymnast Sean Johnson shared her story of falling in love with gymnastics at a young age and being fortunate enough to train with the right coaches. However, she emphasized that luck plays a crucial role in athletic success. Factors such as being in the right place at the right time, finding the right coach, and avoiding injuries are all elements that require luck. Despite the importance of hard work and dedication, the equation for elite athletic success is complex and requires many variables to align, making it a rare achievement.
Factors influencing young investment in gymnastics: Love for the sport, supportive family, unconventional coaching, balanced childhood, focused training, and maintaining a childhood are crucial for success in gymnastics at a young age
The decision to invest heavily in a sport at a young age, like gymnastics, can be influenced by various factors. For the interviewee, it was a love for the sport that outweighed other distractions, despite her unique upbringing in a supportive family that encouraged her to explore multiple activities. Her coach's unconventional approach to training, which emphasized a balanced childhood, played a significant role in her ability to succeed without sacrificing her youth. The intensity of elite athletics isn't necessarily required for success, but focused training and maintaining a childhood are crucial elements. The interviewee's early commitment to gymnastics set her apart from her peers, but her unique circumstances and supportive coach allowed her to thrive while maintaining a sense of normalcy.
Navigating the unique challenges of Olympic athletics: Becoming an Olympian at a young age involves trusting non-family adults, but the fleeting fame can leave athletes seeking balance in their post-Olympic lives
Making the decision to become an Olympian at a young age comes with unique challenges and consequences. On one hand, it requires trusting adults outside of your family to guide and protect you. On the other hand, the intense attention and celebrity status can be fleeting, leaving athletes to figure out their next steps once their Olympic moment passes. Unlike sports with consistent public visibility, like the NFL, the Olympics offer a brief moment in the spotlight before athletes must move on. Shara's experience, starting from her dedication at age 14, illustrates this duality. While she had loving and protective coaches and mentors, she also faced the vulnerability of trusting non-family adults. And after her Olympic moment, she had to navigate her post-Olympic life, ultimately finding balance through marriage to another athlete.
Overlooked during off-season despite Olympic success: Elite gymnasts face year-round competition with minimal rest and recognition, requiring intense focus and obsession to succeed.
While gymnasts, like Simone Biles, receive celebrity status during the Olympics, the sport and its athletes are largely overlooked during the off-season. An elite level gymnast's off-season is year-round, with minimal rest and constant competition at international events. Biles was the only US gymnast to compete in every event at the Beijing Olympics, dealing with immense pressure by focusing on her obsession with the sport and her youth, which allowed her to ignore distractions. Gymnastics, though popular during the Olympics, faces a lack of recognition and media coverage throughout the rest of the year.
Using mental choreography for focus during gymnastics routines: Gymnasts use keywords to maintain focus and block out distractions during their routines, allowing them to perform at their best in high-pressure situations
Successful gymnasts use mental choreography, or keywords, to focus their minds during their routines. This helps them stay focused and avoid distractions, allowing them to perform at their best even in high-pressure situations. For example, a gymnast might think "tight, raise your arms, kick your legs" during a backhand spring, or "whatever stays in motion stays in motion" during a standing backflip with a full twist. By keeping their minds occupied with these keywords, gymnasts can block out distractions and maintain their concentration throughout their entire routine. This mental focus is crucial for their success, as the physical skills required in gymnastics are incredibly challenging and demand a high level of mental fortitude.
Mental fortitude in gymnastics: Overcoming fear and negative thoughts: Gymnasts need mental strength to handle fear, assess risks, and accept losses, enhancing their performance and emotional control.
While physical training is crucial in sports like gymnastics, mental fortitude plays an equally important role. Overcoming fear, pushing aside negative thoughts, and assessing risks are all essential components of competing at a high level. Gymnasts must submit their routines before competition, allowing for calculated risk-taking based on the potential for higher scores or guaranteed execution. The subjective nature of gymnastics judging can make losses harder to accept, leading athletes to train themselves to maintain emotional control to avoid influencing the judges' decisions.
Losing and dealing with mistakes in gymnastics: Gymnasts may experience intense pressure and personal responsibility for losses, making it challenging to cope. Losses can feel like a heavy burden, and mistakes during high-stakes performances can lead to forgetting the experience.
In gymnastics, the pressure to perform at a high level and the individual nature of the sport can make losing and dealing with mistakes particularly challenging. The interviewee shares her experience of coming close to winning a gold medal but ultimately losing to another athlete, and how she felt the weight of the loss was entirely on her shoulders. She also recounts her experience of blacking out during her gold medal beam routine, and how she barely remembers the performance despite its significance. The interview highlights how gymnasts may take losses harder than other athletes due to the intense focus on individual performance and the lack of external factors to blame.
Mental fortitude in sports: Mental strength and determination are essential for reaching the highest levels of competition, even for those with exceptional physical abilities. It's an innate trait observed in successful athletes, but cannot be taught or faked.
While physical abilities are important in sports, mental fortitude and determination play a crucial role in reaching the highest levels of competition. The speaker, a former Olympic gymnast, shares her experience of having the skills and talent but lacking the mental focus during her Olympic medal round performance. She attributes her success to an innate ability to push past pain and emotion, which she believes cannot be learned but can be observed in some athletes. The absence of this mental capability hinders their progress towards Olympic-level achievements, regardless of their physical prowess. As a coach, she has seen talented gymnasts fall short due to the lack of an internal drive or passion, which cannot be taught or faked.
Physical traits, maturity, and luck contribute to making a great gymnast.: Great gymnasts possess a unique combination of natural abilities, mental fortitude, and luck to excel in this demanding sport.
The combination of natural physical traits, confidence, power, flexibility, grace, and a significant amount of luck contribute to making a great gymnast. The sport requires a level of maturity beyond what is typical for a 16-year-old, as these athletes are put under immense pressure to perform at the highest level on the world's biggest stage. The sport is ever-changing, with rules and expectations evolving every four years, leading to increasingly athletic gymnasts like Simone Biles and Shawn Johnson. The trend towards more athletic gymnasts may make it challenging for past champions like Nastia Liukin to compete at the same level in today's Olympics.
Flexibility and Change in Gymnastics: Gymnastics' flexibility allows athletes to express creativity and push boundaries, but excessive rule changes can limit individuality. USA Gymnastics supports the Olympic team, provides training and funding, but its role in athlete finances is unclear.
Gymnastics, like many sports, experiences constant change through evolving rules and expectations. This flexibility can be beneficial, allowing athletes to showcase their unique interpretations and pushing the boundaries of the sport. However, it can also be detrimental when rules become too restrictive, limiting artistic expression and individuality. USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the US, plays a crucial role in selecting and supporting the Olympic team, providing training facilities, funding, and athlete protection. Unlike professional sports like the NFL, it's unclear how much USA Gymnastics addresses the financial aspects of gymnastics, as many athletes can only profit from their skills for a limited time.
Conflict of interest in Olympic athlete's financial interests: Olympic athletes face financial insecurity due to restrictive contracts, unequal compensation, and reliance on medal winnings for endorsements.
The financial interests of Olympic athletes and the governing bodies that oversee their sports can create a conflict of interest. Athletes may not receive fair compensation for their performances, and their future financial security may not be prioritized. For instance, in gymnastics, athletes sign restrictive contracts with their governing body, which dictates their salary and ownership of their earnings. The president of the governing body determines how prize money is distributed. Moreover, Olympic endorsements often only provide financial rewards if the athlete wins medals, leaving them without income during their competitive careers. These structures leave athletes without adequate support for their future financial needs.
Limited Financial Compensation for Gymnasts, Especially Those Without Medals: Most Olympic gymnasts earn little income unless they win a medal. Gold medalists earn significantly more than bronze medalists, and post-career opportunities in coaching or media can complicate future plans.
The financial compensation for athletes, particularly Olympic gymnasts, is extremely limited, with the majority only earning significant income if they win a medal. This is a significant issue for thousands of athletes who have dedicated their lives to reaching the Olympics, often sacrificing education and other opportunities to train full-time. The difference in earnings between medal placements is substantial, with a gold medal earning half a million dollars compared to $5,000 for a bronze. For many, the post-career path involves staying within the gymnastics world by coaching or attending college. However, some athletes, like Nastia Liukin, find themselves presented with unexpected opportunities in entertainment and media, making it difficult to pursue their initial career goals. Despite qualifying for Stanford University with the intention of becoming an orthopedic surgeon, Liukin's success in the Olympics led her to prioritize her newfound career and ultimately attend Vanderbilt University instead.
From Gymnastics to Venture Capitalist and Fitness Brand Founder: Former Olympic gymnast embraces new opportunities, but won't let her children join USA Gymnastics due to safety concerns.
The interviewee's career path after her Olympic gymnastics career has been filled with unexpected ventures that challenge her and bring her enjoyment, despite seeming random. From becoming a venture capitalist on CNBC's Adventure Capitalists to launching a health and fitness brand, she embraces new opportunities that push her out of her comfort zone. However, her experiences as a gymnast, including having Larry Nassar as her personal doctor, have left her with a complex relationship to the sport. Despite her strong love for gymnastics, she would not let her future children participate due to the current state of USA Gymnastics and the failures of the organization to protect athletes. A significant change in the way USA Gymnastics handles athlete safety would be necessary for her to reconsider allowing her children to participate.
Drastic Measures Needed for USA Gymnastics to Regain Trust: To restore trust, USA Gymnastics must prioritize child safety over individual reputations, leading to potential personnel changes.
In order for USA Gymnastics to regain the trust of the public and earn forgiveness for past transgressions, drastic measures must be taken. This includes letting go of individuals with potential malintent towards children, even if they are great people. The speaker, a former gymnast, believes this is the only way to ensure the safety and well-being of young athletes in the sport. Gymnastics is considered the greatest sport in the world due to the valuable physical and mental lessons it teaches. However, the devastating events that have occurred necessitate a complete overhaul of the organization. Freakonomics Radio features conversations with various experts and athletes, including former NFL player Dominique Foxworth and history professor David Canton. The hidden side of sports series can be accessed with a Stitcher Premium subscription. The show is produced by Stitcher and Dubner Productions, and can be heard on NPR stations, SiriusXM, Spotify, and other platforms.