Gymnastics is not as easy as people think, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it. This is a quote that Nadia Comaneci said, “Jump off the beam, flip off the bars, follow your dreams, reach for the stars”. I think this is a great quote by a great gymnast telling you to follow your dreams. I’m pretty sure you can guess I’m writing about gymnastics, which is a complicated and challenging sport (trust me I’m speaking from experience) but it is also the most fun. While other girls in my class are doing soccer, basketball, dance, swimming and lots of taekwondo, I’m out at the gym doing acrobatics. I just don’t get why some people would rather be kicking a ball (or a board) than learning how to do routines and acrobatics. Well, I’m going to tell you all about my perspective in gymnastics.
You can do all kinds of different things. I can do cartwheels on floor (or beam). It is found that “The most cartwheels in one minute is 67 and was achieved by Gaber Kahlwai Gaber Ali (Egypt) in Giza, Egypt, on the 29th of March in 2015”. The most backflips on floor in one minute is 36! And I can do front handsprings on floor or vault. On my favorite event, bars, I can do kips (which is a way to get on to the bar by doing a swing and putting your legs to the bar. Then you pull yourself up to the bar) and back-hip-circles. As you can see, there are a lot of skills you can do in gymnastics.
At gymnastics all you need to learn a new skill is practise and a little bit of confidence. It really isn’t hard to learn new skills but it’s a big accomplishment. For example, I learned how to do a round-off back handspring two years ago when I was 9. I was scared to do it by myself at first but after I did it I didn’t want to stop doing it. I had been doing it with a spot (spot means my coach was helping me do it) but then I was able to do it by myself. It’s not just an accomplishment, is also feels accomplishing. For example, if you’re working on your round-off (a round-off is a cartwheel with power and you land with your feet together) but you keep doing cartwheels and then you finally get it, it feels very accomplishing. Plus it’s very useful in the future when you’re doing round-off back handsprings.
Competing is what makes gymnastics so special. Some people don’t like competing because it is stressful for a bunch of people to be watching you. It’s also stressful to think two or three judges are watching your every move but if you think about it there is nothing to be stressed about because you’ve been practising this routine for a month or two. My first competition was last year (I was 10) and I was so scared that I was going to mess up that at the end when I got 3 medals I was so happy I couldn’t stop smiling. From now on even though I’m in my second year competing I still have them hanging in my room. This is something I wanted to know and I found out Who is the greatest gymnast? – “The 1984 best women’s gymnastics champion is Mary Lou Retton – she was nicknamed “America’s Sweetheart” after she became the first U.S. woman to win the individual all-around Olympic gold medal. She thinks the greatest American gymnast of all time is Simone Biles”. You present a routine for beam, bars, floor, and vault (to watch an amazing routine I’d recommend Simone Biles or Mary Lou Retton). Your coach gives you a routine and then you make it your own by adding parts and changing them. Competitions are nerve-racking but very fun.
As you can see, every part of gymnastics is challenging but it is the best sport of all. As I rap up this essay I would like to leave you with a few questions, how are gymnasts made? Are they born with the talent or does it take time to get there? Remember the things I told you about were only three of the many things gymnastics has to offer.