I ruffled many more tutus than I anticipated last year when I dismissed Rhythmic Gymnastics as follows:
I upset fans of Equestrian Eventing by declaring in my Day 3 commentary that it should not be an Olympic sport. Well, fans of Rhythmic Gymnastics should prepare to get their tutus ruffled; because I hereby declare that it is even more underserving of Olympic accreditation.
Frankly, as I watched no less a person than defending Olympic Champion Yevgenia Kanayeva of Russia in the Individual All-Around today, I got the impression I was watching auditions for the female lead in a live performance of the Kama Sutra.
Mind you, some of the rhythmic positions she got into demonstrated beyond all doubt that she’s quite athletic. It’s just that her performance, as well as the admittedly less erotic performances of her fellow competitors, seemed more suited for the Cirque du Soleil than the Olympics.
(“London Olympics: Day 13,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 9, 2012)
Yet it seems I might’ve been too accommodating in my assessment of this performance art masquerading as an Olympic sport. For an unfolding scandal involving the certification of judges is giving the impression that those who judge Olympic competition in Rhythmic Gymnastics are little more than glorified madams, and the gymnasts … their “girls.”
With its sparkles and hair scrunchies, rhythmic, as it is called by its followers, can look more like modern dance-meets-small-town circus than a traditional Olympic competition.
‘This sport is very ill … it’s poisoned from head to toe…’ [Worse still] judging issues in Rhythmic Gymnastics are almost as prolific as doping issues in Cycling.’
(New York Times, July 16, 2013)
Enough said?
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