So why are you a gymnastics fan?

GTT: I was wondering if there is anyway to make a suggestion to you about a post topic? Anyway I would love to ask why everyone is a fan of elite gymnastics. I know it is a general question unrelated to anything specific in the news lately but it would be fun to see what everybody thinks, especially you and all the regulars who provide comments. I have a few thoughts myself.

I guess I could just toss the question out in a comment to one of your posts but I didn’t want to hijack the post with a question unrelated to the topic of the posts.

Terri gym fan wanted me to ask the readers of this blog a question so I am going to ask you, Why are you a fan of gymnastics? Who first turned you on to the sport and what kept you coming back again and again?

My answer is pretty simple, My Mother. She used to watch the sport so I would watch it. One of my first memories is of her complaining about how the gymnasts would not be able to go to the Olympics because of the boycott. I guess I was a casual fan at that time.

The gymnast I remember being fascinated by was Julianne McNamara. I don’t remember specifics about her as a gymnastics I just remember her.

I must have lost track of the sport until later in the 80’s because my next memory is wanting Pheobe Mills to beat Kristie Phillips. I was so thrilled when she earned the bronze medal on beam at the Olympics.

After that it was all general. I was in full fledged gymnastics mode by the 92 Olympics even watching the triple cast through a TV station I didn’t have. Wathcing the lines going through the television.

The rest if history.