China Womens Gymnastics Team at 2014 Olympics - Term Paper Example

China Women gymnastics team of The Sochi Winter Olympics Introduction Moscow would be the place to be, come 2014. The Russian Federation would for the first time, be the home for millions of The 2014 Olympic Winter Games participants and fans. This comes at a peculiar time given that the Soviet Union hosted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow (Hofstetter 78). The games will take place in the city of Sochi situated at Krasnodar, the third largest zone, which has already a population of 400,000 people. In the event, the games will take two cluster organization methods. There would be a coastal cluster for ice events in Sochi, and a mountain cluster located in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains (Nauright and Charles 76). There are expectations this kind of arrangement would make the games one of the most compact Olympic Committee has ever organized. The Sochi Olympic Park construction is along the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinskaya Valley. This is where all ice venues would take place. These include the Bolshoi Ice Palace, the Sochi Olympic Skating center, the Maly Ice Palace, the Olympic Oval, the Olympic Curling Center, the Central Stadium, and the main Olympic Village. In the mountain cluster in Krasnaya Polyana, this would be the home of all skiing and sliding sports activities (Hofstetter 78). The preparation for these games has triggered construction of new and modern telecommunications, electric power, new Olympic Park along the coast of Black sea, and transportation systems. Women gymnastics would feature and as expected, the China Women gymnastic team would rock the event (Franks 88). They have previously put some distance on the other contenders in past Olympic Gymnasium competitions. Team goal or task – Level of difficulty In order to recreate the amazing moments that prompted the women gymnastics team of China to be branded exceptional, there ought to be more of what this women team have been doing. This actually calls for perfectionist awareness of the skills needed to be a top contestant in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The women teams needs medal, and for that golden medal to come by, they know that not only thorough preparations and rehearsals will come calling in the subsequent days but also their bodies need to reach that high level of flexibility (Coma?neci 64). Since the attaining number four in Olympics competitions for China women gymnastics in 2012, there has been that pressure and pursuit of the entire team to reach that level of perfection. The team can win everything by not only producing a stunning performance but also attaining the level of flawless performance. The team’s head coach Lu Shanzhen, would want a repeat of the 1996 margin of almost near perfect performance over the most competitive opponents even if it were not the Russians (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 102). This came to a success because the entire country, board and the bench team were exceptional. The coaching staff and the gymnasts need to wake into reality that their greatest task and level of difficult is the repeat of the standards once termed by the Bela Karolyi, a legendary gymnastic coach in US as performance so rare for 16 years old minors (Nauright, John, and Charles 110). The China team comprises of a beautiful bouquet of individual talent, which showed greater unity, mental toughness, and togetherness to compete 2012 Olympics (Hofstetter 79). The same zeal and commitment is the ultimate goal if the team has to affirm fully its heights in the sport of gymnasts. In order to put 1996 and 2012 performances in line of repeat, the head coach is ensuring that the team remains a solid entity despite individual talents and skills. There are no cracks of jealousy and rivalries among the gymnasts if success is their goal in 2014 Sochi Olympics. The team goes through individual qualifying by challenging each other in order to reach the individual all around. This is the pre-trial performances that have helped in fine-tuning the bests of these gymnasts and even makes avenues for the coach see, correct, and identify the best out of the best (Nauright, John, and Charles 88). The team’s tight huddle gathering, hugging each other, always shouting encouragement, sometimes they pray or recite their Pledge of Allegiance, and joke is what they are recreating to maintain that same psyche come the Sochi competition. This flame of fame resting on the performances of He Kexin, Deng Linlin ,Jiang Yuyuan, Huang Qiushuang, Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 76). This has to go through the selection committee following the selection camp in Texas before the real competition. China women gymnastic team Individual characteristics Name Height Age Specialty Home town Career highlight He Kexin 4’ 11’’ 16 years Uneven Bars Beijing gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Deng Linlin 4’6’’ 16years balance beam Fuyang, Anhui 2009 World Champion and in 2012 Cheng Fei 5’4’’ 17 years Bars (uneven bars) Wuhan All round in 2012 Olympic Trials Huang Qiushuang 5’1’’ 16 years Individual All-Around Guangdong won a bronze medal with her team, in 2011 world Championship The above team practices in the coordination of Zhang Hongliang, the official in the Coaching bench and Lu Shanzhen. As for Lu Shanzhen, the person has qualities one would admire as a coach. Like all other gymnasts of the world, the China team requires a catalyst by their side. The two coaches are exceptional for taking the growing women form from the time they chose cartwheels in routine to excellent status (Caine, Keith and Liesbeth 72). For example, the input of Lu Shanzhen saw the team win the 2012 London Olympics, the status these two coaches’ aims at reaching in Sochi 2014. The team remains typically young but the world is aware of the innate qualities bound in not only the young women but also the exceptional coaches they do posses. Team characteristics Following the conclusion of the women’s gymnastics competition at the year 2013 Gymnastics Championship Trials, Chinese Gymnastics committee and coach named the six finalist members of the 2013-14 women’s team. The Senior All Around Championship team comprises of He Kexin, Deng Linlin ,Jiang Yuyuan, Huang Qiushuang, Cheng Fei and Yang Yilin (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 120). This team of six has worked their way to success through marvelous practicing. In the team, what defines them is the ultimate characteristic to show case their performances and inspire the world. This has served as their public relation motto and the teams individual performances have gone further to show that what they believe in is feasible, achievable, and credible as well. As the coaches put it clear, the secrets to the continual winning of China gymnasts is the ideal nature of their practice, practice and modelization as well as doing the same thing you have to in most easier said than done times (Coma?neci 75). The China’s new fabulous six gymnasts have continuously stared down the daunting task of challenging their fiercest competitor from USA, not to mention the powerful Russians and Romanians. They engage their participation right from the word go in showcasing one clean routine after another hence create themselves an edge above the competitors. They have their own individual drive as a team, a unique feature that probably places them above the rest. The key to this is keeping vigil on the apparatus and working extremely hard prior to any competition. This is the same characteristic the coaches, the team, and the entire China committee lays down for the participants representing the Chinese flag (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 50). For example, the coach admits to their day in day out modeling of the gymnasts that involves creating awareness of the voice explosion of the crowd they would have to deal with during Sochi Olympics. The gymnastic team of the China, famed for its fierceness, their unmatched oozing flair, grace and pose blends them as good enough for the sport. The fierce six always lead from the first rotation to a cruising height in the sport (Davis 70). This is what defines the China gymnast’s team. Organizational Influences For the best result and continual success of the China gymnasts, the influence does not base on the technical bench or the board of gymnasium all round clock. There are integral influences, which have shaped the participation of this sport to the level it has gone in the China sporting avenues. For example, All-China Athletic Association has had some positive influence on the performance of the sport. In the participation of the minors, the welfare has a paramount concern. The association ensures there is a safe and ideal environment for its members, participants, officials, coaches, volunteers, and the general staff in the gymnasium discipline (Caine, Keith and Liesbeth 120). This does not come through the sole efforts of the gymnasium welfare policy. In order to provide safe grounds for the participants, the Policy allows other organizations to run gymnasiums academies at local level. The participation of these two organization policies allows for the provision of safe environment for all participants. They co-ordinate their efforts to promote a safe gymnastic grounds at all levels. This comes through either solely initiatives or partnership with other interested and necessary parties like member clubs, registered businesses, and the gymnasium community at large (Du 82). This has come in as the overall organization that has modeled the perfect path for young participants who want a chance in the Olympics final in 2014 in Sochi. It is this sense that makes any competitive athlete in US colors first to be a member of China Gymnastics. This is the only official organization of the sport that later culminates to Elite athletes, in trials for the China Olympic gymnastics team (Coma?neci 123). This has seen every year more than 2500 competitors come out year in year out especially at this time when the Sochi Olympics are just around the corner. This has provided a platform for the selection of top-notch gymnasts, a reason behind why team China is still the one to beat during the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia. Other organizations like The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee have provided a platform for all by adopting sports for all forever policy (Caine, Keith and Liesbeth 61). This has nurtured young gymnasts talents some of those who have made it to overall national squad and junior teams of gymnastics. They develop amateur athlete programs in not only gymnasium but also other sports. This allows athletes like the ones in gymnasium to start early training and participation before developing to gain a chance in every year Chinese Gymnasium competition. Hence, therefore the The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has come out as the most appropriate outlet, much needed for gymnastics schools and academies. Other helpful organizations have been the China's local organizations, and Asian Olympic Council (Caine, Keith and Liesbeth 83). All these have provided for the avenues for the teams to nature and practice talents, which actually comes as the main thing during the search for the best overall gymnasts for Olympic role. This has borne new talent every year in the sport, a secret China Gymnasium Association cannot abandon for it brings home honor and medals. External Influences The performances of the Chinese gymnasts have not come on positive aspect but much of the best moves showcased in Olympics have sourced from much external pressure (Coma?neci 94). For example, the association faces much competition from other popular sport like the new found love for soccer in Asia and ice skating, which come as the most exciting sporting activities in China. As a result, the gymnasium sport may have external challenges like proper considerations in monetary funding or the fame of the athlete falling on the shadows of the fellow national athletes (Du 52). This comes as the greatest challenge but the female gymnasts have continually stood for the encounters and in return hoist the China flag higher in events that once were termed as emanating from the east. On another level of external influence, there are practical conditions that limit the high-level training of gymnasts. These conditions are physical, psychological and must always incorporate an ethical factor. There is always an accurate process of assessing individual’s capacities, which get their measure with regard to demands and constraints of the activity. This is because most of the young gymnasts are still growing hence they are vulnerable (Davis 60). The gymnasts and coach relation in women is one of the most demanding sport. The influence comes in when these young gymnasts have to fall fully as robots of the coaches to attain the perfectionists status as a well as the parental, societal, and national pressure to accord the same gymnasts as much freedom as any other child in order to develop fully. This sometimes has denied Chinese gymnastics Association some of the best talents in their soil hence an influence, much of a challenge. Processes The sport has existed for more than 2000 years; the competitiveness of the sport in the Chinese soil came to live less than 100 years back. After the 1896 German’s sweep of all gymnastics medals, the Chinese Gymnastic Association took the journey to its stardom witnessed in today’s Olympics competitions (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 124). This saw the Chinese Gymnastics Association, currently running by the name Chinese Gymnastics become the overall governing body of the sport (Coma?neci 68). The process of evolvement has not been an easy road, as the culture is slowly facing some competition from other sports. This though came as an advantage to the Chinese gymnastics for the indigenous nature of its love for gymnastics has allowed a lot of talent exportation towards its glory. The coaches and the board has therefore provided enough investment in the sports growth and nurturing of talent. This process of extensive and skillful training, practice, and modelization of gymnasts is the reason behind the glorious performances the countries reaps today (Coaching Youth Gymnastics 34). They have stood to be exceptional amid the challenge and interference the sport has witnessed. As this research had shown earlier, the sport has designed measures to guarantee safety and health environments for the participants. The coaches’ call into practice, the unprecedented scenes in the gymnastics world and this process has seen the sport mature and reach the level of world top performers (Coma?neci 45). This is the rationale behind the organization periodic sought of the top skills from diverse coaches that its input has helped create a new realm of performances for the Chinese team whenever they compete. Outcomes Since the Chinese gymnastics association testing of stardom in this sport in 2008 Beijing Olympics, they have moved in to create new and most sophisticated moves in all level of gymnastics from floor, pommel horse, rings, vaults, horizontal bars, and parallel bars (Davis 65). There have been teams, which have designed new outcomes like the stunning performance of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams (Du 45). Even with the former performances not that good for the Chinese Gymnastics body, that has never prompted them to give in on improving the culture of the sport (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 98). For example, the nurturing of talents and high-level of competitiveness in Chinese Gymnastics championship every year produces the best qualities and brands that have gone far to fetch the country glory in world competition. The top brand of 2008 clearly highlights that in the table below: Gymnastics NATION GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL MEDALS  China  11 2 5 18  United States  2 6 2 10  Russia  2 0 2 4  Romania  1 0 1 2  Canada  0 2 0 2  Japan  0 2 0 2  Belarus  0 1 1 2  France  0 1 1 2  Germany  0 1 1 2  Ukraine  0 0 2 2  Uzbekistan  0 0 2 2  North Korea  1 0 0 1  Poland  1 0 0 1  Croatia  0 1 0 1  South Korea  0 1 0 1  Spain  0 1 0 1  Great Britain  0 0 1 1 Adopted from: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2008/medals/by_sport/gymnastics.htm Like earlier discussed, the team’s performance is out of teamwork, perfect individual skill and support from the authorities. The 2008 and 2012 performances provided a good ground for the Chinese gymnastics to display a repeat of the 2008 exemplary performances (Harper 105). These performances leave the judges in awe and some of them even brand the team’s performances as made for the future even though the Chinese team brings them back to present times. The Chinese team has curved its unique niche in this sport and a repeat of the same in 2014 Sochi Olympics would crown them as the tops ever seeds of Gymnastics. Conclusion The Chinese women gymnastics performances of 2012 Olympic grounds would come as an added boost if the same comes in full force in Sochi. Of course, every team is improving and practicing to beat the Americans. Chinese vastness of their skills, talents, and spirited organization may as well be the next jinx crowning them as champions come 2014 Olympics in Russia (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 56). The country gymnasts have exceptional attitude, teamwork, and unmatched body flexibility, which upon continual practice and modelling, the world witness the most dizzying and heart throbbing performances (Davis 74). Work cited Caine, Dennis J, Keith Russell, and Liesbeth Lim. Gymnastics. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Internet resource. Coaching Youth Gymnastics. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2011. Print. Coma?neci, Nadia. Letters to a Young Gymnast. New York: Basic Books, 2009. Internet resource. Davis, Josh. The Goal and the Glory. Ventura, Calif: Regal Books, 2008. Print. Hofstetter, Adam B. Olympic Gymnastics. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2007. Print. Patterson, Benjamin J. Ethnic Groups Usa. Philadelphia, Pa.: Xlibris, 2008. Print. Franks, Joel S. Crossing Sidelines, Crossing Cultures: Sport and Asian Pacific American Cultural Citizenship. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2009. Print. Crawley, Sara L, Lara J. Foley, and Constance L. Shehan. Gendering Bodies. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print. Harper, Damian. China. Footscray, Vic., Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 2007. Print. Nauright, John, and Charles Parrish. Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print. Du, Wenjiang. Informatics and Management Science Vi. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013. Internet resource. Read More