Next month, when you’re eating your corn dogs and rooting for your favorite country in the Olympics, remember what kind of preparation and struggle these athletes had to go through. Some have been training all their lives, waking up sometimes before we go to sleep and sleeping when they should’ve been having fun. U.S. gymnasts are such creatures, and they have the added pressure of having to perform for Bela and Martha Karolyi, the Russell Crowe and Naomi Campbell of gymnastics according to Dominique Moceanu. A member of the ‘96 gold-medal winning team, Moceanu says that she suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of the Karolyis, including one incident when Martha slammed her face into a phone because she got hurt. No word on whether she used the “stop hitting yourself” defense.

“What I objected to was Martha grabbing me by the neck, shoving my face into the phone and telling me to call my parents when I hurt my neck in practice. I objected to being told to jump onto a scale in front of the 1995 world championship team, of being forced to do 16 uneven bars routines in a row by Martha.

“I don’t know where she’s coming from,” Zmeskal Burdette [member of the 1992 Olympic team] said. “From my personal experience, she’s coming from a different planet. It’s a difficult process and there are a lot of pieces to becoming the very best in the world.

“It’s not a walk in the park. Bela was always very clear that if you want these results you put in this kind of work.”

She continued, “Yeah, what kind of freaking jerk gymnast doesn’t expect to be physically beaten and humiliated at 14 by someone old enough to be their grandfather? A loser, that’s what kind of jerk. Now excuse me, I have to throw up lunch and get my feet re-bound.”

Dominique Moceanu accuses Martha and Bela Karolyi of abuse [LA Times]
Image [SI.com]