IG Reader Remembers the Boycott
Ijust wanted to comment on your recent editorial and reference to the 1980 Olympic Boycott (Sept. IG, p. 6). I was
quite upset by that, and it still disturbs me to
even recall it ever happened.
It affected the lives of hundreds of athletes in all sports. I well remember how
devastated Marcia Frederick was at that
time, as were all the wonderful gymnasts of
that 1980 team.
Mr. Carter’s forced boycott was unprecedented in Olympic history. Even in ancient
times countries ceased their conflicts to
compete in the “Games.” Politics were
always set aside, the athletes being the
“innocence” of countries’ youth.
Some time ago, an article appeared in the
Sunday Parade section discussing Mr.
Carter’s boycott of the Moscow Games. The
author, unidentified, declared it a “great
success,” explaining that it certainly upset
“It still disturbs me to even
recall that it ever happened.”
the Moscow Games financially. Indeed, it
did that. However, it never was going to
cause the Russians to budge from
Afghanistan. And how ironic that the U.S. is
heavily involved there now.
Moreover, the Russians retaliated by conducting their own boycott of the L.A. Games
in 1984. Repercussion? Mr. Carter’s action
had a lasting, detrimental effect. Even
though Romania and China competed in
L.A., and it was surely a financial and visual
success, the Games lacked an element of
drama with the Soviet teams.
It was, to me and to many others, especially the American athletes, a very tragic,
sad time in our sport’s history. Mr. Carter
would never admit erring in judgment. Yet, I
am sure he knows the long-term harm it created, particularly for so many fine, young
people, as those on the 1980 U.S. gymnastics team.
I have subscribed to IG magazine from
[former publisher] Glenn Sundby’s earliest
days, and still enjoy keeping up with the
sport to some degree. Keep up the good
efforts. —DonPerkins,Westfield,Mass.
All Around the World
INTERNATIONAL I.D.
• Nina Vitrichenko/UKR: The well-respected
rhythmic gymnastics coach and official passed away
Oct. 2 of cancer in Lloret de Mar, Spain. She was
56. Vitrichenko had been living in Spain since
2002, and coaching at the “Vitry” rhythmic gymnastics club. Her daughter, Yelena Vitrichenko,
won the 1996 Olympic bronze medal and 1997
world all-around title in rhythmic gymnastics.
• Paul Simon/USA: The former U.S. team member passed away Sept. 11 of amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in Williamsville,
N. Y. He was 52. Simon helped Penn State win the
NCAA team title in 1976. In 1978 he placed 10th
at the U.S. championships, and fourth at the Golden Sands International in Bulgaria.
• Hong Su Jong/PRK: The Gymnastics Association of the People’s Republic of Korea and gymnast Hong were suspended for 30 days on Oct. 6
for submitting three different birth dates since
2004. Hong was registered with a March 9, 1985,
birth date for the 2004 Olympics, but the year
changed to 1986 (2007 worlds) and 1989 (2010
worlds). The PRK federation had five days to
appeal. (This issue of IG went to press prior to the
appeal deadline.) IG
Los Angeles resident John Crumlish has covered three
Olympics and 12 world championships.
Julie Croket: Gaining confidence
PREPARING for the floor exercise final at the World Cup of Ghent in September, Belgium’s Julie Croket found literal inspiration in the
advice of coach Yves Kieffer, and soon found her-
self wearing the silver medal as a consequence.
“Yves always says that I have to breathe deeply
before I start,” says Croket, who ended up second
to 2008 Olympic floor champion Sandra Izbasa of
Romania. “Once I start my performance, it goes
better and I am less nervous. That was also the
case in Ghent.”
Despite a 0.10 deduction for stepping out of
bounds on her first pass, Croket kept her compo-
sure for the rest of her routine. “I placed one foot
on the line, and I thought, ‘Now you may not make
more mistakes,’” she recalls. “It worked. I landed
my last pass perfectly. The people in the hall were
extremely enthusiastic about it. It was really great.”
THOMAS SCHREYER
Croket also succeeded in avoiding the panic that
overtook her in the vault final at the 2008 Junior
Europeans in Clermond-Ferrand, France, where
she balked twice on her first vault, thereby scoring
zero. “That was a performance that I really want to
forget!” says Croket, who made her second vault
but finished eighth since the
scores of both vaults were
averaged. “I was the
youngest Belgian gymnast,
and it was the first time that
I was in a final. And, my
God, there were so many
At age 7, Belgium’s
Croket switched
from an art academy to artistic gymnastics, and never
went back.
people in the arena. I had too little experience, I
think. I hope it will never happen again.”
Born July 1, 1994, in Bornem, Croket began
training at age 7. “I was first in an art academy,”
says Croket (pronounced cro-KETT). “I liked
painting and drawing; I was a very creative girl. My
younger sister, Stephanie, went to the little gym. I
had the chance to try it also, and I have never
stopped.” Stephanie has since switched to track.
French natives Yves Kieffer and his wife, Mar-
jorie Heuls, have established a detail-oriented, posi-
tive training environment at the national training
center in Ghent, according to Croket. “They are
more focused on the technical side of gymnastics,”
says Croket, who won the Belgian senior title this
year. “We work a lot on several small exercises
before doing the routine in full. Yves is always very
calm, and he finds a good atmosphere in the train-
ing hall very important. So we have all made a lot
of progress since he arrived in Ghent.”
While Belgium is unlikely to qualify a full team
London 2012, Croket aims to extend to four the
number of consecutive Olympics in which the Bel-
gian women have earned an individual berth.
(Sigrid Persoon competed in 2000, and Aagje
Vanwalleghem and Gaelle Mys made the all-around
final in 2004 and 2008, respectively.)
Croket seems ready to take another deep breath
as she heads into 2011. “I need to do my best all
the time,” she says. “I want to have good scores
and placements at competitions.” —J.C.
