Why I Have Been Struggling To Get My Passion Back To Gymnastics Blogging

Hello there! If you have been following my blog for years, you will know that I was a very passionate gymnastics blogger who was keen on pro...

Hello there! If you have been following my blog for years, you will know that I was a very passionate gymnastics blogger who was keen on providing updates on the sport on a daily basis.

I started this blog in the summer of 2012. I was very dedicated to it, always looking for news and always creating a different kind of contents. 

For me it wasn't just a blog. It was my everything. Sadly, that has not been the case for a long while.

 

Over the past few years, I have tried to bring back my passion to the sport and didn't find much success.   

But that didn't happen out of the blue. There were multiple factors that caused My Great Gymnastics Depression.

The abuse allegations

I loved and adored gymnastics so much. I had always wanted to be a gymnast, which of course never happened.  I would watch gymnastics competitions and would always think how lucky these gymnasts were.

In my mind, every gymnast was winner. It didn't matter if they won medals or not. It didn't matter if they fought through injuries here and there. Just being able to achieve that level of the sport and getting to compete on international level competitions were viewed by me as the ultimate life achievement.

And I enjoyed that world. In my mind, it was such a positive thing to be obsessed about or to be remotely involved in.

I know now I was so naive. Of course, I've heard of abuse allegation in the sport before but it was not that common and dominant as now. It was the exception.

Not so long ago, a huge gigantic can of worms was opened and it remains so.  It started with USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, and then it was followed by so many horrific sexual, physical and emotional abuse allegations on an international level.

That perfect gymnastics world in my head, was totally and utterly destroyed. It was just so hard for me to watch and enjoy all those performances knowing that the gymnasts were subjected to continuous abuse and toxic environments. To make matters worse, those exploited gymnasts were/are barely adults. In fact, they were/are children.

Behind the scenes of the gold medal winning performances of US Mckayla Maroney at 2011 World championships, the gymnast was getting brutally sexually assaulted by the then team doctor Larry Nassar.

British Amy Tinkler, who became the second British woman, after Beth Tweddle, to win a gymnastics medal in Olympics history, said her Olympic bronze medal was not worth the abuse she had to endure throughout her career.

Gymnastics blogging being a dead end

Since I could never become a gymnast, I wanted to be involved in sports media and make a professional career out of. As I was still young and not a University graduate yet, I decided to create this blog hoping that it would somewhat help me start a career in sports media. Well, better than having an empty CV.

The blog got bigger than I expected. It turned from an activity to have on my CV to a small project that I dreamt would become a professional sports website one day.

I worked really hard and would daily update it. My goal was that someday, I would be able to earn enough money from the blog and be able to quit my job and dedicate my entire time to it.

 I would get to be able to invest in it, travel the world to cover competitions instead of doing so on my bed, hire people, and expand the website.

But gymnastics is such a tiny niche that it is almost impossible to grow bigger and achieve these goals. I felt I was constantly hitting an unbreakable wall.

Blogging, especially a news one, is like full time job. In fact, it is a full time job plus overtime. It was just so frustrating to spend so much time and energy when I am barely achieving anything.

Not mention that, gymnastics is such a complex sport. That understanding it is such a time consuming thing.

Especially, as you grew older and life becomes more and more demanding. 

And of course, it was never any help in getting a job in the sports media.

Gymnasts getting into an endless cycle of injuries

Yes, injuries are part of any sports. But what I am aiming at are the never ending continuous cycle of injuries that end up swallowing the gymnast's career.

It doesn't matter if they were my favorite or not. But seeing gymnasts work so hard to regain their former level after getting injured, only to get immediately reinjured again and again and again. It happens way too much that it becomes a constant reminder of how the universe is capable of frequent cruelty.

Short lived careers

While we have been seeing more and more longevity in gymnastics, it is not the case. The longevity in gymnastics is still not compared to the one in the other sports.

For example in football (soccer), you could graduate from college, change jobs, get married, have children, and your children have their own children. And your favorite footballers are still competing professionally.

But in gymnastics, you blink and poof you find the entire team retired.  

 

Certainly, these are not the only factors that led to my major gymnastics blogging burnout. Frustration over the CoP, one country dominating the team and all around finals, and short routines are among these factors as well.

You must be wondering the why am I writing this article considering what I've mentioned above!

The shortest and most direct answer would be that I truly miss the days where I was passionate about gymnastics blogging and I want to give it another shot.

I hope it works this time. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Written by Gigi Farid

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