The terrible fall of Georgia Godwin has once again shed light on the horrific side of Artistic Gymnastics. The 2023 World Gymnastics Championship has been a thrilling spectacle of skill and grace, as the best gymnasts from around the world compete for glory and honor. The US Women?s Gymnastics Team has once again proven its dominance, winning the team gold medal for the seventh time in a row. But this unfortunate incident has startled fans worldwide.

One of the most anticipated events was the women?s all-around final on 6th October, where the gymnasts had to perform on all four apparatus: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. The competition was fierce and exciting, as the gymnasts displayed their strength, flexibility, and creativity. One of them was Georgia Godwin, the Australian gymnast who suffered a rare and unfortunate incident.

‘The curse’ of artistic gymnastics

On October 6, 2023, during the women?s all-around final. Georgia Godwin, the Australian gymnast who won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, was attempting a double-twisting Yurchenko vault, a skill that she had performed many times before. However, something went wrong in mid-air, and Godwin landed face-first on the mat, with her legs still in the air. She bounced off the mat and slid off the landing area, falling to face on the sideways.

The audience as well as the judges on the bench went in awestruck shock after the incident, they took a sigh of relief soon after Godwin stepped back to the mat and continued her form. Addressing the complications involved in the vault, a user termed the twisties a curse and wrote:

Why are ‘twisties’ so difficult to execute?

The twisties are one of the most challenging and complicated phenomena in artistic gymnastics. They show how demanding and difficult the sport is, not only physically but also mentally. The twisties are a kind of mental block that affects the ability of a gymnast to perform twisting skills in the air, such as flips and somersaults. It can cause a gymnast to lose their sense of where they are in the air and to lose control of their body.

Described as one of the most complicated panic feelings when you don’t know where you are and what will happen the next second, and that too at 6 ft above the ground. The only thought at the given moment? Is to land safely. This feeling of absurd panic has been experienced by almost every competitive gymnast.

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