“Playing with Fire”: Gymnastics World Slams USA for Incorporating Dance Moves in Routines

Russia vs. the USA has always been a heated rivalry since the onset of the Olympics. With Paris knocking on the metaphorical door, this rivalry has just gotten more layered and interesting. Athletes from all over the world are training hard at the moment to give themselves the best shot at the Olympic gold. Analyzing a few such videos of US athletes, a Russian gymnastics fan, by the name of Pamchenkova, has taken social media by storm. 

She has been regularly sharing updates about the US gymnasts. Needless to say, they are not at all pleasant. Pamchenkova questioned the credibility of the coaching staff at the NCAA level. She also had her predictions about Gabby Douglas and Suni Lee! 

A Russian fan raises questions over the ‘dance element’ of US gymnasts

Taking to her X account, Pamchenkova uploaded a nine-second video of a US athlete grinding on the mat. Although the athlete looked decent in her approach, Pamchenkova was not pleased. She went ahead and criticized the entire routine by saying, “Sorry, but this is playing with fire. The requirement is leg *above* horizontal. I will never understand the dance element situation in the US.” 

The Russian gymnast previously raised doubts on the credibility of the coaches, too. She gave an example of when the coaches devalued an athlete, causing a collapse in the D-score while performing an element. Pamchenkova said such an element needed to be discontinued straight away instead of persisting with the same. While all these criticisms seemed too harsh on the US gymnasts, her opinions about Gabby Douglas and Suni Lee were even more astonishing. 

Pamchenkova stated that Douglas must ditch her ring elements, as she was unable to arch her back enough. This would result in discredits and body shape deductions for the athlete. As for Suni Lee, the Russian predicted that due to her kidney issues, Lee would struggle to keep straining herself for a prolonged period. Surprisingly enough, fans somewhat agreed to the allegations brought in by the Russian! 

Fans lambast the US gymnast, echoing Pamchenkova’s sentiments 

The Russian gymnast’s post garnered 46k views and a significant amount of likes at the time of writing this article. Most of them expressed their discontent with the athletes, leading to an overall mass outcry. 

One user expressed doubts about what the choreographers were upto saying, “Who choreographs elite floor routines?” 

This user urged the athlete to perform a clean switch leap, saying, “It’s just 0.10 more than a switch leap, too. Just do a clean switch leap …” 

In reply to the above tweet, a fan commented on a negative connotation. The comment read, “They are truly allergic to counting B skills and I hate it.” 

This user was furious with the coaches. The tweet read, “It’s like the U.S. coaches are allergic to reading the code of points.”

Another user accused the USAG of being too rigid by saying, “She literally got it downgraded not once but TWICE at 2022 floor finals too 😭 usag will never learn.” 

Thus, with all the scathing criticisms coming in, the onus is now on the US athletes. With the Olympics just months away, it will be interesting to see if they can bounce back and prove their haters wrong.