“This Move Is Just So Complex..”: 4x NCAA Gymnastics Champion Ian Gunther Reveals the ‘Paradoxical Effect’ of the Sport

A very popular face of men’s gymnastics, he had attained viral fame on TikTok lately. Now also a content creator, Ian Gunther visions influencing people for the sport, capturing their engrossment in it. Captioning one of his latest Instagram posts, “A gymnast’s job is to make really difficult things look easy”, the 4x NCAA Gymnastics team champion elaborated his views on the toughness of the sport. He provides an easy-to-understand example supporting his statement.

Concerning the simplest gymnastic moves such as a simple handstand, which probably looks easier while static, compared to it getting harder when one walks while doing a handstand, which is just the contrary. While a static handstand is also quite hard, he explains the rationality behind the logic of people addressing simpler moves as difficult ones and vice-versa. Consequently, the high bar bronze medalist at the 2023 Winter Cup in his recent post on social media proved his technical deduction using two theories.

NCAA Gymnastics star athlete opinions on the hardness of the sport

In the video posted by Ian Gunther, he started by saying, “There is this paradoxical effect in gymnastics where the easier something looks, the harder it is.” Wondering the reason behind this effect, the MPSF team champion with Stanford concluded two prime reasons behind it. The first is if an athlete looked as if he was struggling, then it would indicate that the struggle was a hard one. Ian Gunther gives his example, in this regard.

Secondly, Ian Gunther believes, “The harder gymnastics moves get, the harder they are to relate to.” He explains that most people can imagine themselves swinging on the bars. But nobody can touch on the reality of professional gymnastics moves. He gives the example of the move where the gymnast executes two flips over the bar in a stretched position with two twists and re-grabs onto the bar. Gunther points out, “This move is just so complex and it is just so difficult to relate to even for me as a gymnast.”

He concludes by exclaiming, “In reality, it’s like crawling compared to running a marathon. It’s not even close.” Putting up his hi-tech calculative opinion on the social media platform, the current Stanford Cardinal sensation, Ian Gunther has been lately seen expanding his arsenal while training with Gracie Kramer. But what makes him go public with his thoughts about gymnastics?

Ian Gunther stands up for his love for gymnastics

Ian Gunther describes himself as an “introverted person.” But he has this wish that the sport expands its horizon across the globe. That makes him promote it the right way. Be it in the form of bloopers of falls during his practice sessions, or be it reflecting on other male gymnasts’ iconic routines, Ian Gunther exhibits his pure adoration towards the sports and makes sure that it reaches even the common man.

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“When you’re in a niche sport like gymnastics, you have to frame something to be digestible and interesting to someone who has no idea what the sport is. No one cares about men’s gymnastics so I’ll make them care.”, that’s what Ian Gunther believes to say. Though the 2024 Winter Cup did not go as well for the NCAA Champion, he owes his success totally to the sport and looks forward to taking up more challenges on his way after finishing his NCAA career.

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