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’Net Junkie Shawn "Speedy" Lopes |
Track your fave gymnast
En route to awards as Sports Illustrated's Sportswoman of the Year and the Associated Press's Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1984, Mary Lou Retton captured the hearts of America in an exhilarating Olympic performance. Scoring perfect 10s in the floor and vault categories, the diminutive firebrand earned herself a place in American sports history and scored a number of lucrative deals as a celebrity endorser.
Now happily married with four children, Retton travels the country as a motivational speaker and commands a fair sum for her services. But what about the thousands of international gymnasts who never reached Retton's glorious heights? After dedicating precious early years of their lives to their sport, enduring countless hours of grueling training and, in some cases, lifelong injuries, few gymnasts remain on the world's consciousness, and fewer still are able to sustain their achievements more than a few years into adulthood. What ever happened to such heralded gymnasts as the Soviet Union's Elena Shushunova, Yang Bo of China or Cristina Bontas of Romania?
By clicking onto www.gymnastica.com/whateverhappenedto, you will find the updated histories of hundreds of former tumblers, vaulters and aerialists long forgotten by all but the most ardent gymnastics followers.
Remember Mitch Gaylord, that high-bar heartthrob of the 1980s? After thrilling spectators in the 1984 Olympics with a medal-winning performance, and originating the "Gaylord Flip" and the "Gaylord Two" (still considered among the most difficult maneuvers in the sport), Gaylord went on to star in the 1986 flick "American Anthem" and served as pitch man for such companies as Levi's, Coca-Cola, Nike and Vidal Sassoon. Though you probably didn't realize it, he also played Robin's stunt double in "Batman Forever."
In addition to providing detailed information on former star gymnasts, Gymnastica.com also memorializes Romanian athlete Adriana Giurca, who was beaten to death by her coach in 1993; U.S. gymnasts Hilary Grivich, killed in an auto accident in 1997; and Julissa Gomez, whose misstep in the 1988 World Sports Fair in Tokyo resulted in a tragic end to her career, reminding us that, sadly, many dreams go unfulfilled.
Note: Web sites mentioned in this column were active at time of publication. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin neither endorses nor is responsible for their contents.
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’Net Junkie drops every Monday.
Contact Shawn "Speedy" Lopes at slopes@starbulletin.com.
