2010 World Gymnastics Championships Video Interviews

Wow, Martha can be such a b*tch!! I can not believe that she's throwing Mattie under the bus like this. Mattie had placed 1st or 2nd on Floor in just about every competition, including the US Championships. There was really no reason why Mattie SHOULDN'T have competed on Floor at the World's. She competed, and she fell ..... SO WHAT ..... it happens to the BEST of them!!! And whose to say that it was Mattie's fall that lost them the Gold. Maybe it was any of the numerous bobbles and extra steps on beam, or an extra step on vault, or maybe not a complete handstand or an extra step on bars. This was a TEAM competition, and EVERY team member made some kind of mistake, and for Martha to "blame" it on Mattie just shows how UNPROFESSIONAL Martha really is! She should be ashamed of herself!!

How would the men have done if they replaced Cameron with Ruggeri? I guess that was an option?

There is nothing wrong with what Martha Karolyi said. It sounds like her instinct was to not put Mattie in the lineup, but she allowed her opinion to be swayed by other coaches. She admits to this error and regrets it.

The other coaches who wanted Mattie in the lineup were letting their emotions drive their opinion, not the facts. Mattie just didn't have her skills in top form this week. There is no shame in this; every athlete has their ups and downs.

In other sports, comments like Marta's are not an issue. For example, if a baseball coach decides not to pull a struggling hitter from the lineup or a pitcher from a game when things are not going well (especially when someone who is not struggling as much is available) and the team loses as a result, that coach is held accountable for their decision, and usually they own up to it, as Marta did.

I can't believe people in this thread actually believe Marta should not speak with candor and instead sugar-coat her comments, so as not to upset anyone. This is not little league powder-puff competition. This is ELITE gymnastics. Like all sports at that level, it is tough, fiercely competitive, and you play to WIN.

If you want a nice-nice, soft & cuddly, losing-is-ok attitude from the head coach, perhaps you should stop watching elite sports and switch to watching little snuggly kitten talent contests. I think you can subcribe to those on the WIMP channel. Check your local listings.

anon- you want the girls to be chosen like the guys? So you want us to lose? Because I'll take silver any day over 4th place which is what the men are headed for. I think Marta has been doing a great job. She and the other coaches believed in Mattie and gave her a second chance. So it didn't work out this time. I'm not going to "blame"anyone for our Silver at Worlds because I think we did great and it was an awesome finish considering we didn't have the depth of the other teams. If you're looking to someone to blame, maybe you can start at the grass roots level and say that the coaches across the country in their individual clubs are having a hard time keeping kids in the gym, getting kids to this level and being competitive against countries where gymnastics is so much more important to people. 95% of the US population has no idea who Mattie Larson or Alicia Sacramone is, but they sure know who Brett Favre and Tom Brady are.

emotional maturity of a toddler. I forgot all about all the blaming and finger pointing! thanks, "typical" for pointing that out! When things go wrong they never just stand strong for the athlete and then figure out what to do behind the scenes!!
anyway..I looked at mattie's fx and (it was a weird angle to watch the last pass) it looked as though she was just trying to stick. Like, her feet went down and then she planted them but was slightly underrotated and her legs buckled. almost like it was a suprise..... she stuck the dlo and the triple.......wouldve went oob on on the 2.5 to lay so she took out the lay (dont you lose all credit for the ENTIRE pass if you land out? so maybe that was smart?!?!) then the dbl pk...... so thats something to consider.

don't you think Martha will stay through the Olympics? That would be my guess.
Also, if the US had won gold, I wonder if she still would have announced her retirement?

the gold was USA's to lose and due to some uncharacteristic mistakes they lost by a small margin. There is no "if's" for russia because they wouldn't hit, they are NOT known for consistancy like the US girls are. The "if's" in this situation favor the US. Sorry!

oh that interview should never had happened. omg that was the WORST team leader excuse......"shes not mentally tough"......so that makes it her fault. its wasnt. they only lost by two tenths. thats bross' mistake on beam or aly's mistake on her bhs lay on beam....what about difficulty level? why not blame it on the third member on bars not having a higher score????? (arbitrary) its so easy to say, after the fact, that oh 1 2 3 - thats whats wrong. how do you PREVENT that from happening?? a team leader (martha) should have explained what the PROGRAM can do to prevent that from happening...NOT throw mattie under the bus!!!! yikes!

I haven't seen the video of Worlds yet - I'll be watching it tonight. But I know about Mattie's floor score as I've been following the coverage. I also had a chance to watch the clip of all the girls getting their medals and Mattie didn't look happy.

I appreciate Marta's honesty instead of just giving fluff answers. I'm sure Mattie feels bad about her floor routine. But man, my impression after this interview is that Mattie is in hot water with Marta and will be lucky if she ever gets another chance. Ouch! I don't believe that this information is something I, as a "mere fan", should be privy too. I believe Marta needs to be a bit more selective about her statements to the media.

This is not mattie's first international competition. She's a wonderful gymnast but if she can't be counted on in a pressure situation, theres no reason for her to be there. It's wonderful that we got second yes, and if everyone hit and did there best, everyone would be happy with it. But not everyone hit, not everyon did there best and that is more important to Marta and the rest of the team than what place they come in. Mattie has been in just as many if not more international competitons than Mackenzie and Mackenzie did a wonderful job on both bars and vault today. Great job, Team USA!

Well I don't know how I feel but do feel it was a team not just a girl but hey we took second is nobody happy with that? I'm glad it wasn't 6th or something-Way to go team UISA second at worlds in spite of everything. Awesome job~!
BTW maybe if Marta retires we can have a newer and better way of choosing the team-like how about the men-you win your there-this picking and choosing is what got us in the bad spot we are in now-those spots should be earned-not given and there were some great athletes at VISA who are also more consistant than some of the "chosen" ones.
All I can say is We still love you Mattie and Happy Retirement Marta!

USA hit 11 of 12 routines. And STILL lost to Russia who had 3 falls. Um... for me that says Russia is far enough ahead that it deserved the win. Mattie's fall doesn't change the fact about who the better team is.

"Also, if we're aloud to say 'IF Mattie hit' then we can also say 'IF Russia didn't have to count 3 falls'." --
I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH THIS. No ifs.

For those of you saying:

"It was ours to lose, Mattie lost it for us. IF Mattie hit we would have won"

No, it wasn't yours to lose at all. It was Russia's to lose, and they didn't.

Also, if we're aloud to say "IF Mattie hit then we can also say IF Russia didn't have to count 3 falls"

The results are the results. Personally, I hate it when people go IF IF IF. I understand it makes good discussion, but there are people below literally taking it seriously. Nothing you can say will change it. Russia won, USA got second. Not IF ANDS or BUTS.

Just thought I'd through in my two cents.

Meh...I'm not sold on the Russians, yet. I LOVE the tricks they go for, but I think USA beats them 2 out of 3 becuase of better consistency. When the Russians get the big tricks AND consistency, they will be a juggernaut. We really should have beat them, just for their mental development.

And no one thought Mattie would have a DOUBLE fall performance on floor. She doess fall on the BB all the time, but I thought she could get it done on floor.

Oh well. Good luck at UCLA and hopefully she improves what is lacking. Maybe more frequent competition will help her, from college.

For USA coaching, I wonder what lesson we take away. Was it just bad luck, or should a different girl have been on the lineup or even the team. I don't know. Just think it is something that needs to be thought through.

Also, I have big hopes that a stronger team for 2012 (Weiber, maybe Johnson and Liukin) will make us depend less on weak performers. That said, China will peak in two years also. and Russia will probably be BOTH high difficulty and consistent by then. So we have our work cut out for us.