GaySports - Gay Gymnastics

Gymnastics has long since been considered a highlight of the Olympic games, and for decades, the American teams struggled to capture the spotlight away from other top competitors. This year, however, gymnasts like Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Paul Hamm and Jonathan Horton may again prove that United States gymnastics is not only the present but the future of the sport. View This Article/Section . . .

With just over five months until the kick off of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the preliminary competitions are in full effect trying to determine front runners and top contenders that will be competing for gold at the world's most prestigious sporting event. Gymnastics has long been considered a highlight of the Olympic games, and for decades, the American teams struggled to capture the spotlight away from other top competitors.

This year, however, there are young American hopefuls who have been dominating the world since the 2004 Athens Games, and gymnasts like Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Paul Hamm and Jonathan Horton may again prove that United States gymnastics is not only the present, but also the future of the sport.

While gymnastics has been around for a few thousand years, it only began to become organized as a sport in the late 1800’s. Originally developed in Europe, the sport was dominated by European teams, and even as it made it’s Olympic debut in 1924, American teams were never seen as a truly competitive force.

While stars like Russian Olga Korbut and Romania’s Nadia Comaneci captured the attention of audiences and made the sport one of the most celebrated of the Olympic competition, it was ironically one of the only sports that Americans never seemed able to excel in, and while many competed, very few had international success.

It wasn’t until the 1984 Games held in Los Angeles that American gymnastics was even considered an international force. With a boycott from several powerhouse athletic countries like Russia, the Americans were finally given a chance to rise to the top and several athletes seized the opportunity.

Source: gaysports.com