Of 8's and 9's

Just how do the girls handle their vacillating scores?

A little too well.

Kasey, bless her soul, shrugs off the 4.0's on bars. "Hey, I got a 4.5 this time!" she'll say. "I improved!" Amy's spent so much of her first Level 5 season falling on every event that there's no point in looking at the scores. Same for Natalie in Level 6. The older Level 4's seem immune to all scores good and bad, besides Alejandra, who proudly mentions her 9.45 on vault at last year's Team Cup whenever it's relevant.

On the one hand, more distress might serve as a sign of caring. Of motivation, will to improve. On the other hand, I appreciate their cheerfulness.

It's not easy to handle being judged. I just want to go out there and hit four for four and have fun is the canned response of elite gymnasts. But what more can you do? Some days you're at your best and you're rewarded. Other days, you're robbed. On your bad days, the scores tell it like it is. Other times, you get lucky.

Kathryn was so proud to get her kip. But all of her competition bar routines feature multiple pauses, poor form, and tiny, tiny swings. 6.0. She cried the first two meets when she saw the score. Then she came to the third with new resolve: "My mom said if I don't cry today, we can go to the mall."

At a recent meet, Maya fell off beam twice. She walked away nonchalantly. Only when her 7.5 was raised did she care. Hysterical tears ensued.

"Hasn't she missed practice for like the past month?" Greg said.

"Yep," I said.

"What does she expect?"

Exactly.

But it goes both ways. Kathryn scored an 8.375 on floor. During the awards, gymnasts stepped onto the podium with scores in the 9.0's. Then Kathryn's name was called. She ran up there, ahead of girls from the good teams, placing third or fourth. John, Greg, and I looked at each other. What?

Turned out somewhere between flashing the score and entering it into the computer, someone had accidentally changed the 8 to a 9. We knew. Kathryn's mom knew. But Kathryn didn't. She bounced back over to us with her ribbon. "I got a 9.375!" she exclaimed.

"Good job!" I high-fived her. She could keep her victory.