I’m not a big fan of gymnastics.  Oh, every 4 years, when the Olympics come around I take a little interest in them, but other than that I just plain don’t care. 

It’s pretty much the same for all the various Track & Field events.  I just plain don’t care.  From the, seemingly limited, coverage you see of those events during the “OFF YEARS” between the Olympics, I don’t think I’m alone in that regard.  Then along comes the Olympics and suddenly it’s relevant,,,, for a few weeks,,,, until it fades back into the netherworld from whence it came,,,, gone from my consciousness for another three and a half years. That’s about the period of time between when the coverage of the Olympics stops and when it starts again.
 
What would ever possess an athlete to take up one of those sports?  It just has to be a love for the competition, which by the way, is the most noble of all the reasons that I had in mind.  They certainly didn’t get involved with the uneven parallel bars thinking that one day they could sell their services to the highest bidder as a professional.  Oh, with those bulging muscles, they may be able to sell some shaving cream or blue jeans, as the face for some big ad agency, but that’s only a by product that the more well known athletes all hope to accrue to.  Most certainly, if that were my goal, I could expect much better acceptance in a sport that people actually talk about more often than every four years, don’t you think? 

Well, I’ve been wondering if it wouldn’t be possible to combine a gymnastics move with a track and field event and develop a new world record.  That’s where the big bucks are.  In WORLD RECORDS!!!!  I’m not talking about those world records found in the Guinness Book of World Records.  I’m talking about an honest to goodness World Record in a recognized sport.

Here’s what I’m talking about….. 

You’ve undoubtedly seen those athletes who, while doing a “Tumbling” exercise, do a series of what I call summersaults.  Well, I’ve noticed that on those last two or three revolutions, some of them really get up in the air.  I’ve been wondering if they couldn’t perfect that move to the point that they could make that last summersault over the high jump bar.  I’m telling you, I’ve seen some of those summersaults where they are so high in the air that I’m convinced that they would increase the high jump record significantly if they could time that jump to coincide with their arrival at the bar.

Why hasn’t someone tried that? 

I haven’t read the rule book on high jumping, but this might revolutionize the sport even more radically than did the Fosbury Flop years ago.  If there isn’t a rule in there specifically prohibiting it, why wouldn’t some really good gymnast give it a try?  Think about it, if you could increase the world record in the high jump by say 3 or 4 inches all in one surprise high jump attempt, you’d be the talk of the sports world.  Can you imagine an increase of that magnitude?  In a sport where the world record is measured in increments of a quarter of an inch and probably hasn’t increased more than an inch in the last 10 years?  An increase of three of four inches would make you into a millionaire over night.  Not only that, but you might well have a new patented move named after you, like Mr. Fosbury did.  They’d be talking about you on Sports Center and PTI, maybe for years to come.  Now that certainly should be a piece of fame that could be taken advantage of by a really well informed sports agent.  In today’s sporting world, that should be worth several millions of dollars.

Here’s how I’d do it, if I were one of the really good tumbling athletes of the day.  I’d start by practicing in secrecy for a few months to perfect the technique.  I’d get myself a trustworthy agent and sign up for some noteworthy event that we would select as my coming out party to introduce myself to the world.   Of course, my new agent would have a great deal of input, but I think this has realistic possibilities.  Course, I have been wrong once or twice in the past, but I’m absolutely certain that these tumblers are well over 7 feet in the air when they are at their very highest point.  How much higher do they have to go to set a new high jump record?  You see, that’s just how interesting track and field is.  I don’t have a clue as to what the current high jump record is.  I’d be willing to bet that 50% of the people surveyed couldn’t get within 6 inches of that current mark.  But, if someone should take my suggestion to heart and, if in so doing they were able to set a new record, revolutionizing the sport in the process?  Well then, I’d want the opportunity to change my bet.  It would be front page news.  Well, at least front page of the sports section and, more than likely, the lead-in to all the sports talk shows for several days.  With that kind of coverage, most everybody who follows sports in any form, would know what the new high jump record was and probably the name of the new record holder, who would soon be invading all or our homes with one commercial after another. 

Copyright 2010 - Richard Lee King

"Dick" King is the author of: A PURSUIT OF LIFE & THE PRICE OF FREEDOM  He is also co-authoring THE HINTS BOOKS.   Excerpts from his books and ohter samples of his work can be seen at: http://lifeispoetic.webs.com/