I'm Somewhat Baffled That This Is How Gymnasts Are Supposed To Fall Off The Uneven Bars After Seeing Someone At The Olympics Do It
As someone who has dreamed of doing a single cartwheel since I was in the fourth grade, I'm incredibly impressed with the gymnasts in the Olympics.
They're the best athletes in the world — period, end of story.
And the other day, I was looking at some uneven bars pictures and was like "holy shit."
Like...
The pictures really put it into perspective.
It's terrifying.
Anyway, I was on Reddit and I found this video from Tokyo of a gymnast falling on the bars into a big ol' belly flop:
Nastia Liukin did the same at the 2012 Olympic trials.
NBC
Reddit user ikefalcon pointed out that this is actually normal:
They do that an infinite number of times in practice, often on purpose when they’re learning a release. That’s one of the safest falls you’ll ever see in gymnastics.
Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller says you should NEVER stick your arms out when falling, hence the belly flop:
You should never try to stop your fall or brace yourself by sticking your arm out. I learned this the hard way when I reached out my hands during a wayward uneven bar dismount, dislocating and breaking my left elbow just 10 weeks prior to the 1992 Olympic Trials. After that I never once tried to break falls with my hands.
So, basically, when in doubt: belly flop.
