Think of it as gymnastics’ version of H-O-R-S-E. Or what gymnastics might look like if the adrenaline junkies at the X Games got ahold of the sport.
The Professional Gymnastics Challenge, being held today and Saturday at Lehigh University, is a new skills competition that athletes and organizers are hoping will not only extend gymnasts’ careers beyond the elite or college level, but will keep fans interested in the sport in non-Olympic years.
The two-night competition features a U.S. vs. the world format, with the gymnasts challenging each other head-to-head to see who can do the best and biggest tricks on high bar, uneven bars, vault, parallel bars, balance beam, still rings and floor.
Two-time Olympian Jonathan Horton, 2005 world champion Chellsie Memmel and American Cup champion Jake Dalton headline the U.S. team. The international team includes triple Olympic gold medalist Catalina Ponor of Romania; Sam Oldham, a member of Britain’s bronze medal team in London; and Elfetherios Kosmidis of Greece, the 2010 world champion on floor.
“There’s no crazy, stupid scoring that nobody gets,” Horton said Thursday. “It’s based on who does it higher, who does it nicer and who puts their own flair into it. It’s so fun and so easy to understand.”
It’s already caught the attention of ESPN, which will air the competition in three hour-long segments on May 20, 21 and 22.
“I think there’s great potential to show the world a lot more of gymnastics, the potential for audiences to fall in love with the sport outside the Olympics,” said Brent Klaus, who had the idea for the event.
Despite being one of the most popular sports in the Summer Olympics, gymnastics doesn’t have much staying power once the games end. Oh sure, there are world and U.S. championships each year, as well as various international competitions, and the die-hard gymnastics fans follow every single one of them.
But there isn’t much to hold the attention of the casual fan, a problem faced by most Olympic sports.
“It would be cool if, once a year, like the X Games, everybody tunes in to watch. And then there are mini-competitions here and there throughout the year that people can enjoy,” Horton said. “It would be great to put gymnastics on the map that way, where people are thinking about gymnastics more often. It would really help it grow.”
It also would give gymnasts more options.
Few gymnasts are ready to give up the sport when they’re done with college or elite-level gymnastics, but coaching or Cirque du Soleil are their only alternatives. If the PGC catches on, however, it would allow gymnasts to continue their careers for a few more years. Adidas, Geico and Balance Bar are listed among the event sponsors, and Klaus said prize money could be as much as $150,000.
Events like these would require less time in the gym and mean less wear and tear on the athletes’ bodies.
“When you’re not doing full routines, there’s so much less pounding,” Horton said.
That doesn’t mean the gymnasts are watering down their skills. Far from it.
Gymnasts are basically daredevils, and the Professional Gymnastics Competition gives them the chance to embrace that. Skills that aren’t perfected enough or take too much energy to put in a full routine? They can throw them out there this weekend.
“I finally get to chuck some of those huge skills I play around with in practice all the time,” Horton said, glee in his voice.
Klaus pitched the idea to Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who now runs a media consulting firm. Pilson liked the concept, and brought in ESPN.
Though ESPN’s commitment is only for this year’s event, it has the option to renew. That could then lead to additional competitions, maybe even a competitive series.
“I’m excited about it,” Pilson said. “Gymnastics is a widely viewed and widely appreciated sport. We’re just trying to make it a little more frequent in terms of its exposure on American television.”